Wonderful Win: Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death

Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death by Rita Cosby

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing/Hachette

I won this book at Yvette Kelly's Blog - True Crime Book Reviews - which is exactly what you think - If you are looking for a true crime book - you must check this blog out!

About the book:This is a story about deception, secret deals, and a firestorm of trouble.

Anna Nicole Smith was famous for being famous, Americana at its Scarlet Letter-wearing best. A bodacious young girl from Texas, she remade herself into the centerfold of the world. She was a "dumb blonde," a stripper, a Playboy Playmate, a reality TV star, who boldly took her case against her billionaire husband's family all the way to the US Supreme Court. Easy to dismiss, she was nevertheless a complex character - helpless yet brazen, beautiful yet ugly, outwardly confident yet inwardly frightened. Her tragic life and untimely death evoke an odd mix of fascination, shock, and dismay. And through it all, there still exists a voracious thirst to discover more about who she actually was, what motivated her, and especially how she really died.

You probably think you know all there is to know. She lost her son. She accidentally overdosed. She was a drug addict.
You don't know a thing.

In a book that is sure to surprise even the most avid pop culture junkies, Rita Cosby blows the lid off the story of the year. After an in-depth investigation, this is the definitive journalistic account of the Anna Nicole Smith saga - with unearthed secrets and explosive, never-before-told information. (From Barnes and Noble)

About the author: An Emmy-award winning journalist, Rita Cosby hosted the top-rated show on MSNBC, "Rita Cosby: Live & Direct." She also hosted Fox New Channel's highly rated programs, "Fox News Live with Rita Cosby" and "The Big Story Weekend Edition with Rita Cosby." Some of her groundbreaking interviews include: an exclusive interview with Slobodan Milosevic while he was imprisoned at The Hague; an exclusive interview with Yasser Arafat when his compound was under siege; she was the first journalist to see the suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo and witness an actual interrogation; and a rare, private meeting with Pope John Paul II after receiving an exclusive letter from Timothy McVeigh explaining why he carried out the Oklahoma City bombing. Having interviewed more than a dozen world leaders and four US Presidents, she also made headlines for her interviews with Michael Jackson, David Berkowitz and Dr. Jack Kevorkian. She has been a featured guest on hundreds of television and radio shows worldwide and earned her two bachelors' degrees from the University of South Carolina.

Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death
Publication date: September 2007
ISBN-10:0-446-40611-2
ISBN-13:978-0-446-40611-6
256 pages

Arc Arrival: The Walking People

The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

I received this from Keturah and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through Shelf Awareness.

About the book: Greta Cahill never believed she would leave her village in the west of Ireland until she found herself on a ship bound for New York, along with her sister Johanna and a boy named Michael Ward. Labeled a "softheaded goose" by her family, Greta discovers that in America she can fall in love, raise her own family, and earn a living. Though she longs to return and show her family what she has made of herself, her decision to spare her children knowledge of a secret in her past forces her to keep her life in New York separate from the life she once loved in Ireland, and tears her apart from the people she is closest to. Even fifty years later, when the Ireland of her memory bears little resemblance to that of present day, she fears that it is still possible to lose all when she discovers that her children—with the best of intentions— have conspired to unite the worlds she’s so carefully kept separate for decades. A beautifully old-fashioned novel, The Walking People is a debut of remarkable range and power. (from Barnes and Noble)

About the author: MARY BETH KEANE attended Barnard College and earned an MFA from the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow. She was a winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Prize in 2004 and was a 2005 Pushcart Prize nominee. She currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband and son. The Walking People is her first novel.

The Walking People
Publication Date: May 2009
ISBN-13: 9780547126524
416 pages

More Winners!

I have winners to announce for the 4 audiobook giveaways that ended last night at midnight! Thank you Anna and Hachette for these great giveaways!

Boneman's Daughter goes to:
Cindy
Clenna
Nightdweller20

The Horse Boy goes to:
Kitten22
Sue W.
quelleheure4

Mr. Popper's Penguins goes to:
Bermudaonion
Carol M.
gaby317
Allisonmariecat
Valerie2350

Priceless Memories goes to:
Sue W.
Anna
Cindy

All the winners have been emailed and have until midnight Tuesday to get me their information or I will need to draw for new winners! Don't forget to enter the 4 new audiobook giveaways that were just posted last night!

The Way Home - New Audiobook Giveaway!

The last giveaway for tonight - also from Hachette books and Anna (lets here some shout outs out there!) The Way Home by George Pelecanos (read by Dion Graham)

Christopher Flynn is trying to get it right. After years of trouble and rebellion that enraged his father and nearly cost him his life, he has a steady job in his father's company, he's seriously dating a woman he respects, and, aside from the distrust that lingers in his father's eyes, his mistakes are firmly in the past.

One day on the job, Chris and his partner come across a temptation almost too big to resist. Chris does the right thing, but old habits and instincts rise to the surface, threatening this new-found stability with sudden treachery and violence. With his father and his most trusted friends, he takes one last chance to blast past the demons trying to pull him back.

Like Richard Price or William Kennedy, Pelecanos pushes his characters to the extremes, their redemption that much sweeter because it is so hard fought. Pelecanos has long been celebrated for his unerring ability to portray the conflicts men feel as they search and struggle for power and love in a world that is often harsh and unforgiving but can ultimately be filled with beauty. (from Barnes and Noble)

Rules are:

1. Open only to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. 3 copies to giveaway
4. Giveaway ends June 15 at 1:00pm CST

Entering is easy(ALL ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT IS FINE):

1. Leave a comment (MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!)
2. Follow my blog +2 (please let me know if you already follow also)
   
3. Twitter or post on your blog, let me know in your comment that you have done this - +2 (if you twitter, please use @kherbrand in tweet)
4. Maximum entries is 5.
   

The Secret Speech - New Audiobook Giveaway!

Another 3 copies of this audiobook - The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (read by Dennis Boutsikaris) is available because of Hachette Books and Anna!

Tom Rob Smith-the author whose debut, Child 44, has been called "brilliant" (Chicago Tribune), "remarkable" (Newsweek) and "sensational" (Entertainment Weekly)-returns with an intense, suspenseful new novel: a story where the sins of the past threaten to destroy the present, where families must overcome unimaginable obstacles to save their loved ones, and where hope for a better tomorrow is found in the most unlikely of circumstances . . .

THE SECRET SPEECH Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture-leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. A secret speech composed by Stalin's successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change.
Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo's past career.
Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.
From the streets of Moscow in the throes of political upheaval, to the Siberian gulags, and to the center of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest, THE SECRET SPEECH is a breathtaking, epic novel that confirms Tom Rob Smith as one of the most exciting new authors writing today. (description from Barnes and Noble)

Rules are:

1. Open only to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. 3 copies to giveaway
4. Giveaway ends June 15 at 1:00pm CST

Entering is easy(ALL ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT IS FINE):

1. Leave a comment (MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!)
2. Follow my blog +2 (please let me know if you already follow also)
   
3. Twitter or post on your blog, let me know in your comment that you have done this - +2 (if you twitter, please use @kherbrand in tweet)
4. Maximum entries is 5.

Cemetary Dance - New Audiobook Giveaway!

)Thank you Hachette and Anna for the 3 copies of the audiobook - Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (read by Rene Auberjonois) that are up for a giveaway!


Pendergast-the world's most enigmatic FBI Special Agent-returns to New York City to investigate a murderous cult.

William Smithback, a New York Times reporter, and his wife Nora Kelly, a Museum of Natural History archaeologist, are brutally attacked in their apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Eyewitnesses claim, and the security camera confirms, that the assailant was their strange, sinister neighbor-a man who, by all reports, was already dead and buried weeks earlier. While Captain Laura Hayward leads the official investigation, Pendergast and Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta undertake their own private-and decidedly unorthodox-quest for the truth. Their serpentine journey takes them to an enclave of Manhattan they never imagined could exist: a secretive, reclusive cult of Obeah and vodou which no outsiders have ever survived.

Rules are:

1. Open only to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. 3 copies to giveaway
4. Giveaway ends June 15 at 1:00pm CST

Entering is easy(ALL ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT IS FINE):

1. Leave a comment (MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!)
2. Follow my blog +2 (please let me know if you already follow also)
   
3. Twitter or post on your blog, let me know in your comment that you have done this - +2 (if you twitter, please use @kherbrand in tweet)
4. Maximum entries is 5.

The Scarecrow - New Audiobook Giveaway

Thank you Anna and Hachette for all the great audio book giveaways going on right now!

I have three copies of The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly(read by Peter Giles) to give away!

Forced out of the Los Angeles Times amid the latest budget cuts, newspaperman Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, using his final days at the paperto write the definitive murder story of his career.

He focuses on Alonzo Winslow, a 16-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to a brutal murder. But as he delves into the story, Jack realizes that Winslow's so-called confession is bogus. The kid might actually be innocent.

Jack is soon running with his biggest story since The Poet made his career years ago. He is tracking a killer who operates completely below police radar--and with perfect knowledge of any move against him. Including Jack's.

Rules are:

1. Open only to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. 3 copies to giveaway
4. Giveaway ends June 15 at 1:00pm CST

Entering is easy(ALL ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT IS FINE):

1. Leave a comment (MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!)
2. Follow my blog +2 (please let me know if you already follow also)
   
3. Twitter or post on your blog, let me know in your comment that you have done this - +2 (if you twitter, please use @kherbrand in tweet)
4. Maximum entries is 5.
   

Winners of duMaurier books!

So sorry I am late posting the winners of Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel - without further ado

To AuntRene for winning Frenchman's Creek and
to Jessica.Marie for winning My Cousin Rachel!
I will be notifying the winner's by e-mail and they will have 3 days to get me their info or I will have to draw for new winners. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did learning all about Daphne du Maurier!

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier (Book Review)

Title: Frenchman's Creek
Author: Daphne DuMaurier
Publisher/Publication Date: Originally published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz LTD, 1941.
Reprinted by Sourcebooks Landmark, March 2009

First sentence: When the East wind blows up Helford River the shining waters become troubled and disturbed and the little waves beat angrily upon the sandy shores.

My summary: In chapter 2, when we first meet Dona (Lady Dona st. Columb) she appears to be a selfish, spoiled brat. Running away from London, from her husband, from her life - which she felt was smothering her. She was looking for escape. She did not like the woman she had become and was afraid that that was all there was to her life. She travels to Navron, their country estate, of which she has not seen in over 6 years. With her in her escape are her 2 children and their nanny, Prue.

She settles into life at Navron very easily and enjoys the solitude and the quiet that it brings her. On one of her walks she discovers a creek that flows through the trees on the property. Before she knows it, she has been taken 'prisoner' by a pirate whose ship is docked in her creek. This pirate is the Frenchman.

They soon realize that they are very much alike in their search for escape and adventure. Their unlikely friendship quickly turns to love. The Frenchman has been plundering many of Dona's neighbors and relieving them of their treasures. These neighbors finally band together, putting out the call to Harry, Dona's husband in London, as well as others to come and help catch this pirate.

What will Dona choose? Her new life as a pirate with the man who has become more important to her than she could have ever guessed? Or her husband and children and a life in London that seems stifling? With either choice comes loses that will be hard to bear. Which would you choose?

My thoughts: I loved this book. For some reason I tend to avoid books that were published before I was born. I am not sure why this is, as I always seem to enjoy them. Maybe because many of these were books or authors that we were "supposed" to read in school.

After reading the first chapter of The Frenchman's Creek, I didn't know how I was going to make it through the book. Before I knew it, I was so caught up in the story that I did not want to put it down.

Her writing is so easy and flowing that it was wonderful to read -

The wheel of La Mouette lifted under her hands, and the ship heeled over in the freshening breeze, and all this, she thought, is part of what we feel for each other, and part of the loveliness of living, the strength that lies in the hull of a ship, the beauty of sails, the surge of water, the taste of the sea, the touch of the wind on our faces, and even the little simple pleasures of eating, and drinking, and sleeping, all these we share with delight and understanding, because of the happiness we have in one another. (p162)

I have owned My Cousin Rachel, Rebecca, and Jamaica Inn for at least 15 years and have not read them. I am definitely going to read them after enjoying Frenchman's Creek so much!

Stay tuned for my winners of Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel which were supposed to be announced 2 days ago!

Frenchman's Creek
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Landmark/March 2009
ISBN 10: 1-4022-1710-2
ISBN 13:978-1-4022-1710-4
280 pages

The Friday 56 5-22-2009

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.




"Is it Carly?" I asked, a catch in my throat.
He looked shocked. "How did you know?"
(p56, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin)

Friday Finds 5-22-2009

Here are my finds this week!

The Texicans by Nina Vida

It's 1843, San Antonio, the Republic of Texas. Mexican-born Aurelia Ruiz finds that she may have the power to heal-as well as to curse. She definitely has the power to attract men. Willie Barnett, a young Texas ranger, becomes infatuated with her. Her father sells her to him but insists on a wedding. To the other rangers such a marriage is anathema. When Barnett is killed by Native Americans, pregnant Aurelia finds shelter in a Comanche camp. Joseph Kimmel, a teacher in Independence, Missouri, and son of a Polish Jew, receives word of the death of his brother in San Antonio and sets off for Texas. On the way, his horse is stolen by a runaway slave. Rescued by Henry Castro, who is importing immigrants to populate his planned city, Joseph agrees to marry an Alsatian girl to save her from the Comanches, and they go forth to start their own ranch. Then Joseph meets and is enthralled by Aurelia. When the Texas rangers hear of the Kimmel ranch, where runaway slaves and a Mexican woman live as equals with the owner and his wife, they lynch the black men and kidnap the women and children. To his wife's consternation, Joseph cannot forget Aurelia.(from Barnes and Noble)




Unseen by Nancy Bush

She Woke Up With No Memories...

She wakes up in a hospital room...bruised...bloody...confused. She knows her name is Gemma La Porte—but that's all. She doesn't remember smashing her car. She doesn't remember anything from the last three days. But a policeman, Deputy Will Tanninger, is waiting for answers and wants to know if she's responsible for a fatal hit-and-run...

But Remembering Her Past Could Kill Her...

Hoping to restore her shattered memory, Gemma has no choice but to put her trust in Will. But if it turns out she's guilty of murder, he has no choice but to arrest her. Torn by her growing feelings for Will, and haunted by her shadowy past, Gemma is determined to learn the truth. But, in this case, the darkest truths are unknowable—and the deadliest enemies are unseen...(from Barnes and Noble)

The Texicans
Publisher/Publication Date: Soho Press/October 2006
ISBN-13: 9781569474341
304 pages


Unseen
Publisher/Publication Date: Kensington Publishing Corp/April 2009
ISBN-13: 9781420103403
384 pages

What great books did you find this week?? Stop over at Should Be Reading and share yours!

Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione (Book Review)

Title: Pleasure Unbound (Demonica Series #1)
Author: Larissa Ione
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: 2008
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Why read: I read this in preparation for the next 2 books in the series which I have received as ARC's.

First sentence: Had Eidolon been anywhere but the hospital, he would have killed the guy pleading for his life before him.

My summary: Eidolon is a doctor and the head of staff at UGH - Underworld General Hospital. On staff are his two brothers, Wraith and Shade. But as you can tell by the name of the hospital - this is no ordinary hospital. It is a hospital for demons.

Eidolon is a Seminus demon as are his brothers -but they all had different mothers. At the age of 100, Seminus demons begin a stage called S'genesis. If they don't find a mate before that process, they will feel the urge to procreate with any and all females after the maturation cycle is completed. They will also be able to shapeshift into the male of any demon species.

Eidolon meets Tayla when she is brought into his ER. Even though she is an Aegi slayer, a human trained to kill demons, because of UGH's charter, she cannot be turned away. To make things even more convoluted, upon examination they discover she is 1/2 demon and doesn't know it!

And so begins the romance between Eidolon and Tayla - both of whom struggle with their desire to be together and their revulsion as to the other's lineage and profession.

Tayla's mother died when she was 16 - she was killed by a demon - a Soulshredder. Tayla was taken in by the Guardians and trained to be an Aegi. They are the only family she has ever really known.

When she discovers she is 1/2 demon - she doesn't know to which world she belongs. Add to that the fact that someone is killing demons for their body parts - and her cell of the guardians seem to be involved - and the mystery deepens.


My thoughts: This was a book I didn't think I would enjoy as much as I did. WARNING - there is "mature sexual content" and language. If you are a fan of this genre and haven't started this series - now is the time!


Pleasure Unbound
ISBN: 044640103X
ISBN-13:9780446401036
Publication date: July 2008
416 pages

Weekend Track Meet and Dinner Theater

This past weekend my daughter Lexi was very busy! She performed with her show choir both Friday and Saturday nights at a dinner theater at her school. All day on Saturday she was also at the sectional track meet - she throws discus.

Lexi had never been in track before this year - never even picked up a discus before April - yet she took first in one meet - and took third at sectionals out of 18 girls (9 schools)! I have some pictures of her below

I don't have any pictures of her performing at dinner theater as flash photography wasn't allowed - but there was a raffle and we came home with two prizes~!



One raffle was for a bag containing a notebook, puzzlebook, pen, flavored water, chocolate and a $10 gift card to Borders!

The second raffle had an Evinrude hat and T-Shirt and a gift certificate for a pie at Baker's Square.

Needless to say - we had a great Saturday!

New Giveaway: Bound to Please

Bound to Please by Lilli Feisty

Thank you Hachette Books and Anna for allowing me to give away 5 copies of this book!

FROM FANTASY TO ECSTASY

Ruby Scott is a beautiful, quiet event planner who leads an oh-so-respectable life. Yet the things that go on in her secret fantasies are anything but. She has every intention of keeping her hidden desires under wraps-until she meets a gorgeous, hard-muscled man ten years her junior. Mark St. Crow is a gifted, up-and-coming musician who collects erotic art and loves to "play" women as much as his piano. After one night of uninhibited passion, Ruby realizes there's no turning back. But as she surrenders to her deepest needs and lets Mark control every forbidden thrill, her passion for him builds. Can the wild, intoxicating nights they share lead to a love that will last forever?

About the author: Lilli was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. She spent the majority of her twenties working just enough to pay for extended trips to Europe. Some of her fascinating employment titles included makeup artist, secretary, and perpetual student. She owned an art gallery for several years, holds a degree in Creative Arts and was just a thesis short of her MA when she decided to drop out of school to write romance.

Other than writing, some of her obsessions include tattoos, reality television, and beaches. Visit her on her website, lillianfeisty.com, where she loves to ramble about the strangest things.

Rules

1. Giveaway open only to U.S. and Canada.
2. No P.O. Boxes
3. Five (5) copies to giveaway!
4. Giveaway will end - Friday June 5th at 11:59PM CST.

How to enter: (PLEASE PUT ALL ENTRIES INTO ONE COMMENT)

1. Enter once just by commenting below Leave E-mail address in comment!
2. If you follow my blog through google, RSS, E-mail - whichever way - 2 entries (this counts for new and old followers - be sure to mention it either way!)
3. Twitter or blog about it - 2 more entries.
4. MAX OF 5 ENTRIES ONLY.

New Giveaway: One Deadly Sin

One Deadly Sin by Annie Solomon

Thank you to Hachette books and Anna for allowing me to give away 5 copies of this book!

COMING HOME IS MURDER...


Revenge. Edie Swann has hungered for it since she fled her hometown as a little girl. Now she's returned, ready for payback. Armed with a list of names, she leaves each one a chilling sign that they have blood on their hands. Her father's blood. What happens next turns her own blood cold: one by one, the men she's targeted start dying.


Sheriff Holt Drennen knows Edie is hiding something. She has a haunted look in her eyes and a defiant spirit, yet he can't believe she's a murderer. As the body count rises and all evidence points to Edie, Holt is torn between the town he's sworn to protect and the woman he's come to desire. But nothing is what it seems. Long buried secrets begin to surface, and a killer won't be satisfied until the sins of the past are paid in full--this time with Edie's blood.

About the author: A native New Yorker, RITA-winning author Annie Solomon has been dreaming up stories since she was ten. After a twelve-year career in advertising, where she rose to Vice President and Head Writer at a mid-size agency, she abandoned the air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps of her professional life for her first love--romance. An avid knitter and mother of a daughter attending college, she now lives in Nashville with her husband. You can visit her Web site at anniesolomon.net.

Rules

1. Giveaway open only to U.S. and Canada.
2. No P.O. Boxes
3. Five (5) copies to giveaway!
4. Giveaway will end - Friday June 5th at 11:59PM CST.

How to enter: (PLEASE PUT ALL ENTRIES INTO ONE COMMENT)

1. Enter once just by commenting below Leave E-mail address in comment!
2. If you follow my blog through google, RSS, E-mail - whichever way - 2 entries (this counts for new and old followers - be sure to mention it either way!)
3. Twitter or blog about it - 2 more entries.
4. MAX OF 5 ENTRIES ONLY.

New Giveaway: To Beguile a Beast

To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

Thank you Hachette Books and Anna for allowing me to give away 5 copies of this romance!

CAN A WOUNDED BEAST . . .

Reclusive Sir Alistair Munroe has hidden in his castle ever since returning from the Colonies, scarred inside and out. But when a mysterious beauty arrives at his door, the passions he's kept suppressed for years begin to awaken.


TRUST A BEAUTY WITH A PAST . . .


Running from past mistakes has taken legendary beauty Helen Fitzwilliam from the luxury of the ton to a crumbling Scottish castle . . . and a job as a housekeeper. Yet Helen is determined to start a new life and she won't let dust-or a beast of a man-scare her away.


TO TAME HIS MOST SECRET DESIRES?


Beneath Helen's beautiful façade, Alistair finds a courageous and sensual woman. A woman who doesn't back away from his surliness-or his scars. But just as he begins to believe in true love, Helen's secret past threatens to tear them apart. Now both Beast and Beauty must fight for the one thing neither believed they could ever find-a happy ever after.

About the author: Elizabeth Hoyt/Julia Harper lives in central Illinois with three untrained dogs, two angelic, but bickering children, and one long-suffering husband.

Rules

1. Giveaway open only to U.S. and Canada.
2. No P.O. Boxes
3. Five (5) copies to giveaway!
4. Giveaway will end - Friday June 5th at 11:59PM CST.

How to enter: (PLEASE PUT ALL ENTRIES INTO ONE COMMENT)

1. Enter once just by commenting below Leave E-mail address in comment!
2. If you follow my blog through google, RSS, E-mail - whichever way - 2 entries (this counts for new and old followers - be sure to mention it either way!)
3. Twitter or blog about it - 2 more entries.
4. MAX OF 5 ENTRIES ONLY.

Waiting on Wednesday: Dismantled

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: June 16, 2009

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Island of Lost Girls and Promise Not to Tell returns with a chilling novel in which the secrets of the past come back to haunt a group of friends in terrifying ways.

Dismantlement = Freedom

Henry, Tess, Winnie, and Suz banded together in college to form a group they called the Compassionate Dismantlers. Following the first rule of their manifesto—"To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart"—these daring misfits spend the summer after graduation in a remote cabin in the Vermont woods committing acts of meaningful vandalism and plotting elaborate, often dangerous, pranks. But everything changes when one particularly twisted experiment ends in Suz's death and the others decide to cover it up.

Nearly a decade later, Henry and Tess are living just an hour's drive from the old cabin. Each is desperate to move on from the summer of the Dismantlers, but their guilt isn't ready to let them go. When a victim of their past pranks commits suicide—apparently triggered by a mysterious Dismantler-style postcard—it sets off a chain of eerie events that threatens to engulf Henry, Tess, and their inquisitive nine-year-old daughter, Emma.

Is there someone who wants to reveal their secrets? Is it possible that Suz did not really die—or has she somehow found a way back to seek revenge?

Full of white-knuckle tension with deeply human characters caught in circumstances beyond their control, Jennifer McMahon's gripping story and spine-tingling plot prove that she is a master at weaving the fear of the supernatural with the stark realities of life. (from HarperCollins website)

Dismantled: A Novel
ISBN-13: 9780061689338
Publication Date: June 16, 2009
432 pages


What are you waiting for? Waiting on Wednesdays is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

ARC Arrival: Last Night in Montreal

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

Publisher: Unbridled Books

A big thanks to Caitlin and Unbridled Books for this one. It is scheduled for a blog tour in June.

About the book: Lilia Albert has been leaving people behind for her entire life. She spends her childhood and adolescence traveling constantly and changing identities. In adulthood, she finds it impossible to stop. Haunted by an inability to remember her early childhood, she moves restlessly from city to city, abandoning lovers along with way, possibly still followed by a private detective who has pursued her for years. Then her latest lover follows her from New York to Montreal, determined to learn her secrets and make sure she’s safe. Last Night in Montreal is a story of love, amnesia, compulsive travel, the depths and the limits of family bonds, and the nature of obsession. In this extraordinary debut, Emily St. John Mandel casts a powerful spell that captures the reader in a gritty, youthful world—charged with an atmosphere of mystery, promise and foreboding—where small revelations continuously change our understanding of the truth and lead to desperate consequences. Mandel’s characters will resonate with you long after the final page is turned.(from publisher's website)

About the author: Emily St. John Mandel was born on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada, in 1979. She studied dance at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre and lived briefly in Montreal before relocating to New York. She lives in Brooklyn.

Last Night in Montreal
Publication Date: June 2, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1-932961-68-3
256 pages

Wonderful Win: Girls in Trucks

Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch

Published by Hachette Book Group

I won this book from S. Krishna at S. Krishna's Books. There are still some great giveaways going on over there - and you can always find another good book to read from the reviews!

About the book: Sarah Walters, the narrator of GIRLS IN TRUCKS, is a reluctant Camellia Society debutante. She has always felt ill-fitted to the rococo ways of Southern womanhood and family, and is anxious to shake the bonds of her youth. Still, she follows the traditional path laid out for her. This is Charleston, and in this beautiful, dark, segregated town, established rules and manners mean everything.

But as Sarah grows older, she finds that her Camellia lessons fail her, particularly as she goes to college, moves North, and navigates love and life in New York. There, Sarah and her group of displaced deb sisters try to define themselves within the realities of modern life. Heartbreak, addiction, disappointing jobs and death fail to live up to the hazy, happy future promised to them by their Camellia mothers and sisters.

When some unexpected bumps in the road--an unplanned birth, a family death--lead Sarah back home, she's forced to take another long look at the fading empire of her youth. It takes a strange turn of events to finally ground Sarah enough to make some serious choices. And only then does she realize that as much as she tried to deny it, where she comes from will always affect where she ends up. The motto of her girlhood cotillion society, "Once a Camellia, always a Camellia," may turn out to have more wisdom and pull to it than she ever could have guessed. (from Barnes and Noble)


About the author: Katie Crouch was raised in Charleston, South Carolina, where she attended Cotillion training but was never a debutante. She studied writing at Brown and Columbia universities and now lives in San Francisco. (from book cover)

Girls in Trucks
Publication Date: April 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0-316-00212-7
272 pages

Wonderful Win: What Would Jane Austen Do?

What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

I won this book from Book Maniac at A Blog of Books. There are some great giveaways going on over there right now - and there are always good reviews - so if you haven't checked out this blog yet, now's the time!

About the Book:

Surely Jane Austen would know how to handle such a rake...

From the author of Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake, a new time travel romance featuring a modern day career woman swept back in time to Regency England, where she thwarts a Napoleonic spy, chats with Jane Austen, and falls in love with a notorious rake.

Eleanor is a costume designer in England for the Jane Austen festival, where her room at the inn is haunted. In the middle of the night she encounters two ghost sisters whose brother was killed in a duel over 200 years ago. They persuade her to travel back in time with them to prevent the duel. Eleanor is swept into a country house party, presided over by the charming Lord Shermont, where she encounters and befriends Jane Austen. But there's much more to Lord Shermont than the ghosts knew, and as Eleanor dances and flirts with him, she begins to lose her heart. (from the publisher)

About the author: Laurie Brown teaches writing classes at the college level, has presented seminars at conferences all over the country, and has three published romance novels. She has been a Golden Heart finalist twice and has received the Service Award from the Chicago-North Chapter of RWA. She resides in Illinois.

What Would Jane Austen Do?
Publication Date: May 2009
ISBN-13: 9781402218316
For anyone who likes romance/historicals
352 pages