Slip of the Knife - Win this book here!

Slip of the Knife
by Denise Mina

Paddy Meehan is no stranger to murder--as a reporter she lives at crime scenes--but nothing has prepared her for this visit from the police. Her former boyfriend and fellow journalist Terry Patterson has been found hooded and shot through the head. Paddy knows she will be of little help--she had not seen Terry in more than six months. So she is bewildered to learn that in his will he has left her his house and several suitcases full of notes. Drawn into a maze of secrets and lies, Paddy begins making connections to Terry's murder that no one else has seen, and soon finds herself trapped in the most important--and dangerous--story of her career.

Read an excerpt.

Here is the Reading Group Guide for Slip of the Knife -

1. Why do you think Denise Mina chooses to begin the novel from Terry’s point of view? Is his death so early in the novel a surprise?

2. Paddy’s family members play important roles in this novel. How have the Meehan family dynamics changed since the death of Paddy’s father? What is the importance of Mary Ann’s vocation to her mother? Discuss the alternative forms of “family” that the novel presents. How does Paddy’s own definition of family change in the course of the novel?

3. How does Paddy’s life as a single mother affect her relationship to her work? What does the novel suggest about the balance between personal and professional obligations for a character like Paddy?

4. Discuss the role Callum Ogilvy plays in the story. Does your opinion of him change from the novel’s beginning to end?

5. Discuss the ways in which religion limits different characters’ views of each other in the novel.

6. Much of Slip of the Knife is concerned with changes to the journalistic profession and the economic difficulties facing newspapers today. Describe some of these changes, and discuss the ways in which they affect the kinds of journalism that gets published.

7. Discuss the differences between Brian Donaldson and Martin McBree. Is either of them ever a sympathetic character? Why do you think Denise Mina chooses to narrate parts of the novel from Martin McBree’s perspective?

8. Explain why the Scottish police are protecting Martin McBree. How does this novel change your understanding of present day relations between Scotland and Ireland? Among Scotland, Ireland, and England?

9. What is Slip of the Knife saying about the usefulness of revenge? Does the novel carry a message about what makes a political cause just or unjust?

10. What do you think the future holds for Paddy and Dub as a couple?

Giveaway

I have five copies of this paperback book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) give me a link to your blog - or if you don't have a blog - you're favorite blog! Oh - and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Apr 9!

Giveaway - Laura Rider's Masterpiece!

Laura Rider's Masterpiece
by Jane Hamilton

Laura and Charlie Rider have been married for twelve years. They share their nursery business in rural Wisconsin, their love for their animals, and their zeal for storytelling. Although Charlie's enthusiasm in the bedroom has worn Laura out, although she no longer sleeps with him, they are happy enough going along in their routine.

Jenna Faroli is the host of a popular radio show, and in Laura's mind is "the single most famous person in the Town of Dover." When Jenna happens to cross Charlie's path one day, and they begin an e-mail correspondence, Laura cannot resist using Charlie to try out her new writing skills. Together, Laura and Charlie craft florid, strangely intimate messages that entice Jenna in an unexpected way. The "project" quickly spins out of control. The lines between Laura's words and Charlie's feelings are blurred and complicated, Jenna is transformed in ways that deeply disturb her, and Laura is transformed in her mind's eye into an artist. The transformations are hilarious and poignant, and for Laura Rider, beyond her wildest expectations.

Here is a Reader's Guide to use also!

1. Laura muses that “she could only be her ultimate self when she was alone.” She isn’t the only one who has a clear “real” self and a constructed self. In what ways do the characters create new personas? Are these personalities convincing? Are they necessary?

2. Does Laura have the talent to be a writer? Are there rules that writers must follow, as she believes? Is Jenna correct when she suggests that it’s impossible to write without a historical knowledge of what has come before you?

3. How does the first interaction between Charlie and Jenna at the side of the road set the tone for their relationship? What changes and what remains the same once Laura is involved?

4. It is made clear during her interview with Jenna and again at the writers’ conference that Laura is not terribly knowledgeable about books and writing. Was she also naïve to involve her husband with another woman? What other characters display inexperience or ignorance?

5. Charlie and Laura are similar to Jenna and Frank in that both couples’ passion for one another has cooled after years of marriage. In what other ways are the couples similar? How are they different?

6. How has e-mail affected correspondence? How has it affected writing in general? What opinions would Charlie, Laura, and Jenna each have on the topic?

7. When Charlie thinks back to his childhood and his life with Laura, he recognizes that Prairie Wind Farm “had never been his goal, in part because he’d never had any particular goals.” If not his job, what else drives Charlie? What other examples are there of the gap between desire and reality?

8. Is a “conscious romance” possible? What kind of relationship would that be like?

9. Is it possible that Laura did, in fact, mean to paste Jenna’s e-mail, whether Laura realizes it consciously or not? Why would she have done it intentionally? Why is her reaction to the e-mail being sent out so different from Charlie’s and Jenna’s reactions?

10. Laura Rider starts a list of what women want. What would be on your list?

11. Who, in the end, has the upper hand in the Jenna Faroli Radio Show interview with Laura Rider? Or do neither or both have the upper hand?

12. Is any character responsible for Jenna and Charlie’s affair? Who or what would be the cause according to Laura? Jenna? Charlie?

13. What is the attraction, either romantic or not, between Charlie, Laura, and Jenna? What does each of them provide to each of the others?

14. In this satire, are all the characters skewered equally?

15. What does Hamilton seem to be saying about the writing life? Are writers necessarily ruthless?

Giveaway

I have three copies of this paperback book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) tell us if you have ever wanted to be a writer! Oh - and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Apr 8!

New Audiobook Giveaway: Worst Case by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Worst Case
by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
read by Bobby Canavale, John Glover, Orlagh Cassidy

One by one, children of New York's wealthiest are taken hostage. But the criminal doesn't crave money or power--he only wants to ask the elite if they know the price others pay for their luxurious lifestyles. And, if they don't, he corrects their ignorance--by killing them.

To Detective Michael Bennett, it becomes clear that these murders are linked and must be part of a greater, more public demonstration. With the city thrown into chaos, he is forced to team up with FBI agent Emily Parker, and the two set out to capture the killer before he begins his most public lesson yet--a deadly message for the entire city to witness.

From the bestselling author who brought you the Alex Cross novels comes James Patterson's most action-packed series yet. With the heart-pounding suspense that only Patterson delivers, WORST CASE will leave you gasping for breath until the very end.

Listen to an Excerpt
View the Video
Visit JamesPatterson.com

Giveaway

I have three copies of this audiobook giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) who is your favorite literary detective (policeman/woman, amateur sleuth, etc). Oh - and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Apr 7!

New Audio Giveaway: Black Hills by Dan Simmons

Black Hills
by Dan Simmons
read by Erik Davies and Michael McConnohie


Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, first encounters General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at Little Bighorn. He believes--as do the holy men of his tribe--that the legendary general's ghost entered him at that moment and will remain with him until Sapa convinces him to leave.

In BLACK HILLS, Dan Simmons weaves the stories of Paha Sapa and Custer together seamlessly, depicting a violent and tumultuous time in the history of Native Americans and the United States Army. Haunted by the voice of the general his people called "Long Hair," Paha Sapa lives a long life, driven by a dramatic vision he experiences in the Black Hills that are his tribe's homeland. As an explosives worker on the massive Mount Rushmore project, he may finally be rid of his ghosts--on the very day FDR comes to South Dakota to dedicate the Jefferson face.

Listen to an Excerpt
Become a Fan on Facebook
Visit DanSimmons.com

Giveaway

I have three copies of this audiobook giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) just leave a comment. Oh - and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Apr 7!

Cole. . . I Love YOu to the Moon and Back by Aaron Ruotsala (Book Review) and Giveaway!

Title: Cole. . .I Love You to the Moon and Back
Author: Aaron Dean Ruotsala
Publisher: Xulon Press

About the book: Aaron Dean Ruotsala, 24-year-old husband, father, business owner, and pilot shares a true story about a heart-wrenching experience he calls the best and worst experience of a lifetime. This story will provoke you to laughter, tears, and cause you to examine yourself and your role as a human on this temporal journey. His prayer is that all who read this amazing story will learn from the experience in which they had no choice, to realize that when life brings you to the darkest, deepest, loneliest point imaginable, you will recognize what really matters in life. So, please laugh, cry, share, examine, and mostly enjoy this book that is certain to make you ask the question: "What if this happened to me?" The reality is that it could.

My thoughts: The strength and faith of this family is amazing. I am not sure that I would have such grace under these circumstances. They set up a Caring Bridge site and through it received much comfort and strength, but I believe at the same time they also gave as much as they received. Much of the book is the journal entries that were Aaron posted at Caring Bridge as well as many of the entries that guests left. This little boy had over 600,000 hits on his website within 2 months. He touched so many people, many of whom shared their stories of renewed marriages, renewed faith, new faith, due to Cole and his illness - with the majority of these people having never met him or his family. This book makes you take a look at what is important in your life - and realize that these people may not be there tomorrow - so make the most of them and your relationships with them today! I highly recommend reading this book.

The family has set up a foundation at www.colesfoundation.com which provides support to families in crisis, especially those who have children fighting cancer. Everyone, whether they read this book or not, should visit this site. You can also read more about Cole's story at his Caring Bridge page.

As an aside, I had started reading this book before we left to go skiing last week - and finished the book at Big Powderhorn Mountain - in Ironwood, Michigan - where the Ruotsala's are from - if that isn't a strange coincidence, I don't know what is!

Cole. . .I Love You to the Moon and Back
Publisher/Publication Date: Xulon Press, May 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60791-444-0
220 pages

~I received this book free for review from Side Door Communications.~

For the Giveaway!

Side Door Communications has provided an audio version of Cole. . .I Love You to the Moon and Back for one of my readers!

To enter the giveaway - just leave a comment here. You can get an additional entry if you follow or subscribe, etc and another one for tweeting! Please leave each entry in a separate comment and leave an email address so that I can reach you!

The giveaway is restricted to US/Canada and will end on April 7th. Good luck!

Win 100 postcards from UPrinting.com!

Enter now for a chance to win a set of 100 4 x 6 custom postcards. These postcards will be printed on 14 pt Cardstock Gloss - Full Color on BOTH sides! There is only a 3 business day turnaround and FREE UPS shipping!

Now, if you are like me, you are probably thinking... What in the world could I use postcards for? Let me give you some ideas - If you have a business - then the uses are endless - from promotions to giveaways - to grand openings. Since I don't have a business, I started thinking.... my daughter's high school graduation, big wedding anniversary's - think silver or gold, Birth announcements, or how about just a fun family photo to say How's your summer going? You can visit their postcard printing sight to see some of the beautiful samples.

Visit UPrinting.com for all your printing needs - from poster printing to promotional printing and everything in between.

So sign up now for your chance to win 100 4 x 6 postcards today!

To enter, please leave a comment telling me what you would use your postcards for - include your email address, because if I can't find you... you can't win!
This giveaway is restricted to US residents only and will end on March 30.
One entry per person.

To Sin with a Scoundrel - Giveaway!

To Sin with a Scoundrel
by Cara Elliott

A reclusive widow known for her scientific scholarship, Lady Ciara Sheffield is shadowed by rumors that she poisoned her husband . . . A rakehell rogue notorious for his devil-may-care antics, Lucas Bingham--the Earl of Hadley--is not accused of murdering anything--save for the rules of Polite Society. The only thing they have in common is seeing their names featured in the lurid gossip columns of London's newspapers. Until an ancient manuscript draws them together.

Ciara needs a titled fiancé to quell the slanderous speculations which may send her to the gallows. Lucas needs brilliant scholar to help his elderly uncle decipher the secrets of the mysterious manuscript. So when her friends urge her to accept the earl's proposal of a temporary alliance, Ciara decides that she has no choice but to make a deal with the Devil. And so begins a seductive dance of sinful pleasures and hidden desires as the two of them waltz through the mansions of Mayfair. Lies, intrigue, treachery, sex. They find themselves facing slanderous whispers, unscrupulous relatives-not to speak of their own simmering passions, which quickly ignite into dangerous flames. It's a potent mix and the result may be explosive-and perhaps deadly-if they don't watch their step. (Hachette)

Giveaway

I have five copies of this paperback book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) just leave a comment. Oh - and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Mar 9!

Giveaway of The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock

The Moon Looked Down
by Dorothy Garlock

The new Americana romance from bestselling author Dorothy Garlock, this time set against the backdrop of WWII. Sophie Heller's family immigrated from Germany to Victory, a small town in Illinois, before WWII began. Now that the war has affected the town, the townspeople discriminate against Sophie and her family. When a train derails, it is an accident but the Heller family is blamed. Coming to Sophie's rescue is a teacher from the high school, and despite their cultural differences, a romance starts to bloom.

Read an excerpt

Giveaway

I have five copies of this paperback book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) tell me your favorite WWII novel - if you have one. Oh - and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Mar 8!

Jordan - Book 3 of The Pendragon Legacy - Win it Here!

Jordan
by Susan Kearney

1600 years ago, Jordan was the sole survivor of a ruthless Tribe attack which annihilated his world. To stop the Tribes deadly galactic conquest from continuing, he followed the Tribes to Earth, assumed the name Merlin and assisted King Arthur and his Knights to save Earth. When Arthur died, Camelot fell and Jordan lost his Ancient Staff. Now, over 1000 years later, the Tribes are back and so is Jordan. He’s recovered his Ancient Staff and is again on the trail of the Holy Grail to save Earth and protect the galaxy.

Vivianne Blackstone is a lady with her own agenda. An American businesswoman, self-made billionaire and a fighter from the get-go, she’s confident, capable and a definite type A personality. One of Earth’s brightest and most loyal citizens, she vows to do her part to save the planet when she learns the Tribes are on the move again.

Jordan and Vivianne team up to save Earth and along the way they fall in love. But according to galactic legend, there’s only 1 way to defeat the Tribes: Uniting the Ancient Staff with the Holy Grail. There’s only one catch, Jordan cannot live without the Ancient Staff. To defeat the Tribes and save Earth, he must perish. (author's website)

Giveaway

I have five copies of this book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) do you have a favorite paranormal series to recommend? Oh - and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Mar 1! Good luck!

Win the audiobook Absolute Power by David Baldacci

Absolute Power
by David Baldacci

Available for the first time Unabridged on CD in an all-new recording by Scott Brick, the first of the blockbuster thrillers by New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci. The book that will change the way you think about Washington - and power - forever. In a heavily guarded mansion in a posh Virginia suburb, a man and a woman start to make love, trapping a burglar behind a secret wall. Then the passion turns deadly, and the witness is running into the night. Because what he has just seen is a brutal slaying involving the president of the United States.

Luther Whitney is the career break-in artist who's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alan Richmond is the charming U.S. president with the power to commit any crime. And Jack Graham is the young attorney caught in a vortex between absolute truth and... ABSOLUTE POWER.

Listen to an Excerpt

Giveaway

I have three copies of this audiobook to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) please tell me if you have read one of David Baldacci's other novels and/or your favorite and also leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 12th! Good luck!

Giveaway of The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

The Last Song
by Nicholas Sparks

Seventeen year old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alientated from her parents, especially her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.

The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels--first love, love between parents and children -- that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them.

Reading Group Guide

Giveaway

I have three copies of this paperback book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) just tell me your favorite movie that is based on a book and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 12th! Good luck!

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris - Win the Audiobook!

The Unnamed
by Joshua Ferris

Joshua Ferris' debut novel Then We Came to the End was both heralded by critics and a New York Times bestseller, and marked the arrival of a startlingly talented young writer. With THE UNNAMED, Ferris imagines the collision between one man's free will and the forces of nature that are bigger than any of us.

Tim Farnsworth walks. He walks out of meetings and out of bed. He walks in sweltering heat and numbing cold. He will walk without stopping until he falls asleep, wherever he is. This curious affliction has baffled medical experts around the globe--and come perilously close to ruining what should be a happy life. Tim has a loving family, a successful law career and a beautiful suburban home, all of which he maintains spectacularly well until his feet start moving again.

What drives a man to stay in a marriage, in a job? What forces him away? Is love or conscience enough to overcome the darker, stronger urges of the natural world? THE UNNAMED is a deeply felt, luminous novel about modern life, ancient yearnings, and the power of human understanding.

Giveaway

I have three copies of this audiobook to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) please tell me a new author you read last year and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 11th! Good luck!

Win Dare to Surrender by Lilli Feisty

Dare to Surrender
by Lilli Feisty

HE MEETS HIS MATCH. SHE MEETS HER MASTER. Art gallery curator Joy Montgomery has never liked her body's generous curves. And she's always been too shy to explore her wild side. But tonight, everything is going to change . . . Desperate to save her job, Joy approaches bad-boy artist Ash Hunter and asks him to exhibit his erotic work at her gallery. Ash agrees on one condition: Joy must pose as his model. But business soon turns to pleasure, as Joy experiences a passion beyond her wildest imaginings and Ash finds more than just inspiration in his voluptuous new muse.

Check out the author's website at LillianFeisty.com


Five Fun Facts

1) In Dare to Surrender, my heroine drives a 1979 Diesel Mercedes exactly like the one I drive. I've had two diesel Mercedes, one of which I accidentally filled up with regular gasoline. Turns out diesel cars don't run on gasoline. Who knew? I also drove away from a gas station with the fuel nozzle still inserted in the tank. I didn't notice I had the nozzle sticking out of my car until I glanced in my side mirror to make a left hand turn. I have a long, exciting history with this specific type of vehicle so I had to write one into this story.

2) Joy has a secret habit of belly dancing in the privacy of her own home. When I was writing Dare to Surrender, I played instructional belly dancing videos in the background during most of the time I spent writing. I admit once in awhile I'd get up and dance. When no one was watching, of course.

3) My inspiration for my hero, Ash Hunter, was based on Joe Anderson, who played Henry Austen in the movie Becoming Jane.

4) I've never written a story without at least one sexy scene involving food. Dare to Surrender was no exception. I never knew French fries could be so hot. Pun intended.

5) Dare to Surrender takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nearly every location is based on an actual place I know intimately. Any reader who wants to know more about my barely disguised locals, feel free to email me at lilli@lillianfeisty.com.

Giveaway

I have five copies of this book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) just tell me if you have ever done anything embarrassing while driving your car (like Lilli did in the fun facts above) and leave your email address. (I once hit a parked car because I was watching a guy cross the road in front of me - talk about embarrassing!)

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 11th! Good luck!

Win the audiobook - I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourn

I Am Ozzy
by Ozzy Osbourn

"They've said some crazy things about me over the years. I mean, okay: 'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes. 'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes. But then you hear things like, 'Ozzy went to the show last night, but he wouldn't perform until he'd killed fifteen puppies . . .' Now me, kill fifteen puppies? I love puppies. I've got eighteen of the f**king things at home. I've killed a few cows in my time, mind you. And the chickens. I shot the chickens in my house that night.

It haunts me, all this crazy stuff. Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty f**king years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at f**king two miles per hour.

People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of sixty, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f**king way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time.

A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. I've always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working-class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."

Listen to an Excerpt.

Giveaway

I have three copies of this audiobook to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) please tell me your favorite musician/band and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 10th! Good luck!

Countess of Scandal by Laurel McKee - Giveaway!

Countess of Scandal
by Laurel McKee

As children, Eliza Blacknall and William Denton ran wild over the fields of southern Ireland and swore they would be friends forever. Then fate took Will away to England, while Eliza stayed behind to become a proper Irish countess.

Years later, Will finally makes his way home-as an English soldier sent to crush the Irish uprising. When he spies the lovely Eliza, he is captivated by the passionate woman she has become. But Eliza's passions have led her to join the Irish rebel cause, and Will and Eliza now find themselves on opposite sides of a dangerous conflict.

When Ireland explodes in bloody rebellion, Will's regiment is ordered to the front lines, and he is forced to choose between his duty to the English king and his love for Eliza and their Irish homeland.

Listen to an excerpt.


Five Fun Facts

1) When I was a teenager, my friends were mostly fan-girls for movie stars and rock musicians. Not me. I was a geeky history fan-girl for people like Madame de Pompadour, Marie Antoinette, Anne Boleyn, and Elizabeth I. (I had one friend who inexplicably liked Mary Queen of Scots! Despite the odds, we are still friends.) This made me a weird 14-year-old but has given me endless inspiration for stories. For Countess of Scandal, I looked at women like Mary Ann McCracken, Emily the Duchess of Leinster, and Margaret King.

2) As well as being a historical fan-girl, I’m a bona fide girly-girl, with secret guilty pleasures like Hello Kitty, bright pink shoes, and MAC lipgloss. That means I spend huge amounts of time researching my heroines’ wardrobes.

3) I had an inkling for the beginning of a story that would grow into Countess of Scandal years ago on a tour of the grand house Castletown outside of Dublin. Castletown was once owned by Lady Louisa Conolly, one of the famous Lennox sisters, and the home is stunningly gorgeous. The tour guide provided lots of information about the lives of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy and what they faced in 1798. It just took me a while to meet the characters to fill the story!

4) I have no sisters and always sort of wanted one. I even made my poor little brother have tea parties with me when we were kids. Maybe that’s why I love writing connected stories about sisters.

5) I always create characters collages when I start a new book. This usually entails copious amounts of time online looking at photos of hunky actors. Very hard work, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice for my book! For Countess of Scandal, I was inspired by Rupert Friend in uniform in Pride and Prejudice, and I pictured Eliza as looking something like Rachel Weisz. (I also create soundtracks for books! Lots of Chieftains and the Young Dubliners for this book…)

Giveaway

I have five copies of this book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) tell us if you were a fan-girl of movie stars and rock musicians or a historical fan-girl like Laurel McKee and leave your email address. (I was a fan-girl of movie stars and rock musicians - remember Leif Garret? and then there was a variety show I think in the late 70's with the Keane (?) brothers - very short lived but it was the first fan letter I ever wrote!)

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 10th! Good luck!

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova - Audiobook giveaway

The Swan Thieves
by Elizabeth Kostova

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life--solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. In response, Marlowe finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

Ranging from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

Listen to an Excerpt

Giveaway

I have three copies of this audiobook to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) please tell me your favorite hobby and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 9th! Good luck!

Win The Confident Woman by Joyce Meyer

The Confident Woman:
Start Today Living Boldly and Without Fear
by Joyce Meyer

What keeps women from being their best? Joyce has been helping women better themselves by helping identify emotional barriers and physical, mental, and spiritual obstacles in their lives for years. Now she provides another answer-confidence.

Our society has an insecurity epidemic, women in particular. Compensating by pretending to be secure-a common response-only leads to feelings of shame. Lack of self-confidence causes great difficulty in relationships of all kinds, and in marriage instances can even lead to

divorce.

In THE CONFIDENT WOMAN, Joyce explores the seven characteristics of a woman with confidence, which include a woman who knows she is loved, who refuses to live in fear, and who does not live by comparisons. Joyce explains that confidence stems from being positive in your actions and living honestly, but most importantly from having faith, in God and in ourselves.

Now in paperback, this #1 New York Times bestseller encourages women to boldly embrace all that God created them to be by finding their true confidence.

Giveaway

I have five copies of this book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) leave a comment telling me what you would do if you had all the confidence in the world (and money/resources was not an issue) and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 9th! Good luck!

Audiobook Giveaway -Marriage and Other Acts of Charity by Kate Braestrup

Marriage and Other Acts of Charity: A Memoir
by Kate Braestrup

Kate Braestrup has been married and widowed, betrayed and betrothed, her personal spirituality constantly evolving along the way. How do God and love figure in our everyday lives and bonds with others? In MARRIAGE, AND OTHER ACTS OF CHARITY, she tackles these big questions with stories from her own relationships--romantic and familial, platonic and professional--much as Anne Lamott weaves her spirituality through her tales of parenthood.

With the same compassion and warmth that made Here If You Need Me a New York Times bestseller, Braestrup engages readers fully, regardless of their path in life. She tells us about teaching sex education for her daughter's eighth-grade class, and the welcome embrace extended toward her adopted nephew from Africa. She introduces the essential concept that charity--the key to all relationships--is a whole-hearted selfless emotion, which is but a hint of God's immense devotion. Kate Braestrup's very human outlook gives anyone seeking to understand human relationships a fresh perspective on what it is to love and be loved.

Listen to an Excerpt.

Giveaway

I have three copies of this audiobook to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) please tell me where you listen to your audio books and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 8th! Good luck!

Win The Crazy School by Cornelia Read

The Crazy School
by Cornelia Read

From the acclaimed author of A FIELD OF DARKNESS comes another compelling novel featuring the acerbic and memorable voice of ex-debutante Madeline Dare. Madeline Dare has finally escaped rust-belt

Syracuse, New York, for the lush Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. After her husband's job offer falls through, Maddie signs on as a teacher at the Santangelo Academy, a boarding school for disturbed teenagers. Behind the academy's ornate gates, she discovers a disturbing realm where students and teachers alike must submit to the founder's bizarre therapeutic regimen. From day one, Maddie feels uneasy about smooth-talking Dr. Santangelo but when she questions his methods, she's appalled to find that her fellow teachers would rather turn on each other than stand up for themselves, much less protect the students in their care. A chilling event confirms Maddie's worst suspicions, then hints at an even darker secret history, one that twines through the academy's very heart. Cut off from the outside world, Maddie must join forces with a small band of the school's most violently rebellious students-kids whose troubled grip on reality may well prove to be her only chance of salvation. (Hachette website)

Link to the Reading Group Guide

Giveaway

I have five copies of this paperback book to give away courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) tell me about something you remember from high school and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 8th! Good luck!

Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione - Giveaway!

Ecstasy Unveiled - A Demonica Novel
by Larissa Ione

Lore is a Seminus half-breed demon who has been forced to act as his dark master's assassin. Now to earn his freedom and save his sister's life, he must complete one last kill. Powerful and ruthless, he'll stop at nothing to carry out this deadly mission.

Idess is an earthbound angel with a wild side, sworn to protect the human Lore is targeting. She's determined to thwart her wickedly handsome adversary by any means necessary-even if that means risking her vow of eternal chastity. But what begins as a simple seduction soon turns into a passion that leaves both angel and demon craving complete surrender.

Torn between duty and desire, Lore and Idess must join forces as they battle their attraction for each other. Because an enemy from the past is rising again-one hellbent on vengeance and unthinkable destruction.


Giveaway

I have five copies of this book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) just tell me if you have read one of the previous books in this series (Pleasure Unbound, Desire Unchained, Passion Unleashed) and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 5th! Good luck!