Fool for Books Giveaway Hop

As a part of the Fool for Books Giveaway Hop, I'm holding a giveaway for your choice of one of the following books:


Veiled Revenge by Ellen Byerrum is a cozy mystery novel. You can read my review. (If you don't, be advised that this novel contains some bad language.)

Washington, D.C., fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian is trying to get her best friend, Stella, ready for her upcoming wedding. At Stella's bachelorette party, a friend and psychic, Marie Largesse, arrives with a stunning Russian shawl. A shawl, Marie warns, that is haunted and can curse those who mock it.

When a party crasher mocks the shawl and is found dead the next day, the other guests blame the shawl and fear a curse has been unleashed against the wedding. But Lacey suspects there's a human behind the murder, and she must employ her Extra-Fashionary Perception to capture the villain before Stella can heroically cancel her wedding to avoid the curse.


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.

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 residents only.


To enter the giveaway:

1) 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.

OR

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


This giveaway ends on April 7, 2013 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner on April 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 Fool for Books Giveaway Hop:

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen ISBN-13: 9781441214119 ebook: 400 pages Publisher: Bethany House Publishers Released: January 1, 2011

Source: Free ebook (promotional, limited time offer).

Book Description from Goodreads:
Miss Mariah Aubrey, banished after a scandal, hides herself away in a long-abandoned gatehouse on the far edge of a distant relative's estate. There, she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how--by writing novels in secret.

Captain Matthew Bryant, returning to England successful and wealthy after the Napoleonic wars, leases an impressive estate from a cash-poor nobleman, determined to show the society beauty who once rejected him what a colossal mistake she made. When he discovers an old gatehouse on the property, he is immediately intrigued by its striking young inhabitant. But falling in love with an outcast would ruin his well-laid plans.


My Review:
The Girl in the Gatehouse is a Christian historical romance set in 1813 in England. This novel was a Regency romance, but it came from a slightly different viewpoint than the usual respectable heroes and heroines. The manners and propriety were there, but there were also a few stolen, private kisses. And the heroine is a girl who was tempted and mislead into "giving in" to the man she thought intended to marry her. Now she's now having to deal with the resulting disgrace.

The characters were engaging, varied, and acted in realistic ways. I liked how the ex-naval officers got bored with living like gentlemen and wanted more action. The main suspense was from relationship tensions, uncovering various secrets, and wondering if Mariah's books would do well enough to pay the rent. The end got a little complicated with the number of secrets exposed and righted. But it's a happily-ever-after sort of story even if there were some sad parts for Mariah before getting there.

The Christian element was about forgiveness. Mariah felt unworthy of God (so she didn't go to church) and unworthy of being loved. Bryant was kind toward Mariah and wanted to somehow remove the scandal attached to her name, but when he realized he loved her and that her past would affect him personally, it was a little harder. It was a natural issue for them to struggle with.

There were no graphic sex scenes and no bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable 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.

Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop

As a part of the Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop, I'm holding a giveaway for your choice of one of the following books:


Moonlight Masquerade by Ruth Axtell is a Christian Regency romance novel. You can read my review.

Lady Celine Wexham is French by birth but enjoys life in 1813 as a widowed English countess. She is in the unique position of being able to spy for one of the French political groups.

Rees Phillips is asked by the Home Office to pose as the countess's butler and discover where her true loyalties lie. He's been promised a career promotion--perhaps attached to a diplomat as he always wished. The longer he observes her kindness toward all, no matter their social class, the more he hopes Lady Wexham isn't a spy. If she is, she's playing a dangerous game...


Town in a Pumpkin Bash by B.B. Haywood is a cozy mystery. You can read my review.

Preparations for the Pumpkin Bash, Cape Willington’s annual Halloween festival, are well underway. Candy Holliday is helping a friend run a pumpkin stand and a haunted hayride in the hopes of making some extra cash.

But when she discovers a real dead body near some fake tombstones on their hayride route, Candy uses her keen eye for detail to investigate. As her search leads her through old graveyards and a haunted house, Candy will discover that not all of the skeletons hidden in this small town’s closets are Halloween decorations…


This contest is for USA & Canada residents only.


To enter the giveaway:

1) 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.

OR

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


This giveaway ends on April 5, 2013 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner on April 6, 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 Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop:

Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer

Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer ISBN-13: 9780525079767 Hardcover: 253 pages Publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. Released: 1970

Source: Bought through Half.com.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Lord Desford's parents would like to see him married, but he rejected their choice of Miss Henrietta Silverdale many years ago. He is still close to Henrietta, though, since they were childhood playmates and the best of friends.

When Desford helps Charity Steane to travel to her grandfather after she runs away from her horrid aunt's house, he finds himself in a pickle: the grandfather has left London without telling anyone where he was headed. Desford leaves Charity with Henrietta and goes in search of her grandfather, but he's in for a series of surprises.


My Review:
Charity Girl is a historical romance novel set in England during the British Regency period (1811-1820). As usual for Heyer, the story was very funny. There was a nice level of historical detail woven into the story, and the characters were all enjoyable. It was clear which woman was best suited to Desford, and it was fun seeing how they would finally end up together. The only reason this book didn't quite rate among my very favorite Heyer's novels is that a few scenes ran on a little too long, in my opinion.

There was no sex. There was some explicit bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this humorous romance.


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 Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop. Including Twitter entries, we had 54 entries. Using a random number generator and numbering the entrants in the order I received them, the winner is:

Darlene (darlenesbooknook)
who won "The Christie Curse"

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.

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen ISBN-13: 9780545284158 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press Released: March 1, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, my take:
Just weeks after Jaron took the throne, a pirate assassin attacks him in his castle and delivers a message: the pirates demand that Jaron is given to them or they will join with Carthya's enemies. Yet no one else is willing to admit that war is coming even though it's so obvious to Jaron.

When another's political move threatens Jaron's tenuous authority, he decides that the only way to stop the threat is if he goes to confront the pirates by himself. But how can one boy manage to destroy the threat of the pirates, especially when a skilled swordsman--a friend-turned-enemy--is one of them?


My Review:
The Runaway King is a middle grade or young adult fantasy novel. It's the second book in the series, and I'd recommend reading the books in order. This book assumed the reader knew the full reasons behind the strong bonds of friendship between Jason and certain characters. If you read this book before The False Prince, you'll probably wonder why certain characters act the way they do.

As with the first book, the twists in this story won't surprise anyone who reads a lot of traditional fantasy. This book was more focused on the action and danger than on character development. The new characters were interesting and varied, but very few of the characters that I cared about from the first novel played much of a role in this one.

In the first book, Jaron didn't outright think about who really he was, but we got plenty of clues. He also was very clever about spotting intrigues that others didn't see. Yet, in this book, Jaron didn't seem to see an obvious plot going on under his nose. We're also not told Jaron's ultimate motives or intentions until nearly after the fact. He kept wondering how he would "destroy the pirates" when the solution was obvious to me and should have been to him, but he never thought, "I can't do plan A because..." So I was left feeling mildly frustrated with him. It turned out that he did have a good reason--two good reasons--why he didn't immediately do the "obvious solution" and he wasn't as clueless as he sometimes seemed. Yet I would have enjoyed the story more if I'd understood why he was acting in ways that didn't make sense to me.

Despite this frustration, I did enjoy the story and intend to read the final book in the trilogy. This book ended on a cliff-hanger, but part of the cliff-hanger seemed forced. Everyone knows Jaron has a weak spot, he knows that the border area isn't safe, so why...? The same result could have occurred without our clever main characters practically begging the bad guys to do it. Who knows? Maybe it'll turn out that they did do it on purpose.

There was a very minor amount of "he cursed" style of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this fantasy novel to those who liked the first book.


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.

Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop

As a part of the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop, I'm holding a giveaway for your choice of one of the following books:


The Christie Curse by Victoria Abbott is a cozy mystery novel. You can read my review. (If you don't, be advised that this novel contains some explicit bad language.)

Jordan Kelly is living in Harrison Falls, New York, with her not so law-abiding uncles. Enter the perfect job, a research position that includes room and board, which will allow her to spend her days hunting down rare mysteries for an avid book collector.

Jordan’s first assignment is to track down a rumored Agatha Christie play. It seems easy enough, but Jordan soon finds out that her predecessor was killed while looking for it, and there is still someone out there willing to murder to keep the play out of Vera’s hands.


Moonlight Masquerade by Ruth Axtell is a Christian Regency romance novel. You can read my review.

Lady Celine Wexham is French by birth but enjoys life in 1813 as a widowed English countess. She is in the unique position of being able to spy for one of the French political groups.

Rees Phillips is asked by the Home Office to pose as the countess's butler and discover where her true loyalties lie. He's been promised a career promotion--perhaps attached to a diplomat as he always wished. The longer he observes her kindness toward all, no matter their social class, the more he hopes Lady Wexham isn't a spy. If she is, she's playing a dangerous game...


This contest is for USA & Canada residents only.


To enter the giveaway:

1) 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.

OR

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


This giveaway ends on March 22, 2013 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner on March 23, 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 Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop: