Category Archives: blog tours
How to Know When You’ve Found a REALLY Good Book (and a Kindle giveaway!)
Not sure if you’ve found a great book? If so, you may find yourself employing rationalization techniques (like these). If the book is really, really good, however, the signs may be far less obvious. Here are some clues.
- You bring your book with you while walking the kids to school … even if the school is only three short blocks away.
- Your solo lunch break between errands turns into a three-hour afternoon lost in the roaring ’20s.
- Your audible gasps attract the attention of people two tables away during your lunch-break-turned-three-hour-afternoon-lost-in-the-roaring-’20s.
- Your neck is red from clutching it while reading.
- Your husband wakes at 1am to find you wide awake, nestled with you favorite blanket, your book and a healthy mountain of tear-filled tissues.
It’s no secret: Susan May Warren is one of my very, very favorite authors. Her latest series — Daughters of Fortune — tackles a different genre than most of her spunky, chick-lit contemporary romances. I reviewed the first book last fall. Today I’m going to share with you Book 2: Baroness.
This title takes place six years after the first. Heiress followed sisters Esme and Jinx; Baroness follows their daughters, Lilly and Rosie. These girls definitely come from their mothers’ stock. I recognized so much of their mothers in them, yet they had their own mountains to climb, their own lessons to learn. Rather than being in the Gilded Age of Titanic fame, these girls come of age during the roaring 20s. While tangling themselves both in culture and society from Paris to the mob underworld in New York and Chicago and even to the dangerous heights of early aviation, they challenge the roles of women and the fine lines of propriety. As always, Warren’s characters are fabulous. They’re complexities absorb readers, seamlessly investing our hearts in their successes and mistakes.
Throughout all of this, one question resonates: What are the limits of God’s love?
If you read Heiress, you know these girls were born into baggage. They’ve enough drama within their bloodlines to fuel stage and tabloids. Can God’s love reach even them? At what point will He give up and refuse to forgive? Can they be loved and free at the same time? At what cost?
This book hit every one of those clues listed above. I loved it! As with most series, I do recommend starting at the beginning, but I believe one could still thoroughly enjoy both this and its prequel if read out of order.
Now for a bit more from the author and publicists.
About the book:
Lilly and Rose, daughters of an empire coming of age in the roaring twenties, can have anything they want … except freedom.
Expected to marry well and to take the reins of the empire, they have their lives planned out for them. But, Lilly, Esme’s daughter longs to return home to Montana, to adventure outside the confines of New York City. And Jinx’s daughter Rosie dreams of the bright lights of the newly emerging silver screen. But following their dreams – from avant garde France, to Broadway, to the skies in the world of barnstormers and wing-walkers will take all their courage.
And if they find love, will they choose freedom or happily ever after?
Find out more from Behind the Pages.
Find out what the reviewers are saying here!
Click here to purchase the book from Amazon.com.
About the Author:
Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning novelist of over thirty novels. A five-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Carol Award.
A seasoned women’s events speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!.
She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice. You can find her online at www.susanmaywarren.com.
About the Giveaway and Party:
Celebrate with Susan by entering her Roaring 20′s Giveaway!
One grand prize winner will receive:
- A Kindle Fire
- Signed copies of Baroness and Heiress by Susan May Warren
But hurry, the giveaway ends on 5/7/12. The winner will be announced on 5/9/12 on Susan’s blog, Scribbles!
Just click one of the icons below to enter! Tell your friends about Susan’s giveaway on FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.
Your Turn: What are clues that you’ve found lost yourself in an absolutely delicious book?
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The Wedding Dress
Sometimes a book’s storytelling is so deliciously enchanting that a glance at the back of the book seems scandalous. I can’t risk diminishing the pleasure of discovering the story as it unfolds. I don’t want to be told what the book is about; I want to experience it as the characters do. No preludes. No synopsis. No back cover blurbs or enthusiastic reader reviews. Just the story pure and unspoiled.
Rachel Hauck’s latest novel — The Wedding Dress — is one such book. In fact, loving and trusting Rachel as I do, I signed up for this blog tour knowing absolutely nothing about the book. I knew she wrote it and I wanted to read it. If I were you, I would stop reading this post right now. I would get the book immediately and refuse to read anything else about it, including the back cover. Start with chapter one. You’ll love it. I promise.
If, however, you need a little more than my glowing endorsement and rationalization tips — or if you want to a chance to win $200, a free copy of the book and possibly a skype date with the author — keep reading. Read the rest of this entry
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Leaping Faith
My husband teases me for keeping a red pen near when I read novels. Yes, sometimes that crimson friend is for marking missed errors that will be compiled into an email to the editor. More often, however, that pen is for noting things of significance. Good fiction can cut right to the heart more efficiently and in a more memorable way than most nonfiction. Those are the lines that I mark. Those are the paragraphs I want to remember.
I recently read a novel by Tessa Afshar. A sweet friend recommended it to me. I’m so glad she did.
Pearl in the Sand (Moody Publishers, September 2010), a fictionalized account of Rahab from the Bible, is filled with multi-faceted characters and profound truths about God and faith. There are many parts I found absolutely fascinating, sections that challenged me to look deeper into the Scriptural account. Other chapters urged me to evaluate my faith and commitment to God. It is one such scene that I want to share with you today. Read the rest of this entry
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Four Letter Words (and a giveaway!)
What used to be expected and assumed is now questioned, criticized and even mocked. We live in a post-modern world, one that questions everything, but never accepts concrete answers. The problem is that many Christians still approach life as if everyone agrees with us. Or at least that they would if they were simply informed. This is a dangerous place to be. When faced with relativism, circular reasoning and theories presented as facts, many believers choose to question their faith before questioning the opposition. Why? Because they are not equipped.
Four Letter Words, by Dr. Bill Giovannetti, seeks to equip readers (specifically upper high school and college-aged believers) with the logic behind our faith and the prevalent holes in modern thinking. While I don’t agree with everything he wrote, the book offers an excellent starting point for contemporary apologetics. Read the rest of this entry
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The Shadow of Your Smile (and a giveaway!)
Susan May Warren is the contemporary author I recommend most and most freely. Every one one of her books not only entertains, but also inspires me to investigate myself. My husband teases me about underlining text in novels. I do! But it’s because I learn something about God and something about myself in every single one of her books. I don’t want to forget those lessons. She is a tremendous writer, a beautiful tool used by God.
Her latest book, The Shadow of Your Smile, is another in the Deep Haven series. (I believe this is the fifth.) As always, she features new characters far enough removed from the last that you feel still the cozy familiarity of a series, but without redundancy or direct tie-ins. Each book can stand on its own. This series can be read out of order.
About the book:
After twenty-five years of marriage, Noelle and Eli Hueston are contemplating divorce. They’ve been through a lot together, but instead of growing closer, they’ve gone separate ways. They both have secrets. When an accident erases part of Noelle’s memory, she wakes without any memory of Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. In fact, she believes she’s still a college co-ed, incredulous that this is her body, her husband, her life. Why did nothing turn out like she dreamed? As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-funny, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember? Read the rest of this entry
Author Interview: Kathi Macias
Deliver Me From Evil is the first book in Kathi Macias’s Freedom series. It seeks to expose the truth behind modern day slavery, specifically sexual exploitation both here in the United States and abroad.
I have to stop here. Those of you who know me or have followed this blog for a while know that my family possesses a history of sexual abuse covering several generations. I praise God every time I look at my daughter that He has enabled us to escape and break this destructive cycle. I mention this here (1) to praise God, but (2) to let you know that I did not want to read this book. Just the cover description made me nervous and nauseous. But I believe in this cause. I believe that too many people are ignorant of what is going in the shadows much closer than most realize. And so I read the book.
If you are worried about gut-wrenching explicit descriptions of despicable acts, relax. This author does a fantastic job of making people aware of the presence and reality of these truths without glorifying them, without forcing those interested in the cause to rub our noses in the filth. I so very much appreciate this. Readers don’t need to know exactly how bad things are too understand that they exceeded bad. They have crossed too many lines and we cannot stand for it any more. Action must be taken.
Okay, sidebar pushed back to the side, today I have the honor of hosting an interview with Kathi Macias, the author of this book. Let’s get started. Read the rest of this entry
Baby, It’s Cold Outside! (a giveaway!)
It’s not really cold here. Yet. But I’ve been feeling all wintery anyway.
With Zach having PT three hours a week and regular orthopedic appoints, with Ellie having piano and the odd necessity for me to arrive at the school an hour before pick-up just so I can get a decent parking spot, well, all of these factors have joined forces to give me lots and lots of waiting time — a.k.a. reading time.
One of the books I recently finished was Susan May Warren’s Baby, It’s Cold Outside. This novel tells of five near-strangers trapped in a storm house during a Christmas blizzard. It may have been seventy degrees outside, but you can bet I, vicariously trapped in the story, grabbed my fuzzy socks, made hot chocolate and asked my husband to start up the fire. (In case you’re wondering, he refused to fuel my fantasies.)
Speaking of fire, have you seen Amazon’s new Fire? Being the ebook convert and Kindle evangelist that I am, I watched the live podcast of its release and, of course, my husband ordered one that same day. So cool! I’m still waiting for it to arrive so I can steal it from Rick’s sweet hands.
As part of this book’s release, the author is hosting a giveaway — including a new Fire! Oh, and of course a free copy of this heart-warming book.
Here are the details:
Warm up to Christmas early this year with Susan May Warren’s Baby, It’s Cold Outside! To celebrate the release of her new Christmas book with Summerside Press, she and the publisher are giving away a Kindle Fire and hosting an early Christmas Party on Facebook!
Read what the reviewers are saying here.
One festive winner will receive:
- A brand new Kindle Fire
- Baby, It’s Cold Outside by Susan May Warren
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. Giveaway ends on 10/26!
But, wait there’s more! Join Susan May Warren on 10/27 for merriment and a few early Christmas presents at her Baby, It’s Cold Outside Christmas party! Grab your Christmas sweaters, socks and pj’s and join Susan and a few friends for a fireside chat about her recent books (Heiress & Baby, It’s Cold Outside), holiday traditions, favorite Christmas recipes, a trivia contest and more! Invite your friends and don’t miss the fun!
RSVP here and we’ll see you on October 27th at 5 PM PST / 8 PM EST!
A New Book and a Giveaway from Susan May Warren
Susan May Warren is one of my very favorite authors. I have read more than ten of her books in the past two years. I love her spunky contemporary characters and am thrilled to see this same strength applied to her latest historical drama, Heiress.
About the book: A richly complex historical romance, Heiress is the first in Susan’s three book Daughters of Fortune series.
The beautiful and wealthy heiress daughters of August Price can buy everything their hearts desire. But what if their desire is to be loved, without an enormous price tag attached? When one sister betrays another for the sake of love, will she find happiness? And what happens when the other sets out across the still untamed frontier to find it—will she discover she’s left it behind in the glamorous world of the New York gilded society? What price will each woman pay for being an heiress?
Set in the opulent world of the Gilded Age, two women discover that being an heiress just might cost them everything they love.
Find out what the reviewers are saying here.
About the author: Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan and her husband returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where their family is active in their local church. She’s also busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!) Read the rest of this entry
A Kindle Giveaway and a Great New Book
My husband tells me I’ve become a Kindle evangelist. It’s not that Kindles are the bees knees, necessarily. I mean, it’s not the device that I adore. It’s the ease with which I can enjoy what I truly adore: reading. I love my Kindle, but only because I really, really love books.
Debora Coty’s release party delights me. She’s giving away a Kindle AND a great book! Details for the giveaway are below. Let me tell you about the book first.
Too Blessed to Be Stressed
You want Debora Coty’s book because:
- It’s cute!
Okay, so “cute” isn’t a #1 reason to buy a book, but it does make a difference. The small size and colorful pages make me want to pick it up and fill my mind and heart with the great insights held within. - It’s packed with biblically-sound advice, loads of Scripture and fun quotes from all sorts of people.
- Short, manageable chapters.
Always less than five pages. You can read a chapter while cooking dinner or waiting in line at the store. Back to the “cute” point, this book fits nicely in any purse.
- Practical tips from someone who knows.
Think your life is nuts? Check out this author’s bio: speaker, author, piano teacher, orthopedic occupational therapist, writing instructor, tennis enthusiast, wife, mother and pet owner. Yup. She understands stress. Better: she shares in this book how we can deal with it in healthy, God-honoring ways. - It’s very, very funny.
Funny doesn’t seem to wrap it up. Witty seems too lofty.
Just read it. I loved it.
Read what other reviewers are saying here.
Too Blessed to be Stressed is a fun-filled read overflowing with insights and practical tips. Perfectly delicious for living happily ever after!
-Rhonda Rhea, best-selling author of Whatsoever Things Are Lovely
Debora has created a “Too Blessed” prize package worth over $150! One grand prize winner will receive:
* A brand new Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi and Pearl Screen
* Too Blessed to Be Stressed by Debora Coty (for KINDLE)
To enter just click one of the icons below. Hurry! The giveaway ends August 25th. Winner will be announced on the evening of the 18th during Debora’s De-Stress Facebook Party! Debora will be hosting a “life-preserver” chat (it’s okay if you haven’t read the book – who knows, you might WIN a copy!), testing trivia skills, swapping funny stories, handing out some decom-stress tips, and giving away tons of great stuff! (Chocolate, books, and more!) Hope to see you there. Bring your friends and join the fun on August 25th at 5:00 PM PST (6 PM MDT, 7 PM CDT, & 8 PM EDT).
Also – be sure to check out Debora’s series of Stress-Buster videos at her website: www.deboracoty.com. She’s also hosting a photo caption contest on her blog for a chance to win a copy of Too Blessed to Be Stressed.
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My Foolish Heart (Book Tour)
If you have not yet read a book by Susan May Warren, get thee to a bookstore. Remedy the situation as quickly as humanly possible.
I was first introduced to this author when her publicists sent me Nothing But Trouble, the first in the PJ Sugar series, in 2009. I loved the book, but, of course, had to wait months for the next volume to come out and by that time had filled my shelves with a ton of other books demanding to be read first.
Last summer the third PJ Sugar book came out. Now that I had the whole trilogy, I could read without any need for patience. After three solid hits, my addiction solidified. That series led to the Noble Legacy series which led to the Deep Haven series … I believe I’ve read 11 of her books in less than ten months.
Today I’m hosting a blog tour for her newest title, the fourth book in the Deep Haven series. Read the rest of this entry
