Happy New Year 2013 Giveaway Hop

As a part of the Happy New Year 2013 Giveaway Hop, I'm holding a giveaway for the following book:


The Captain's Bride by Lisa Tawn Bergren is a Christian historical set in 1880. You can read my review.

Elsa Anders's dream of marrying Peder Ramstad is about to come true. But as this independent, strong-willed woman discovers her own creative gifts--a love for travel, painting, and the sea--can she find happiness with a captain who insists upon leaving her safely on shore?

Leaving their home in Norway behind, Elsa and Peder embark on a new life in with their closest friends, including: Kaatje Jansen, a woman seeking a new beginning for the sake of her marriage and for the child growing within her; Elsa's sister Tora, a sly young vixen who knows exactly what she wants--and exactly how to get it; and Karl Martensen, a man torn between his friendship for Peder and a forbidden, secret love for Elsa, a man tormented by emotions that threaten to ruin them all.


This contest is for USA & Canada residents only.


To enter the giveaway:

1) you can twitter me saying "Hi @genrereviewer. Enter me in the giveaway for THE CAPTAIN'S BRIDE by Lisa Tawn Bergren."

OR

2) You can leave a comment to this post asking to be entered. (I have comment moderation on to prevent spam comments, so don't worry if your entry comment doesn't appear immediately. It will soon.) Please also leave some way for me to contact you--or follow this blog so you can see the winner announcement. I'd be fun if you also included why you're interested in reading this novel.


This giveaway ends on January 7, 2013 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner on January 8, 2013 on this blog.

If you entered using twitter, I'll send you a @ or DM telling you of your win and asking where to send the book. If you entered using the blog comments, you'll need to leave your e-mail address or check back to see if you won so you can e-mail me your mailing address. If the winner hasn't responded with a mailing address within four days, I reserve the right to pick a new winner.

I hope everyone has fun with this!


The blogs participating in the Happy New Year 2013 Giveaway Hop:

The Captain's Bride by Lisa Tawn Bergren

The Captain's Bride by Lisa Tawn Bergren ISBN-13: 9780307458063 Trade Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: WaterBrook Press Released: June 2, 2009

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Elsa Anders's dream of marrying Peder Ramstad is about to come true. But as this independent, strong-willed woman discovers her own creative gifts--a love for travel, painting, and the sea--can she find happiness with a captain who insists upon leaving her safely on shore?

Leaving their home in Norway behind, Elsa and Peder embark on a new life in with their closest friends, including: Kaatje Jansen, a woman seeking a new beginning for the sake of her marriage and for the child growing within her; Elsa's sister Tora, a sly young vixen who knows exactly what she wants--and exactly how to get it; and Karl Martensen, a man torn between his friendship for Peder and a forbidden, secret love for Elsa, a man tormented by emotions that threaten to ruin them all.

From the gentle hills of Bergen, Norway, to the rocky coast of Camden, Maine, and across the crashing, danger-filled waves of the open sea--experience an epic saga of perseverance and passion, faith and fidelity, in the Northern Lights series: the new historical series by Lisa Tawn Bergren


My Review:
The Captain's Bride is a Christian historical novel. It has five main characters, and the story jumped around in location after the group splits up after reaching America. I never had any trouble keeping track of who was who or where they were, but the ending only provided resolution for a few of the characters and the rest ended with more of a cliff-hanger.

The characters were all very realistic and complex. They dealt with real life struggles, and most of their problems were brought on them by their own poor choices. The vivid historical details brought the story alive in my imagination without slowing the pacing. The suspense was created mainly by relationship tensions but also by physical danger to various characters.

Even when things were going well for the characters, I felt like something was going to happen to spoil it. I went through the novel feeling dread for what was going to come instead of hope that good would come through all the bad. Though good did come from the bad--stronger relationships and so on. Perhaps this feeling was partly because I couldn't predict precisely what would happen next, which is a good thing.

The Christian element was woven naturally into the story line and realistically portrayed the Christian walk, with its ups and downs. The brief prayers came across as genuine. The characters (except Tora) wanted to have a good relationship with God, and that's what affected their behavior (rather than lectures from other Christians). I liked how this was portrayed.

There were no graphic sex scenes. There was a very minor amount of "he cursed" style of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this well-written historical.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

One Imperfect Christmas by Myra Johnson

One Imperfect Christmas by Myra Johnson ISBN-13: 9781426713675 ebook: 280 pages Publisher: Abingdon Press Released: September 1, 2009

Source: Free ebook promotional offer.

Book Description, My take:
Natalie Pearce makes up an excuse for not going over to help her mother take down her Christmas decorations only to learn that her mother had a massive stroke later that day. Natalie blames herself for not being there when it happened and tries to redeem herself by helping her mother recover. Her mother shows no improvement, but Natalie can't forgive herself unless she hears her mother say, "I forgive you."

Natalie pushes her family away and buries herself in her work to avoid her feelings of guilt. Her marriage is falling apart and her teenage daughter is willing to do anything to get her mother back, even run away or try to get her fired. Will the coming Christmas bring an end to everything Natalie once held dear or offer a chance for healing?


My Review:
One Imperfect Christmas is Christian general fiction that spanned about a year of time. Natalie was her own worst enemy. I didn't like her attitude of "life is all about me! Why can't everyone else see that?!" She didn't care about what other people were going through. However, I could always understand where she and the other characters were coming from even if I would have reacted differently. I think I was willing to put up with Natalie's self-pitying guilt because she could see that she was messing things up but didn't know how to fix it. She often didn't like herself or her behavior but she couldn't seem to stop it.

So this should have been a book I liked: actions had consequences and a Christian character realized she couldn't fix her own behavior. I was expecting the characters to realize something new (to them) about God as the solution to the problem and to draw closer to God, but that didn't happen.

For most of the book, you could hardly tell it was a Christian novel. There were a few, brief prayers that were mainly of the "God give me strength" sort. The characters seemed to feel that God was a genie: they'd ask God to fix their big mess and make everything okay again. When God didn't snap His fingers and grant their wish, they felt they needed to help Him out by fixing things themselves (though their efforts never worked).

(Vague Spoiler paragraph): Then, in the last few pages, Natalie finally heard some words that comforted her about her mother so she no longer felt guilty about the stroke. Suddenly Natalie had a complete personality change...at least for the day.

A lot of things in the story were never wrapped up, and I was left feeling like more bad arguments were just waiting to happen. I didn't trust that Natalie wouldn't act exactly the same the next time something happened that she "just couldn't deal with" since her enlightenment moment seemed pretty vague yet situation-specific. The ending didn't leave me feeling like the underlying problem had actually be resolved.

There was no sex. There was a minor amount of "he cursed" style of bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Cathedral Windows by Clare O'Donohue

Cathedral Windows by Clare O'Donohue ISBN-13: 9781101615843 ebook: 80 pages Publisher: Plume Released: November 13, 2012

Source: eBook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
In this special holiday themed short story, Christmas is just around the corner in the Hudson Valley. Nell and her friends at the Someday Quilts shop should be making eggnog and finishing up the stitching on their last homemade gifts, but when an arsonist strikes and a beloved teacher becomes a suspect, the ladies rally behind him to clear his good name. Will they succeed in time for him to spend Christmas among loved ones or will this be a chilly winter for the town of Archers Rest?


My Review:
Cathedral Windows is a cozy mystery. It's a feel-good Christmas story with enjoyable characters. The characters and setting were developed enough to give a nice feel of small town life. The mystery wasn't very complex due to how short the story was, but whodunit was not obvious. It was a clue-based mystery, and whodunit could be guessed from the clues. The suspense was from (non-romantic) relationship conflicts and physical danger.

There was no sex. There was no explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable, quick read.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

All I Have To Give by Melody Carlson

All I Have To Give by Melody Carlson ISBN-13: 9781441212801 ebook: 167 pages Publisher: Revell Released: September 1, 2008

Source: Free ebook during a promotion.

Book Description from Christianbook.com:
In this present-day retelling of O'Henry's The Gift of the Magi, Anna and Michael's dreams of having a baby have come to an end. Amidst her heartache, Anna secretly struggles with strange health problems that have her very worried. But as each tries to give the other the perfect Christmas gift, the magic of Christmas is working its way into their lives in a surprising way.


My Review:
All I Have To Give is Christian women's fiction and a re-telling of "The Gift of the Magi." Anna tried so hard to have a "perfect Christmas" that she almost ruined it with her attitude. While the characters always had a motivation for the way they were acting, I was on the borderline of being frustrated with them. Anna thought she had cancer and basically just gave up before even confirming it. She strongly suspected her husband of infidelity (with little evidence) and yet this didn't seem to impact her "grand gift" plans for him.

I felt like there was a missed chance at a deeper message of giving even when hurt and how this would inspire the other family members in their troubled marriages. Instead, everyone thought she had a perfect life (even when they knew she didn't feel that way about being childless) and a perfect, untroubled marriage. The story wrapped up quickly after the gift-giving and didn't resolve some of the serious issues brought up in the story.

The Christian element seemed to be a few statements along the lines of "but Christians shouldn't do that!" (about divorce). There was a very minor amount of "he swore" style of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, it's a nice, predictable story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen ISBN-13: 9780545284134 Hardcover: 342 pages Publisher: Scholastic Released: April 1, 2012

Source: Checked out from my local library.

Book Description from Back Cover:
In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.


My Review:
The False Prince is a middle grade or young adult fantasy novel. It's aimed at boys, though I think girls and adults would also like it. It's the first book in a trilogy, but it stands on it's own and doesn't end on a cliff-hanger.

I liked that the teen hero cared about and tried to help other people even when forced into a situation where a person normally wouldn't. The main characters were generally good people even though they didn't always act like it because of the difficult situation they were in. The characters were complex and had some depth, and I cared what happened to them.

While the twists won't be a huge surprise to anyone who has read a lot of traditional fantasy, they weren't obvious and there was even one I didn't expect. The suspense was created by the physical danger to the characters, but the conflict was mainly due to (non-romantic) relationship tensions.

There was a minor amount of "he cursed" style of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting and engaging fantasy novel. It's now a favorite of mine, though this might partly be because it's been so long since I last read a good-values, traditional fantasy novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

And the winner is...

It's time to announce the winner of the Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop. Including Twitter entries, we had 28 entries. Using a random number generator and numbering the entrants in the order I received them, the winner is:

Anne
who won "Read and Buried" by Erika Chase

Congratulations! I'll be contacting you for your address.

For those who didn't win, you can always buy a copy of these books from your favorite bookstore or see if they have them at your local library.

And the winner is...

It's time to announce the winner of the "Christmas Books" Giveaway Hop. Including Twitter entries, we had 35 entries. Using a random number generator and numbering the entrants in the order I received them, the winner is:

@loujarratt (LouCinda Jarratt)
won "A Wreath of Snow" by Liz Curtis Higgs

Congratulations! I'll be contacting you for your address.

For those who didn't win, you can always buy a copy of these books from your favorite bookstore or see if they have them at your local library.

Not book related, but important food info

I apologize for posting something not book related, and I'll try to keep this short. I grew up surrounded by corn and soy fields in mid-Illinois and now live surrounded by cattle (raised for meat) and chicken or turkey houses in northern Arkansas. I live on a farm and graduated from college as a BS in Animal Science. Since around 1996, corn and soy (and some other crops) have been genetically engineered to allow farmers to spray herbicides (kills plants) directly on their crops without the crops dying. Another variety are genetically engineered to produce a toxin deadly to insects directly in the food part of the crop so the insects die when they eat it. There are a lot of harmful side-effects from this whole scheme, but now one of the companies making these genetically modified crops wants to sell a variety that will withstand very, very serious poisons because the weeds have become resistant to previous herbicides used with genetically modified crops. This is not the answer to the problem, and it could lead to serious health problems to the farmers spraying the herbicides, to crops nearby on other farms that aren't resistant, and to consumers eating the foods. To learn more, visit this site.

A Killer Maize by Paige Shelton

A Killer Maize by Paige Shelton ISBN-13: 9780425251744 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: December 4, 2012

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Becca Robbins is selling her farm-made jams and preserves at a county fair where business is not the only thing that’s dead…

The last person Becca expects to run into at the Swayton County Fall Festival is her ex-husband, Scott Triplett, who’s operating a shooting gallery. Their unexpected reunion is made more complicated when the Ferris wheel operator, Virgil Morrison, is found hanging from his rickety ride, dead from a gunshot.

Rumors of a gypsy curse and the mysteriousness of the locals about the owners of the fair make finding the truth difficult. Becca must search through a labyrinth of lies, secrets, and superstition to find a kernel of truth.


My Review:
A Killer Maize is a cozy mystery. This book is the fourth book of the series, but you don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous mysteries.

The characters were engaging, interesting, and acted realistically. There was a low level of suspense mainly caused by wondering what would happen next and from the creepy feel to the fair and town. The mystery did involve gathering clues, but it wasn't really a "sort through the clues and piece together the puzzle" mystery. Becca got most of her information by watching people and talking with them, so the clues weren't always obvious. I liked that Becca was nice, worked well with those in charge of the investigation, and didn't do really stupid things.

While the corn maze ending was exciting, I still don't understand the logic of everyone looking around and hoping to run into whodunit rather than simply protecting the expected next victim (or victims). Until then, people had good reasons for what they were doing. But, hey, it worked. lol

There was no sex. There was a minor amount of explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable cozy mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop

As a part of the Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop, I'm holding a giveaway for your choice of one of the following books:


Read and Buried by Erika Chase is a cozy mystery. You can read my review.

Hosting an award-winning novelist is quite a Christmas coup for the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straw Society. But for Lizzie, Derek Alton is nothing but trouble—from his massive ego to his smarmy moves. When he’s murdered in her living room, it seems someone decided that this womanizing writer would be better off dead than read. After suspicion falls on Lizzie’s friend, she and her fellow book club members start unearthing a novel’s worth of nasty secrets about Derek.


City of the Dead by T.L. Higley is a Christian historical suspense novel.
You can read my review.

Up from the sands of Egypt rises the Great Pyramid, where Hemiunu, Pharaoh’s Grand Vizier, commands the historic building project as he orders his life—with justice, truth, and precision. But when a series of murders at the site threatens chaos, Hemi turns his attention to hunting down the killer...a killer who may be closer than he expects. Has someone decided to seek justice for or remove all remembrance of a past injustice that Hemi and his closest friends have been ordered to never discuss? The killer's targets are those who know that a past death was not an accident...


This contest is for USA & Canada residents only.


To enter the giveaway:

1) you can twitter me saying "Hi @genrereviewer. Enter me in the giveaway for [give the book name and author's name]."

OR

2) You can leave a comment to this post asking to be entered and naming which book you'd like to win. (I have comment moderation on to prevent spam comments, so don't worry if your entry comment doesn't appear immediately. It will soon.) Please also leave some way for me to contact you--or follow this blog so you can see the winner announcement. I'd be fun if you also included why you're interested in reading this novel.


This giveaway ends on December 10, 2012 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner on December 11, 2012 on this blog.

If you entered using twitter, I'll send you a @ or DM telling you of your win and asking where to send the book. If you entered using the blog comments, you'll need to leave your e-mail address or check back to see if you won so you can e-mail me your mailing address. If the winner hasn't responded with a mailing address within four days, I reserve the right to pick a new winner.

I hope everyone has fun with this!


The blogs participating in the Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop:

Read and Buried by Erika Chase

Read and Buried by Erika Chase ISBN-13: 9780425251782 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: December 4, 2012

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Hosting an award-winning novelist is quite a Christmas coup for the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straw Society. But for Lizzie, Derek Alton is nothing but trouble—from his massive ego to his smarmy moves. When he’s murdered in her living room, it seems someone decided that this womanizing writer would be better off dead than read.

After suspicion falls on Lizzie’s friend, she and her fellow book club members start unearthing a novel’s worth of nasty secrets about Derek. As they get closer to uncovering Derek’s scandalous final manuscript, someone decides to write finis to Lizzie’s sleuthing.


My Review:
Read and Buried is a cozy mystery. This novel is the second in the series. You don't need to read the previous novel to understand this one, and this novel didn't spoil the mystery in the previous book.

The characters were interesting, likable, and reacted in realistic ways. I liked that Lizzie was careful not to ruin people's reputations when she learned scandalous things related to the case. This was a clue-based mystery. I wasn't certain about whodunit before the reveal, but whodunit was certainly on my short list of suspects. I enjoyed that the author was able to keep me guessing.

There was a nice level of detail. There was more detail about her job and less about clothing and food than in A Killer Read, so it had more "normal" levels of detail. I felt the story pacing was smoother and kept my interest even better due to this. Lizzie's low level eating disorder, which I mentioned in my Killer Read review, has disappeared. She no longer showed angst over eating sweets.

There were no graphic sex scenes. There was some explicit bad language (11 uses of "God" in swearing and 7 uses of curse words). Overall, I'd recommend this well-written, interesting mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.