Tuesday, March 30, 2010
An Absence So Great by Jane Kirkpatrick - Blog Tour and Giveaway!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Promise of Morning by Ann Shorey - Blog Tour (Mar 28 - Apr 3)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday (3-28 and 3-29)
Nina was beautiful, artistic, wild. . . and adored by her younger sister, Ellie. But one day, without any warning, Nina disappeared.
Two years later, Ellie can't stop thinking about her sister. Although everyone else has given uphope that Nina will return, Ellie just knows her sister is out there, somewhere. When Ellie finds a clue in the form of a mysterious drawing, she sets off on a road trip with her crush, determined to find her sister.
Along the way, Ellie finds a few things she wasn't planning on. Like love. Mysteries. Lies. And something far more shocking. . . the truth.
Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats -- a talent that earned her the nickname Trouble. She's now a respected psychotherapist working with world-famous Dr. Liz Mattei. She's also about to marry one of Boston's most eligible bachelors. But the suicide of Zee's patient Lilly Braedon throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her back to places she thought she'd left behind.
What starts as a brief visit home to Salem after Lilly's funeral becomes the beginning of a larger journey for Zee. Her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father through this difficult time. Their relationship, marked by half-truths and the untimely death of her mother, is strained and awkward.
Overwhelmed by her new role, and uncertain about her future, Zee destroys the existing map of her life and begins a new journey, one that will take her not only into her future but into her past as well. Like the sailors of old Salem who navigated by looking at the starts, Zee has to learn to find her way through uncharted waters to the place she will ultimately call home.
A Novel of Monet
by Stephanie Cowell
Painter Claude Monet's life changes forever when he meets the beautiful and mysterious Camille Doncieux. Through years of struggle, misunderstanding, and love, they carve out a life together, but can Camille ever escape her past -- and can Claude ever forget it?
In his early twenties, Claude Monet arrives in Paris determined to make his fortune as an artist. Instead, he finds poverty and obscurity but also camaraderie in a group of similarly unknown painters -- Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, Bazille, Manet, and Cezanne -- who share his vision and passion. But the single-most influential person in his life is a charming and vivacious upper-class girl named Camille Doncieux, who rejects a life of privilege to be with him. He falls madly in love with Camille, and his first great success is a portrait of her in an exquisite green opera dress. The two manage to stay together through years of bitter opposition from their families, Claude's artistic failures, and wretched poverty, but adversity eventually takes its toll. Even as Monet begins to sell his work, his marriage to Camille descends into tragedy -- and Monet realizes that he has never completely known his true love and greatest muse.
A fascinating portrait of an artistic genius, Claude & Camille will appeal to readers of Susan Vreeland and Tracy Chevalier, to art aficionados, and to the legions of Monet's own fans.
A woman is shot as she waits for her train to work. An hour later, a second woman is gunned down as she rides an elevated train through the Loop. Two hours after that, a church becomes the target of a chemical weapons attack. The city of Chicago is under siege, and Michael Kelly, cynical cop turned private investigator, just happens to be on the scene when all hell breaks loose.
Kelly is initially drawn into the case by the killers themselves, then tasked by Chicago's mayor and the FBI to hunt down the bad guys and, all things being equal, put a bullet in them. Kelly, of course, has other ideas. As he gets closer to the truth, his instincts lead him to a retired cop, a shady train company, and an unnerving link to his own past. Meanwhile, Kelly's girlfriend, Rachel Swenson, becomes a pawn in a much larger game, while a weapon that could kill millions ticks away quietly in the very belly of the city.
The Third Rail is stylish, sophisticated, edge-of-your-seat suspense from a new modern master.
Home is where the hate is.
Ally Ryan would rather be in Maryland. She would rather be anywhere, in fact, than Orchard Hill, site of her downfall. Well, not hers exactly, but when your father's hedge fund goes south and all your friends lose their trust funds, things don't look so sunny for you. So her mother moved them away to flee the shame. But now they're moving back. Back to the country club, new car every year, family came over on the Mayflower lifestyle that Ally has outgrown. But there are bright sides. Like gorgeous Jake Graydon. Ally and Jake instantly like each other, but it won't be easy for them to be together -- not if his friends (her former friends) have anything to say about it. Is Ally ready to get thrown back into the drama of the life she left behind?
When Rachel Balducci looks for material for her writing, she doesn't have to look far. Her subject matter can be found climbing through the window, hanging on to the edge of the roof, and rummaging through the refrigerator. Here she chronicles the exuberant, awesome life of boys through bizarre conversations overheard, unbelievable rules she's been forced to make, and the many episodes of boy behavior that continue to mystify mothers worldwide. From the care and feeding of her team, to travels out in public, to their wide-eyed adoration of Chuck Norris, this laugh-out-loud celebration joyfully explores the sweetly wild side of boyhood.
Driving home from work on a summer afternoon, Melba Burns witnesses a nightmare collision. She abandons her car, quits her job, and stops driving. The wreck ends Melba's desire for success at any cost; she retreats into her beloved old farmhouse yearning for a simpler peace. But peace has never met Melba's stunning new roommate JoLee Garry, a magnet for messes and trouble. JoLee brings a series of unexpected guests who transform Melba's solo life into something different, darker, and richer.
Brannon Callahan, a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot working for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is as beautiful and tough as the terrain surrounding her. When a blizzard crashes the small helicopter carrying U.S. Marshal Roark Holland, she must save him and the donor heart he is transporting to a comatose government witness whose mind holds a crucial piece of information. Without it, the largest child trafficking ring in history -- closer than Brannon or Roark can imagine -- will slip further into darkness somewhere along the Appalachian Trail.
Getting to the Relationship You Want with Your Adult Daughter
by Cheri Fuller and Ali Plum
When your daughter was born, you had a thousand hopes and dreams for her. . .including that one day you'd be best friends.
But as life unfolds, even the best intentions go awry. There are so many challenges on the journey to adult friendship that the reality is fraught with friction and frustration. Thankfully, a harmonious relationship with your daughter is possible.
Written by a mother and daughter who have successfully navigated the minefield from distance and tension to acceptance and friendship, Mother-Daughter Duet helps moms open wide the door of communication so that daughters want to walk through it. Filled with personal anecdotes and based on proven principles, each chapter offers timeless wisdom as well as a daughter's perspective. Often these principles apply to daughters-in-law as well.
The relationship between mothers and daughters is intense, personal, complex, and unique. But you can have the loving, authentic bond you always dreamed of -- when you learn the mother-daughter duet.
Annie is a college grad-student who is stumped about love. Her mom and dad are in the throes of a divorce, her teenage sister is obsessed with how her boyfriend makes her look, and her closest friend Jennah is on a continual ride of running off every guy she dates.
Friendships, dating, romance, and marriage -- it's all confusing to Annie until the day a white-haired stranger appears in her life. Glaen is an unusual professor with an unusual name. Her with-haired unconventional mentor guides Annie on a path of discovery that unlocks the secrets of real relationships in a world gone phony. By abandoning herself to learn, Annie discovers the mystifying affect of how learning to tell the truth changes everything in friendship, family, and love.
The solutions Dr. Lybrand offers in this book will astound and free you to quit doing the very things that take away your ability to find the love and friendship you want. More importantly, you'll discover a fresh path to the possibility of greater connections with those you care most about. You'll want everyone you know to read this book. . .twice!
Learning to share and be understanding and compassionate is a valuable tool for getting on well in today's society. So many times children grow up with a "what's good for me" attitude and as they get older this can cause great difficulties for their future relationships. It is my hope that this little story helps someone to understand the value of friendship and accepting differences and helps them to be compassionate and caring for others. I dedicate this book to children everywhere who struggle with overcoming selfishness and self centeredness and strive to be loving and caring when they come in contact with difference. May you always see differences as something to be cherished and explored, not rejected and feared.
Friday, March 26, 2010
HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES
- Create a blog post with the specifics listed here.
- Hershey Company will donate $10 per each blog post to CMN, up to a total of $5000.
- One blog post per URL counts towards the donation, but you can give as many virtual Easter baskets as you want.
- The Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop will officially begin at 12 AM EST on March 18th and end at 12 PM EST on April 4th, 2010. Blog posts submitted to us before or after that time period will not be counted for.
- The blog post link has to be submitted to us for the donation to be counted. (Submit here.)
- In addition copy and paste the following text in your blog post:
HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES
- Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
- Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.
- Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.
- Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.
- Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
- Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).
- Please note that only one blog post by each blog url will count towards the donation.
I was awarded an Easter Basket by Natalie over at The Book Inn. (Thanks Natalie!) I have decided to pass it on to these blogs:
Adventures of a Somewhat Crunchy Mama - Cheryl
Anonymously Uncensored - Audra
Beth Fish Reads - Beth
Bookfan - Mary
Freda's Voice - Freda
Hearts Make Families - Tami
Live, Love, Laugh and Bloggings - CJ
Lucid Conspiracy - Deltay
Me, My Book and the Couch - Shon
Pudgy Penguin Perusals - Kaye
Waking Up in the Land of Glitter by Kathy Cano-Murillo (Book Review)
Title: Waking Up in the Land of Glitter
Author: Kathy Cano-Murillo
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
About the book: With glue guns, glitter, twigs, or yarn, the ordinary can become extraordinary. . .especially at La Pachanga. Owned by Estrella "Star" Esteban's family, the restaurant has a rep for two things: good food and great art. La Pachanga brings people together -- even when it looks like they couldn't be further apart.
One ill-fated evening, Star jeopardizes her family's business, her relationship with her boyfriend, and her future career. To redeem herself , she agrees to participate in a national craft competition, teaming up with her best friend, Ofelia -- a secretly troubled mother whose love for crafting borders on obsession; and local celebrity Chloe Chavez -- a determined television personality with more than one skeleton in her professional closet. If these unlikely allies can set aside their differences, they'll find strength they never knew they had, and learn that friendship, like crafting, is truly an art form.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book - and not just because it combined two of my favorite things - reading and crafts. Star is very much a free spirit. She lives at home and works at her family's restaurant, doing press releases for the art shows they host. Her life isn't very demanding, and she doesn't really have a lot of tough decisions to make, so when she suspects Theo, her best friend, is about to propose - it kind of causes her to lose a little control. She ends up getting drunk with her cousin Maria Juana (I laughed too) and doing some things that she is not too proud of. These things cause her to lose Theo and for her parents to lose their faith/trust in her. Her dad basically tells her she has 6 months to get her act together - working somewhere other than La Pachanga.
Star gets involved with the Craft Olympics, as La Pachanga is in charge of the center pieces for the tables - 200 of them. . . Olfie jumps right in to help, but her ideas are not very attractive. No one is willing to tell Olfie that her crafts and awful, as she tends to melt down. Olfie has been struggling with being a good enough wife and mother her entire marriage. It doesn't help that her mother-in-law is always there to help out, and does things much better than she ever hopes too. Her husband and daughter both love her unconditionally though, and do not discourage her crafting.
Chloe Chavez and Star did not get off to a good start the first time they met. When they discover they are both going to be making the centerpieces together, you think that sparks are going to fly. But together with Benecio, a teenager, who with his passion for fashion hopes to score a booth at the craft olympics, they come up with an idea and begin the process of making centerpieces. Unfortunately, their individual lives are each spiralling out of control and they each have to make some tough decisions before they can begin the process of starting over.
Waking Up in the Land of Glitter
Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing, March 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-50924-4
336 pages
Thursday, March 25, 2010
A Touch of Scandal Blog Tour (Mar 25 - Apr 7) and Giveaway!
1. The heroine from A Touch of Scandal, Kate, has a younger brother, Reginald. Reggie suffers from severe asthma—something I understand, having been through it as a child and now watching my own son fight it. It’s truly a painful and frightening illness. I can’t imagine what it was like for children before proper medications were available. The prescription the doctor in A Touch of Scandal orders—prussic acid—was a common remedy for asthma. But like many medicines of the time, prussic acid has since been proven to be very poisonous—even deadly. No wonder poor Reggie didn’t improve while he was taking it!
2. In the first drafts of A Touch of Scandal, there were three “villains.” I thought that was at least one too many, so I changed one character to soften her up a bit, even almost redeeming her at the end. She’s still not a very likeable character, but she’s no longer the equivalent of the Wicked Witch of the West! Can you guess who this is?
3. I’ve been to England several times, but I have not been to Kenilworth Castle. I researched it as thoroughly as I could while writing A Touch of Scandal, and it’s definitely on the itinerary for my next visit to the UK!
4. The James family seat, Calton House, is located in the Yorkshire dales. I feel especially bonded to this part of England—I think it’s because several of my ancestors immigrated to Canada from Yorkshire. I’ve driven through the county once, and I loved it. It’s a special place.
5. One of the main characters in A Touch of Scandal is Becky, the younger sister of the Duke of Calton. I have loved writing about her, because she is the one character whose growth you can really see from the beginning to the end of the series. She is immature and compulsive in A Hint of Wicked; she crashes back to reality in A Touch of Scandal; and in the third book, A Season of Seduction, she really comes into her own and finally finds the man that will lead her down the (very rocky!) road to a happily ever after.
GIVEAWAY INFO:
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 15!
Participating blogs:
Thoughts in Progress Feature, Giveaway, Guest Post 3/25/2010
Bibiliophilic Book Blog Feature, Review, Giveaway 3/25/2010
Book Soulmates Review, Giveaway, Q&As 3/25/2010
You Wanna Know What I Think? Review, Giveaway 3/25/2010
Just Another New Blog Giveaway 3/25/2010
Simply Stacie Giveaway 3/25/2010
Freda's Voice Giveaway 3/25/2010
A Journey of Books Review, Giveaway, Q&As 3/25/2010
Book Junkie Review, Giveaway, Q&As 3/25/2010
Long Live the Lit Feature, Guest Post 3/26/2010
Smexy Books Review, Giveaway 3/26/2010
The Book Girl Review, Giveaway 3/26/2010
Rundpinne Feature, Review 3/27/2010
Michelle and Leslie's Book Picks Review, Giveaway 3/29/2010
Who Has Time to Read Review, Giveaway 3/31/2010
My Guilty Pleasures Review, Giveaway 4/1/2010
Eclectic Book Lover Review 4/1/2010
Seductive Musings Feature, Review, Giveaway 4/1/2010
Books and Needlepoint Feature, Review, Giveaway 4/2/2010
Broken Teepee Review, Giveaway 4/3/2010
Savey Spender Review, Giveaway 4/4/2010
All About {n} Review, Giveaway 4/5/2010
Just Short of Crazy Review, Giveaway 4/5/2010
Marta's Meanderings Feature, Review 4/6/2010
My Book Addiction and More. . . Feature, Review, Giveaway 4/6/2010
Razlover's Book Blog Feature, Review, Giveaway 4/6/2010
Renee's Reads Review 4/7/2010
My Reading Addiction Review, Giveaway 4/7/2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Eggs in Purgatory by Laura Childs (Book Review) and Giveaway!
This giveaway will end April 14.
UPDATE (3-25-2010) Giveaway is for U.S./Canada only.
Library Loot: 3-24-2010
Title: Going Bovine
Title: Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Title: Home Safe
Title: Joy School (audio version)
Title: Fade
Waiting on Wednesdays: Friday Mornings at Nine
Friday Mornings at Nine
by Marilyn Brant
Publication Date: Sept 28, 2010
Each Friday morning at the Indigo Moon Café, Jennifer, Bridget and Tamara meet to swap stories about marriage, kids and work. But one day, spurred by recent e-mails from her college ex, Jennifer poses questions they've never faced before. What if they all married the wrong man? What if they're living the wrong life? And what would happen if, just once, they gave in to temptation...
Soon each woman is second-guessing the choices she's made--and the ones she can unmake--as she becomes aware of new opportunities around every corner, from attentive colleagues and sexy neighbors to flirtatious past lovers. And as fantasies blur with real life, Jennifer, Bridget and Tamara begin to realize how little they know about each other, their marriages and themselves, and how much there is to gain--and lose--when you step outside the rules.
What are you waiting for?
Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
First Wild Card Tour: Deliver Us From Evil by Robin Caroll
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
and the book:
B&H Academic (February 1, 2010)
Robin Caroll has authored eight previous books including Bayou Justice and Melody of Murder. She gives back to the writing community as conference director for the American Christian Fiction Writers organization. A proud southerner through and through, Robin lives with her husband and three daughters in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Visit the author's website.
Product Details:
List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: B&H Academic (February 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805449809
ISBN-13: 978-0805449808
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
FBI Field Office
Knoxville, Tennessee
Jonathan’s throat closed as he stared at the building from the parking lot. He gripped the package tight in his arthritic hands. Could he do this? Turn over evidence that would implicate him?
His heart raced and he froze. Not the best time for his atrial fibrillation to make an appearance. Despite being on the heart transplant list for eight months, it looked like his progressed heart disease would do him in. The most important reason he couldn’t go to prison—he’d never get a heart and would die. While Carmen wanted him to confess his crimes, she wouldn’t want him to die. The memory of saying good-bye to his beloved mere hours ago scorched his soul.
Her eyes fluttered open. Those blue orbs, which had once sparkled even in the absence of light, now blinked flat and lifeless.
He swallowed hard.
“Jonathan,” her voice croaked, “it’s time.”
Tears burned the backs of his eyes, and he rested his hand over her parchmentlike skin. “No, Carmen. Please, let me get the medicine.”
Her eyelids drooped and she gasped. Air wheezed in her lungs. “Sweetheart, the fight’s . . . gone from me.” She let out a hiss, faint and eerie. “The cancer’s . . . won.”
Jonathan laid his lips against her cheek, her skin cold and clammy, as if in preparation for the morgue. How could she continue to refuse the medicine? Even though she didn’t approve of his means of acquisition, the drugs had kept her alive for five years. Five years he cherished every minute of. He’d do anything to keep her alive and the pain at bay—the intense pain that had become her constant companion these last two weeks. It killed him to witness her agony.
She licked her bottom lip, but no moisture soaked into the cracked flesh. “You’ve done . . . your best by me, Jonathan. I know . . . you meant . . . no harm to . . . anyone.” Her eyes lit as they once had. “Oh, how I’ve enjoyed loving you.”
His insides turned to oatmeal. Stubborn woman—she’d allow herself to die, all because she discovered how he’d gotten the money.
“Promise me . . . you’ll . . . tell the . . . truth. Admit what . . . you’ve done.” Her breath rattled. “What you’ve . . . all done.”
Pulling himself from the wretched memory, Jonathan breathed through the heat tightening his chest. He’d secure himself the best deal possible—immunity—or he wouldn’t decipher the papers. And without him no one could make sense of the accounting system he’d created more than five years ago. Officials hadn’t a clue.
With a deep breath he headed to the guardhouse in front of the fenced FBI building. His legs threatened to rebel, stiffening with every step. He forced himself to keep moving, one foot in front of the other.
At the guardhouse, a man behind bulletproof glass looked up. “May I help you?”
“I need to . . . see someone.”
“About what, sir?”
“I have some information regarding a crime.” He waved the file he held.
“One moment, sir, and someone will be with you.”
Jonathan stared at the cloudy sky. He could still turn back, get away scot-free. His heartbeat sped. The world blurred. No, he couldn’t lose consciousness now, nor could he go back on his promise. He owed it to Carmen. No matter what happened, he’d honor Carmen’s dying wish.
“Sir?” A young man in a suit stood beside the fenced entry, hand resting on the butt of his gun. “May I help you?”
Jonathan lifted the file. “I have some evidence regarding an ongoing crime ring.”
The agent motioned him toward a metal-detector arch. “Come through this way, sir.”
Jonathan’s steps wavered. He dragged his feet toward the archway.
A car door creaked. Jonathan glanced over his shoulder just as two men in full tactical gear stormed toward them. He had a split second to recognize one of the men’s eyes, just before gunfire erupted.
A vise gripped Jonathan’s heart, and he slumped to the dirty tile floor, the squeezing of his heart demanding his paralysis.
Too late. I’m sorry, Carmen.
Two Weeks Later—Wednesday, 3:45 p.m.
Golden Gloves Boxing of Knoxville
Ooof!
Brannon Callahan’s head jerked backward. She swiped her headgear with her glove.
“You aren’t concentrating on your form. You’re just trying to whale on me.” Steve Burroughs, her supervisor and sparring partner, bounced on the balls of his feet.
“Then why am I the one getting hit?” She threw a right jab that missed his jaw.
He brushed her off with his glove. “Don’t try to street fight me. Box.”
She clamped down on her mouthpiece and threw an uppercut with her left fist. It made contact, sending vibrations up her arm.
He wobbled backward, then got his balance. “Nice shot.”
It felt good to hit something. Hard. Sparring with Steve was the best form of venting. The energy had to be spent somehow—why not get a workout at the same time? She ducked a right cross, then followed through with a left-right combination. Both shots made full contact.
Steve spit out his mouthpiece and leaned against the ropes. “I think that’s enough for today, girl. I’m an old man, remember?”
She couldn’t fight the grin. Although only in his late forties, the chief ranger looked two decades older. With gray hair, hawk nose, and skin like tanned leather, Steve had already lived a lifetime.
She removed her mouthpiece, gloves, and headgear before sitting on the canvas. “Old? You’re still kickin’ me in the ring.”
He tossed her a towel and sat beside her. “So you wanna tell me what’s got you all hot and bothered this afternoon?”
She shrugged.
“Come on, spit it out. I know something’s gnawing at you, just like you were picking a fight with me in the ring. What’s up?”
How could she explain? “I’m not exactly keen that the district feels there’s a need for another pilot in the park.” She tightened the scrunchie keeping her hair out of her face.
“That’s a compliment—having you on staff has been so successful they want to expand.”
“But I have to train him. Did you notice his arrogance?” She ripped at the tape bound around her knuckles. “He’s nothing more than a young upstart with an ego bigger than the helicopter.” While only thirty-six, she often felt older than Steve looked.
“You’re so good, you can come across a bit intimidating at first, girl.” Steve grabbed the ropes and pulled to standing, then offered her a hand. “Give him a chance.”
She let Steve tug her up. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even if he had maturity, I still have to train him. With all the rescues we’ve been called out on of late . . . well, I really don’t have the time.” She exited the ring. “Like those kids yesterday.” She shook her head as she waited for Steve to join her on the gym floor. “Their stupidity almost cost them their lives.”
“They were young, Brannon.”
“Please. Any amateur with half a brain should know better than to try to climb Clingmans Dome in winter.” Didn’t people realize if something happened to them they’d leave behind devastated family and friends? Loved ones who would mourn them forever? She fought against the familiar pain every time she participated in a search and rescue. All because people hadn’t taken necessary precautions.
“They didn’t know any better.”
“It takes a special kind of stupid not to have researched your climb.” Most SARs could be avoided if people planned a little more. It ripped her apart that so many parents, grandparents, siblings . . . fiancées . . . survived to deal with such grief. She’d tasted the bitterness of grief—twice—and the aftertaste still lingered.
Steve paused outside the locker rooms and shifted his sparring gear to one hand. “I agree, but most people don’t see the dangers we do every day.” He tapped her shoulder. “Hit the showers, champ. You stink.”
She laughed as she headed into the ladies’ locker room. Maybe Steve was right and the new pilot just made a lousy first impression. Maybe he’d be easy to train.
Please, God, let it be so.
Friday, 2:15 p.m.
US Marshals Office, Howard Baker Federal Courthouse
Knoxville, Tennessee
“You want me to escort a heart?” Roark struggled to keep his voice calm. He tapped the butt of his Beretta, welcoming it back to its rightful place on his hip.
Senior US Marshal Gerald Demott glared. “Look, I know you think this is a slight, but it’s important. And for your first assignment back on the job . . .”
“IA cleared me of all wrongdoing. I’m seeing the shrink and everything.” He gritted his teeth and exhaled. “I’ve been released to return to active duty.”
“This is active. It’s a field assignment, and it’s important. Here’s the case information.” Demott passed him a folder, then glanced at his watch. “You’d better hurry or you’ll miss your flight.”
Roark grabbed the file and turned to go.
“Holland.”
He looked back at his boss. “Yeah?”
Demott held out Roark’s badge. “You might want to take this with you, too.”
Roark accepted the metal emblem, then clipped it to his belt before marching out of Demott’s office. A heart. His job was to escort a human heart from North Carolina to Knoxville. Any rookie could handle that. But no, they still didn’t trust him enough to handle a real assignment.
He’d done everything they asked—took a medical leave of absence while Internal Affairs went over every painful minute
of his failed mission, saw the shrink they demanded he speak to every week since Mindy’s death, answered their relentless questions. The shrink reiterated he’d been forgiven for acting on his own.
Maybe one day he’d forgive himself. How many innocent lives would he have to save for his conscience to leave him be?
Roark slipped into the car, then headed to the airport. But to be assigned a heart transport? Not only was it wrong, it was downright insulting. After almost fifteen years as a marshal, he’d earned the benefit of the doubt from his supervisors. Especially Demott. His boss should know him better, know he’d only disregard orders if it was a matter of life and death.
But Mindy Pugsley died. They’d all died.
He pushed the nagging voice from his mind. Even Dr. Martin had advised him not to dwell on the past. On what had gone wrong. On disobeying a direct order.
If only Mindy didn’t haunt his dreams.
Roark touched the angry scar that ran along his right cheekbone to his chin. A constant reminder that he’d failed, that he’d made a mistake that took someone’s life. He’d have to live with the pain for the rest of his life.
He skidded the car into the airport’s short-term parking lot. After securing the car and gathering the case folder, Roark grabbed his coat. Snowflakes pelted downward, swirling on the bursts of wind and settling on the concrete. The purple hues of the setting sun streaked across the mountain peaks beyond the runways, making the January snow grab the last hope of light.
Yes, he’d handle this mundane assignment, then tell Demott he wanted back on real active duty. Making a difference would be the best thing for him. Would make him feel whole again.
Teaser Tuesday 3-23-10
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you have given!
Please avoid spoilers!
"Before she knew it, his arms were encircling her. Donald kissed her so tenderly she could not help responding, telling herself that he meant what he said, that he loved her still, that he --" (Here Burns My Candle, by Liz Curtis Higgs, p213)
Here Burns My Candle
Publisher/Publication Date: WaterBrook Press, Mar 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4000-7001-5
480 pages
Purchase Here Burns My Candle
Monday, March 22, 2010
Montana Legacy - Blog Tour (Mar 22-Apr 2) and Giveaway!
by R.C. Ryan
She was the one person who shook Jesse McCord's quiet determination. She was the only one he ever let in, body and soul. Then suddenly Amy Parrish was gone and the oldest McCord cousin devoted his life to the family ranch. Now Amy is back, offering help to Jesse find the McCord gold. Yet Jesse's not about to give her a second chance, and he hopes his pride will protect him from her irresistible charms. But under the wide prairie skies a dangerous, unseen enemy is fast closing in, threatening Amy and Jesse's very lives and the promise of their ...
MONTANA LEGACY.
The Lost, an anthology of stories by J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, and R.C. Ryan writing as Ruth Ryan Langan was published in Fall 2009. Ms. Ryan’s story, “The Legacy,” is an exciting tale of intrigue and other-worldly adventure.
In a career spanning more than twenty years, Ms. Ryan has given dozens of radio, television, and print interviews across the country and Canada, and has been quoted in such diverse publications as the Wall Street Journal and Cosmopolitan. She has also appeared on CNN News, as well as Good Morning America.
Friend R.C. Ryan on Facebook.
Five Fun Facts:
1. The names of all three cousins in this series are famous Western names that I've always loved: Jesse (James), Wyatt (Earp), and Zane (Grey).
2. There really was a gold strike in 1862 Montana at Grasshopper Creek. I doubt the nuggets were as big as a man's fist or thumb, but why not dream big? I love the idea of a treasure lost for a century or more, leading a family into the treasure hunt.
3. In Montana Legacy, part of the fun of reading is that Jesse McCord and Amy Parrish were childhood sweethearts, separated by circumstances. I think everybody can recall their first big love. A few very lucky people actually reconnect with that first love and make it work. Oh, I'm one of them. Very happily married to the guy I met in first grade.
4. Montana is one of my favorite locations in which to set a series because it has such an ever-changing landscape. In that single state, you can find plains, hills, mountains, waterfalls, and four distinct seasons, each of which is simply more spectacular than the last, and I purposefully tried to use all of them in this series.
5. I'm not certain this story could work anywhere else but in the rough, rugged west. Though Jesse tries to be politically correct, there's just something in his genes that has him breaking a lot of rules. I find readers are much more willing to give a pass to a cowboy. Don't you agree? But maybe I'm prejudiced, since Jesse was inspired by my husband—a blunt, plain-spoken rule-breaker. A warrior who would risk his life for the people he loves. And for all his rough edges, he's the most loving, tender-hearted man I know.
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) What's a "western sounding" name that you like - be creative! 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.)
Participating Blogs:
Thoughts in Progress Feature, Giveaway, Guest Post 3/22/2010
Maria's Space Feature, Review, Giveaway 3/22/2010
This, That and the Other Thing Review 3/22/2010
Zesty Nachos Review, Giveaway 3/22/2010
Just Another New Blog Giveaway 3/22/2010
Chaotic Book Obsession Review, Giveaway, Q&A 3/23/2010
My Book Addiction and More Feature, Review, Giveaway 3/24/2010
Foolish Wisdom Review, Giveaway, Q&A 3/24/2010
My Guilty Pleasures Review, Giveaway 3/25/2010
Cheryl's BookNook Review, Giveaway 3/25/2010
Just Short of Crazy Review, Giveaway 3/28/2010
Books and Needlepoint Feature, Review, Giveaway 3/28/2010
Savey Spender Review, Giveaway 3/29/2010
Taking Time for Mommy Review, Giveaway 3/29/2010
My Reading Addiction Feature, Giveaway 3/31/2010
Broken Teepee Review, Giveaway 4/1/2010
Marta's Meanderings Feature, Review 4/1/2010
Carol's Notebook Review, Giveaway 4/1/2010
The Book Tree Feature, Giveaway 4/1/2010
Starting Fresh Review, Giveaway 4/2/2010
Renee's Reads Review, Giveaway 4/2/2010
Simply Stacie Review, Giveaway 4/2/2010
Here Burns My Candle - Blog Tour (Mar 22-26) and Giveaway!
A daughter who cannot escape her past.
Lady Elisabeth Kerr is a keeper of secrets. A Highlander by birth and a Lowlander by marriage, she honors the auld ways, even as doubts and fears stir deep within her.
Her husband, Lord Donald, has secrets of his own, well hidden from the household, yet whispered among the town gossips.
His mother, the dowager Lady Marjory, hides gold beneath her floor and guilt inside her heart. Though her two abiding passions are maintaining her place in society and coddling her grown sons, Marjory’s many regrets, buried in Greyfriars Churchyard, continue to plague her.
One by one the Kerr family secrets begin to surface, even as bonny Prince Charlie and his rebel army ride into Edinburgh in September 1745, intent on capturing the crown.
A timeless story of love and betrayal, loss and redemption, flickering against the vivid backdrop of eighteenth-century Scotland, Here Burns My Candle illumines the dark side of human nature, even as hope, the brightest of tapers, lights the way home.
LIZ CURTIS HIGGS is the author of twenty-seven books with three million copies in print, including: her best-selling historical novels, Thorn in My Heart, Fair Is the Rose, Christy Award-winner Whence Came a Prince, and Grace in Thine Eyes, a Christy Award finalist; My Heart’s in the Lowlands: Ten Days in Bonny Scotland, an armchair travel guide to Galloway; and her contemporary novels, Mixed Signals, a Rita Award finalist, and Bookends, a Christy Award finalist. Visit the author’s extensive website at www.lizcurtishiggs.com.
I have one copy of this paperback book to giveaway courtesy of Waterbrook Multnomah Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) what is your favorite Bible story (this book is a retelling of the beloved Old Testament story of Ruth and Naomi set in 18th Century Scotland)? 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.)