Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Entangled Moments - Book Blast & Giveaway


Entangled Moments
Moments in Time Book One
By: Dori Lavelle


Blurb
A deadly accident can take a life in more than one way.
Four years ago, Carlene Adams made a deadly mistake. A tragic accident derailed the future she'd hoped for, taking the life of the man she'd planned to spend forever with.
As a self-imposed penance for her solitary sin, Carlene has given up on every dream she ever had. She has committed to spend every remaining moment trying to make up for that one instance when everything changed.  
Then she gets a second chance.
When Carlene meets Nick, the single kiss they share awakens the desires she shoved aside for so long. Suddenly she wants more than what she believe she deserves. Will she ever see him again? And if she does, what will that mean for her?
A thing of fate.
Leaving the life she built on regret, Carlene waits for fate to intervene. But just as she begins to believe in a fresh start, she's forced to realize a horrible truth—one with the power to send her second chance crashing before it even takes off.
Nick isn't who she thought he was. She isn't the girl he believed her to be, either. Their lives were intertwined even before they met, and if Carlene tells him the truth, she’ll risk tearing them apart—for good.

** Due to sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18. **

Buy Link:

Author Info
Dori Lavelle, is a mother, wife, and lover of happy endings and mint chocolate. She thinks love and chocolate make such a perfect pair. Give her a great romance novel with a hint of suspense and a mug of hot chocolate and she'd be one happy woman.
Growing up, Dori read a lot, and when she wasn't happy with a particular ending, she wrote a different one, just for herself. Before long, she was writing stories when she should have been doing homework. The time has come for her to share the stories she cooks up in her head.

Author Links
Email: Dori_lavelle@yahoo.com


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Friday, December 27, 2013

Younger, Thinner, Blonder - Review & Giveaway

Review by K.T. Sullivan

Tanya Travis lives a dream life with her budding rock star boyfriend, successful television show, and foul mouthed maid. Then, she’s fired, dumped, and evicted. When she hits bottom, the only way back to the top is a humiliating reality show set in Nepal. Celebrity Spa Trek is her redemption ticket. Her fellow contestants are on the comeback trail as well. Tanya quickly realizes she’s in over her head when presented with a disgusting challenge. She refuses and is banished. She finds herself as a helper in a local orphanage. The children spark her to recalculate her net worth. The handsome local guide, Ardash, grew up there and is never far from Tanya’s thoughts. To add to the tension of the show, Tanya’s former fiancé, Nathan, becomes a contestant as well. At first, she hopes for reconciliation, but after time, realizes she’s been saved from a disastrous marriage. Tanya grows as a human being and falls in love, but will she be named Queen of the Mountains?
                            
The author incorporates the glittering celebrity culture into the story. Tanya must live without her killer wardrobe and designer hair products. She brings her back to the basics to prove life has to have meaning beyond stuff accumulation. My favorite character is Astrid, Tanya’s Swedish maid. Her command of the English language revolves around swearing. She proves to be an invaluable friend and comic relief. It is easy to relate to Tanya holding on to her horrible past against the frightening future. Fun read.

Sue Watson was a TV Producer with the BBC who combined motherhood and family life with a busy career. However, one day it dawned on Sue that Cosmo magazine may have been telling porkies about 'having it all,' and she realised her life had become a slightly crazed juggling act. So after much comfort eating,soul searching and reality TV watching, she sold her car, cancelled the holiday, bought a flamingo pink laptop and took the plunge as a writer.

The result was Sue's first novel, 'Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes,' a story about Stella Weston, whose life is a constant struggle with the weighing scales and being a working mum, wife and daughter.

The author researched intensely, baking and tasting and baking and ... tasting and... created the fabulous recipe collection of easy but impressive cakes at the back of the book. Sue also gained an equally impressive extra ten pounds on her hips, which to this day she carries with her.

Sue's second book, 'Younger, Thinner, Blonder' is released in October (2013).
Originally from Manchester, Sue now lives with her husband and teenage daughter in Worcestershire where she is currently writing her third book. When she's not toiling over her latest novel, Sue can be found enjoying large bags of chicken crisps, large tubs of Caramel Chew Chew ice cream and 'The Biggest Loser USA' on series link.

Connect with the author at:




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Thursday, December 26, 2013

The Trouble with Love - Review & Giveaway

Review by Darcey Pickett

Something’s are always worth the fight!
As book number two of the trilogy picks up, we are back in the quaint little town of Sugar Creek, Vermont, where we meet Rocky Monroe as she is running her bed & breakfast and her Cupcake Lovers Club. 

Rocky has to travel to NYC to work out the details of a cook book for the Cupcake Lovers Club, and her bad luck has followed her.  She is in a strange town and has to reach out to the one person she has been trying to avoid, Jayce Bello.  Jayce and Rocky have history together and the passion that sparked between them all those years ago is still ever present.  Rocky was deeply hurt by Jayce and has done her best to put him out of her mind.  But with one crack in her foundation, she finds herself in his company and all those feelings come flooding back.

Jayce Bello, a family friend, had an intimate moment with his best friends little sister.  Faced with the demons of his own family drama and the fact he doesn’t want any more, he up and leaves Sugar Creek for NYC to become a police officer.  Having Rocky need him is the sign he was looking for and he is bound and determine to explain himself after 13 years and with the hopes of proving his love for her.

The romance between Rocky and Jayce was fun, it wasn’t sugary sweet and this novel offered a bit of mystery as well.  I found this book to be a fun read, and even though it is part of a trilogy I did not feel like I needed to have read the first book to understand and develop a relationship with the characters of this book.  But I can tell you that it had me wanting to go back to read book one and looking forward to seeing what happens in book three!  I recommend this fun read and encourage you to read the entire trilogy!

Storytelling comes naturally to award-winning author Beth Ciotta. Dubbed "fun and sexy" by Publisher's Weekly, Beth specializes in writing Romantic Comedy with a Twist of Suspense and is published in contemporary, historical, steampunk, and paranormal romantic fiction. "I can't think of anything more fulfilling than writing stories where everyone (except the villain, of course) gets a happy ending!"
Beth lives in NJ with her husband, two zany dogs, and a crazy cat. A retired professional performer, Beth now pours her artistic passion into her writing. 

To learn more about her colorful life, visit her at:




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Monday, December 23, 2013

Chocolate For Breakfast & Chocolate Fondue - Review


Reviewed by Darcie Czajkowski

Young, naïve, and inexperienced, Bernadette “Bernie” Maguire has a mission when she and her best friend Lisa travel to Fribourg, Switzerland for their junior year of college.  Bernie’s goal of losing her virginity proves easy, too easy in fact, when she sets her sights on Karl Berset, an attractive Swiss banker.  She willingly becomes intimate with him, but after a single passionate weekend together, he disappears from her life and from Fribourg entirely. 

Almost immediately, Bernie knows she is pregnant.  She quietly keeps her secret, initially sharing only with Lisa and Lisa’s landlady, Erika Stangl.  She goes about her normal life, attending classes, spending time with Lisa, and even drinking the occasional beer with her classmates at Café des Espouses in town.

But events start to spiral further out of control when Bernie becomes intimate with a classmate who is unaware of her pregnancy, experiences the loss of someone close to her, and stumbles upon the shocking reason why Karl vanished from her life, as if she had imagined their affair altogether. 

Twenty-three years later, Bernie is still dealing with the consequences of those transient moments with Karl.  Her life is an emotional mess and, after her mother’s passing, she decides that she no longer wants to live her life in a self-destructive way.  With her aunt in tow, Bernie returns to Fribourg and, upon arriving at Hotel de la Rose, she finds her past literally staring back at her. 

Will Bernie have the courage to face the decisions she made all those years ago?  Will she be able to reconcile the girl who first landed in Switzerland with the woman she is now, someone who has made many mistakes but wants to change her life for the better?
Chocolate for Breakfast starts as a simple adventure abroad and unfurls into a dramatic, heartwarming story which continues in the sequel, Chocolate Fondue.  These books must be read together in order to experience and appreciate Bernie’s drastic character development.  Chocolate for Breakfast is the place to start to fully understand how the choices Bernie made in Fribourg sent her spiraling down the wrong path, but Chocolate Fondue is where the complexity and depth of Bernie’s character truly come alive and the full breadth of Martha Reynolds’ skill as a writer is on display.  In the sequel, Martha does a remarkable job of weaving together two storylines and making the reader want to keep reading to find out how the stories will be resolved.  A captivating story has a twist around every corner and keeps the reader wondering what will happen next, both of which Martha accomplishes with aplomb.  I was hooked from beginning until the end and, who wouldn’t be, when chocolate is involved.

Martha Reynolds is the author of three novels: the award-winning CHOCOLATE FOR BREAKFAST; its sequel, CHOCOLATE FONDUE; and the newly-published BITS OF BROKEN GLASS. All books are available through Amazon in digital and print versions.
Coming soon: the third and final book in the 'chocolate' series, BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE.
She and her husband live in Rhode Island, never far from the ocean.

Read and follow the writings of Martha at

Friday, December 20, 2013

The Hunt For Xanadu - Release Day Post

Blurb
Twenty-two year old Kelsey Porter has dedicated her life to avenging the death of her parents, murdered in their quest to find the mystical land of Xanadu. Before she can locate the murderers, she has to discover their motives for the brutal crime and finds herself at the epicenter of a Buddhist mystery as old as time. With the help of her companion, Detective Desmond Gisborne, she hunts the killers across the globe and discovers a darkness in her spiritual past that tests the very limits of her soul. Soon she realizes that it is not she who is doing the hunting, but the one being hunted. Kelsey must find a way to survive, while ancient demons attempt to destroy her.


Link to buy the book:

Author Bio
Elyse Salpeter is the author of seven novels and a host of short stories. What she loves doing is mixing "the real with the fantastic" in her books. She loves taking different scenarios and suddenly creating worlds where things just aren't what they appear to be.

Her Dark Fantasy Series, THE WORLD OF KAROV and THE RUBY AMULET take us to other realms filled with magic and evil... THE HUNT FOR XANADU is about a young girl on a mission to avenge her parents, murdered in their quest to find the mystical land of Xanadu.

Her two YA novels, FLYING TO THE LIGHT and FLYING TO THE FIRE are represented by Peter Riva from International Transactions. These books are about a young deaf boy who knows what happens to you when you die and now people are after him for the answers. The books are fast paced thrillers that keeps the reader on their toes, never quite knowing who, and who not, to trust.

When she's not writing, she's eating crazy foods in her Gastronaut club, working out, or running after her twins and a crazy ferret. 

Connect with the author at:





Wish Upon A Star - Review

Blurb
Cookery columnist and author Cally’s world is turned upside down when her baby daughter is born with serious heart problems.  Her ex disappeared when she was pregnant, and Cally has spent much of the early years of daughter Stella’s life at the hospital.  When Stella’s only hope is hugely expensive life-saving surgery in the States, Cally moves in with her mother in the rural village of Sticklepond, to save money for the operation.

The village rallies round and begins fund raising with a vengeance, including the laid back and rather handsome baker Jago, who is still trying to escape the clutches of his controlling ex-fiance.  With everything that is going on, the last thing Cally wants to do is fall in love, but she is also tired of going it alone.  In the run up to Christmas, the true spirit of the festive season begins to show…

 A warmly told tale that takes Trisha Ashley fans back to Sticklepond, with colourful characters old and new

Review by K.T Sullivan

Cally Weston is a single mom with a daughter, Stella, who is seriously ill. She devotes herself to Stella’s care, writing food reviews, and fundraising for a life-saving trip to America. The promised heart operation is Stella's only chance. Adam, Stella’s father, is out of the hemisphere in Antarctica. She refers to him as her Penguin Daddy. He never played a part in Stella’s life until another man steps in to fill his role. Jago is a baker with a sure path to Stella’s good side. He makes gingerbread pigs and she must have one after her doctor visits. Jago’s former fiancée, Aimee, floats back into his life after her father cuts off her allowance. She’s heard Jago and his friend David won the lottery. Jago has no interest in rekindling anything. To get back at him and his budding romance with Cally, she calls Adam.  He decides he’d like to try the father thing because his parents desperately want a grandchild. He forgot Cally told him about the pregnancy. He responded by leaving her for another woman. Adam and Aimee team up to reclaim their former loves. Will the true love match survive?

The health concern adds a bit of seriousness to the light hearted book. Stella is an adorable character and moves the couple into each other’s orbit. The author cleverly weaves baking into the story. The love of cake brings Cally and Jago together. Recipes are included in the back of the book. I had to research Croquembouche, Jago’s signature creation. It looks sinfully delicious. I enjoyed the sentimental story.



About the Author:
Trisha Ashley was born in St. Helens, Lancashire, and now lives in the beautiful surroundings of North Wales. She has written several novels that have become Sunday Times bestsellers. A Winter's Tale and Wedding Tiers were shortlisted for the Melissa Nathan Award for Romantic Comedy. Every Woman for Herself was voted one of the top three romantic novels of the last fifty years. 

Connect with the author at:

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Charity Giveaway Winners!!!

I want to thank everyone who donated items for the giveaway and to everyone who donated to enter the giveaway.  We raised $800 to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines! 

A special thank you to all of the authors and publishers who donated:

Jane Porter                                     Carl Purdon
Melissa Foster                                Becky Lyles
Anita Hughes                                  Jan Marshall
Kim Gruenenfelder                          KC Sprayberry                                  
Donna Kauffman                             PaulShortt                                       
Janis Thomas                                   Mary Carter                                     
Jane Green                                      MarissaSangiacomo                      
Melissa Cutler                                 Sharon Coady                                  
Megan Crane                                  Kathy DiSanto                                  
Katie O'Brian Robles                      Micki Bare                                        
Lisa Wainland                                 Cat Lavoie                                         
Tracie Banister                                Jackie Bouchard
Lon Grover                                     JonathanSturak
Jen Tucker                                      KathrynBiel
Elise Sax                                       Anna Garner
Suzanne Redfearn                         Emily Harper
Samantha Stroh Bailey                     Erin Holtgreve
Samantha March                             Lydia Laceby
Anne Riley                                      Patricia Willers
Laura Kaye                                     Beth Albright

Winners

Prize Pack #1 – 40 (Melody S)
Prize Pack #2 – 662 (Loni H)
Prize Pack #3 – 765 (Chrissy W)
Prize Pack #4 – 68 (Janine R)
Prize Pack #5 – 783 (Trisha H)
Prize Pack #6 – 71 (Bonnie K)
Prize Pack #7 – 161 (Jackie B)
Prize Pack #8 – 62 (Janine R)
Prize Pack #9 – 799 (Rhonda B)
Prize Pack #10 – 546 (Lydia L)
Prize Pack #11 – 560 (Heather C)
Prize Pack #12 – 144 (Judith H)
Prize Pack #13 – 222 (Melinda G)

Congrats to all of the winners.  Please message me at mengel2@nycap.rr.com with your mailing address if you won print books.  If you won one of Jane Porter's packages or Melissa Foster's packages, please message me with an e mail address that I can provide to them so they can get your items to you.

Sweetest Mistake - Excerpt & Giveaway


Sweetest Mistake
Sweet Texas Series #2
By: Candis Terry
Releasing December 31st, 2013

Blurb
When friends become lovers . . .

Firefighter and former Marine Jackson Wilder has tough guy down to an art, but he’s learned the hard way that promises were made to be broken. Abigail Morgan was once his best friend, his first kiss, his first love, his first everything. He’d just forgotten to mention all that to her and she blew out of his life. Five years later, she’s back and he’s battling a load of mistrust for her disappearing act. But for some reason he just can’t keep his lips—or his hands—to himself.

It can lead to disaster or . . .

When her stint as a trophy wife abruptly ends, Abby returns home to Sweet, Texas, and comes face-to-face with Jackson—her biggest and sexiest mistake. Time and distance did nothing to squash her love for the act-first-think-later stubborn hunk of a man, and when he suggests they renew their old just-friends vow, Abby realizes she wants more. She’d cut and run once. Could she do it again? Or could she tempt him enough to break his promise?

Buy Links
Amazon * B&N * iTunes

EXCERPT
Before she could get her feet in motion Jackson came into the room with adorable little Izzy in his arms and a stunning, statuesque blonde at his side.
Abby’s heart caved under a breath-stealing wallop.
Her eyes darted from Jackson to the child to . . . yes . . . the mother.
Dressed in boot-cut jeans and a simple cotton tee, the woman took casual cool to another level. She wore little makeup and her long hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders. Her curves were made by God--not a plastic surgeon--and she looked completely at ease in her environment.
Beside her, Jackson, in his black t-shirt, jeans, and finger-combed hair, accented her beauty with his masculine good looks. Between them, Izzy, in her frilly summer frock with her golden curls tied up in a high ponytail, looked like the perfect combination of her parents.
Together, the three of them resembled the perfect little family.
Young. Vibrant. Gorgeous. Breathtaking.
At that moment Jackson glanced across the room and caught her eye. His brows pulled together. His lips flattened into an unyielding slash.
His silent message hit home.
She did not belong there.
No shit, Sherlock.
Before disaster roared into Armageddon and she did something really crazy like cry, she estimated how far it was to the door. She didn’t care how ridiculous she’d look if she made a run for it. She’d already been Sweet’s hot topic of the week. There was only so much she could stand. Seeing Jackson with the mother of his child took her over her limit.
She took a step backward and plowed into a wall by the name of Reno.
At that moment Jana clapped her hands together. “Can I have all y’all’s attention?”
While everyone quieted, Reno leaned down and spoke into Abby’s ear. “Looks like you’re just going to have to stay a while longer. Can’t hardly bolt in the middle of Mom’s little speech.”
As she turned to tell Reno she intended to do just that, she caught Jackson’s eye again. Brows pulled tight over those blue eyes, his shoulders remained stiff--even when Izzy leaned her little golden head against his.
When Jana cleared her throat, Abby pulled her attention back to the woman who’d seemingly conned her for the second time. As Jana spoke, Abby controlled her disappointment and counted the seconds until she could escape.
“I have so much to be grateful for today I feel like it should be Thanksgiving,” Jana said. “I’m so happy to welcome Reno and Charli back home. And if y’all haven’t noticed, my future daughter-in-law is wearing an enormous diamond on her left hand.”
Everyone applauded. Charli obliged by flashing the ring for all to see while smiling up at the man she obviously adored.
“I made Reno and Charli promise they wouldn’t step foot in one of those 24-hour wedding chapels in Vegas,” Jana continued. “If they want tacky, we’ll give it to them right here in Sweet.” She grinned her happiness and everyone laughed.
Chester Banks winked at Abby again and she averted her gaze across the room.
Big mistake.
Jackson was looking right back. If there had ever been a moment in time where she felt more out of place, she couldn’t name it. Even the moment she’d made the most heartfelt request of her husband and he’d laughed in her face. Even the following day when she’d come home from her committee meeting with the Junior League to discover the locks on her home had been changed and the bombshell waiting for her on the front step.
The note taped to the top of the white box had been brief.
And demoralizing.
Abby,
I realize now that the objectives in what we wished to achieve in this marriage are vastly diverse. Therefore I seek to revoke the arrangement.
Inside this box are settlement papers and the keys to a condominium I have purchased in your name. If you choose to contest this petition for divorce, be aware that you will lose.
Please evacuate the premises at once. If you refuse I have instructed the hired help to contact the authorities.
M.R.
Abby shuddered at the memory. At the absolute devastation and humiliation she’d felt when she’d reached down, picked up the box, and walked back to her car.
What had she done that had been so awful?
All she’d wanted was a baby.
A child to hold in her arms.
To love.
To have that love returned—a love she’d never receive from the man who’d put a ring on her finger and pretended to the world to be a loving and devoted husband. To him she’d never been more than an employee—someone to host his parties, wear on his arm, and attend the charity events that made him look like a man with a heart.
He hadn’t been.
She’d been nothing more than a paid companion.

Mark Rich had discovered her working in the offices of his newly acquired team. He’d found her pleasant and pliable—someone who could be molded into what he needed to impress—or at least fit in—with the other married members of his peers. She’d been educated, trained, and polished to be Mrs. Mark Rich. But she had never been loved or valued.

About the Author:
Candis Terry was born and raised near the sunny beaches of Southern California and now makes her home on an Idaho farm. She’s experienced life in such diverse ways as working in a Hollywood recording studio to chasing down wayward steers. Only one thing has remained the same: her passion for writing stories about relationships, the push and pull in the search for love, and the security one finds in their own happily ever after.

Author Links
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads

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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

All I Want For Christmas - Book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway


All I Want for Christmas is a Cowboy
By: Katie Lane, Emma Cane & Jennifer Ryan


Blurbs

What’s better than Christmas? Christmas and Cowboys. Contemporary romance stars Emma Cane, Jennifer Ryan, and Katie Lane join together for a holiday anthology to remember.

“The Christmas Cabin” by Emma Cane
Sandy, recently diagnosed with MS and abandoned by her husband, is determined to make Christmas special for her five-year-old Nate. While they’re trooping through the woods to cut down their Christmas tree, a snowstorm arises, and a mysterious old ranch hand points them toward an abandoned cabin. Little do they realize, the ranch hand also guides cowboy Doug Thalberg to the same place…

“Can’t Wait” by Jennifer Ryan
Before The Hunted series, Caleb and Summer had a whirlwind romance not to be forgotten...
Caleb Bowden has a lot to thank his best friend, Jack, for - saving his life in Iraq and giving him a job helping him run his family’s ranch. He also introduced him to the most incredible woman he’s ever met. Too bad he can’t ask her out. You do not date your best friend’s sister. Summer and Caleb share a closeness she’s never felt for anyone, but the stubborn man refuses to turn the flirtatious friendship into something meaningful. Frustrated and tired of wishing to be happy, Caleb tells Jack how he feels about Summer. With his friend’s help, he plans a surprise Christmas proposal she’ll never forget - because he can’t wait to make her his wife.

“Marry Christmas” by Katie Lane
Alana Hale is tired of irresponsible beach bums whose only plan for the future is catching the next “awesome” wave. So when she tries her luck with an internet dating service and ends up hitting the Responsible-Sensitive-Man jackpot, she wastes no time accepting Clint McCormick’s invitation to spend the holidays on his family’s ranch. But when an unexpected blizzard strands Alana, she’ll be forced to find refuge in the arms of a womanizing rodeo cowboy who knows how to take the chill off a cold winter night. Now Alana will have to make a choice between the man who heats her blood and the man who touches her heart. Or will she? Mistaken identity will give Alana the man of her dreams and a very “Marry” Christmas.

Buy Links:
Amazon * B&N * iTunes

Guest Post by Katie Lane
As a child growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where you can have sixty-five degree weather through January, I was thrilled on the rare occasions we got a white Christmas.  There was nothing like spending my holiday break from school enjoying a winter wonderland.  I’d build full-figured snowwomen with juniper berry earrings, make snow angel families, and munch scoops of snow from my icy mittens.  And of course, I’d have snowball fights.  Or more like snowball wars.  Each team would consist of around five to six children from the neighborhood.  We’d have the kids who were the frontline warriors, the kid who packed the snowballs, the kid who we sent to sabotage the other team’s stash of ammunition, and the kid who ended up crying and running home to tell her mother because someone hit her too hard in the face with a snowball.  Being one of the youngest in the neighborhood, this was usually me.  I learned quickly that snowballs could hurt like the dickens, especially when packed tightly by a boy who had no problem clocking a little girl right between the eyes.  Which might explain the snowball scene in my novella Baby It’s Cold Outside.  So as not to ruin the story, I won’t go into detail.  All I will say is that I got great satisfaction in letting my heroine dish out a little well-deserved retribution on my hot cowboy.  I also gave her a white Christmas that she’ll never forget :o)

Happy Holidays Everyone!  And thank you Book Mama Blog for having me today.
Share your favorite Childhood Winter memory!

Author Info
EMMA CANE grew up reading and soon discovered that she liked to write passionate stories of teenagers in space. Her love of “passionate stories” has never gone away, although today she concentrates on the heartwarming characters of Valentine, her fictional small town in the Colorado Rockies. Now that her three children are grown, Emma loves spending time crocheting and singing (although not necessarily at the same time), and hiking and snowshoeing alongside her husband Jim and two rambunctious dogs Apollo and Uma.  Learn more about Emma at:  http://www.emmacane.com/

JENNIFER RYAN, author of The Hunted Series, writes romantic suspense and contemporary small-town romances.
Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she isn’t writing a book, she’s reading one. Her obsession with both is often revealed in the state of her home, and how late dinner is to the table. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper.
Please visit her website at www.jennifer-ryan.com for information about upcoming releases.
Follow her on:  Twitter * Facebook

 KATIE LANE started writing in fifth grade when she wrote a fictional story about being a skirt.(yes, you read that correctly. The story was told in first-skirt rather than first-person.) Since then, she’s stuck to telling stories about people. Going Cowboy Crazy is her first novel in the Deep in the Heart of Texas series. Katie lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her high school sweetheart and can be contacted through her website www.katielanebooks.com

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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink - Review & Giveaway

Review by Marlene Engel

Best friends, Mel, Nic and Seema know that they will always be there for one another.  But as Nic and Seema settle down and start having families of their own, Mel begins to question her future.  Recently single and on the verge of potentially being laid off, Mel wants what her friends have.  Nic is married with a new baby, Seema is a newlywed and Mel … well, she’s having sex with Seema’s brother, Jay.  Not quite sure what to think about that situation, Mel figures that she’ll just go with the flow and see where it takes her.  After all, she has had a crush on Jay for practically half of her life. 

But when Mel decides to fly halfway across the world to be with Jay in Paris, she starts to wonder if she’s making the right decision.  It seems everywhere they go, they bump into a woman from Jay’s past.  Some happy to see Jay and some … well, not so much!  Mel starts to think that she’ll end up being just another number on Jay’s speed dial.  More confused than ever, Mel knows that she needs to get out of Paris but isn’t quite sure if she wants to go back home yet.  Take a trip with Mel as she tries to figure out what she wants out of life and possibly find someone to share it with.

The thing I love the most about reading Kim Gruenenfelder’s books is that they never disappoint in the area of humor.  My favorite type of book is one that has me laughing out loud and keeps my interest from the first page to the last.  This book did just that.  The author has a way of taking a fun story and brilliantly swirling in humor in just the right spots.  She also has a way of making the characters feel so real.  Mel, Nic and Seema have such a bond, that you wish you could be the fourth best friend in their group.  I can’t praise the author enough for her amazing writing style and her ability to draw me in and keep my attention throughout the book.  Once again, the author writes a book worthy of five stars and one that I would definitely recommend to others!

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Kim Gruenenfelder lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son, and continues to avoid anything even remotely resembling a real job. Her acclaimed debut novel, A Total Waste of Makeup, has been published in six languages and eight international editions to date. In addition to her three published novels, A Total Waste of Makeup, Misery Loves Cabernet and There’s Cake In My Future, she has written feature films, episodic teleplays and two stage plays. Her next novel, Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink, the sequel to “Cake,” is slated for a Dec. 24, 2013 release date.

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St. Martin’s Press has generously offered to giveaway two print copies of Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink to two lucky U.S residents.  You can also go to our sister blog, Chick Lit Central, to check out their interview with Kim Gruenenfelder and enter to win one of two print copies there too (courtesy of St. Martin's Press)!

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