Book Mama Blog

About the Author:

When Martine Bailey entered a cookery contest she had no idea it would lead to a life-changing obsession with French cuisine. As an amateur cook, Martine won the Merchant Gourmet Recipe Challenge and was a former UK Dessert Champion, cooking at Le Meurice in Paris.

Inspired by eighteenth-century household books of recipes, An Appetite for Violets invites readers to feast on the past as a sharp-witted young cook is taken on a mysterious trip to Italy. In pursuit of authenticity Martine studied with TV food historian Ivan Day and experienced Georgian food and fashion at firsthand with an historic re-enactment society. She followed the route of the novel, from Chester to Paris, then over the Alps to Tuscany, consulting Thomas Nugent's 18th century Guide to the Grand Tour.

Martine lives in Cheshire, England and Auckland, New Zealand. She is married with one son and has also written The Penny Heart, to be published in 2015.

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Thomas Dunne Books is giving 1 lucky winner a print copy of

A Taste For Nightshade by Martine Bailey

US only

Monday, January 11, 2016

The Road Back - Pub Week Giveaway

Blurb:

Journalist Chris Baxter is at a crossroads. He has an enviable life as a journalist in the U.S. and the prospect of an exciting new post in Thailand. But his needs aren't the only ones he must consider. His daughter is struggling with the effects of his divorce and her mother's remarriage. So Chris abandons dreams of Thailand and returns with his teenage daughter to his mother's house in the beautiful township of Neverend, where Chris comes to see that sometimes taking the road back is the start of a journey forward.

Purchase the book at:

Amazon

About the Author:

I was born in Wingham in the Manning Valley NSW and at five moved to Pittwater, a remote and magical part of Sydney, which in those days was populated by rather bohemian characters. One of these, the Australian actor Chips Rafferty, taught me dozens of Australian poems and shared with me his experiences in the Australian outback where he lived before he started his acting career. The poet Dorothrea Mackeller, whose poem, ‘My Country’ has such an important place in Australian literature, also lived near us. She encouraged me to write down my stories so that other people could enjoy them, too

Initially my books were all about Australians living in Australia, but I realised that Australians had made their mark in other parts of the world, and so I began to set my stories in more exotic overseas locations where Australians live and work. I still always visit the places where I set my books, talk to the locals, and absorb the history and culture as well as the ambiance of every location.

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St Martin’s Griffin is giving one lucky winner a print copy of

The Road Back by Di Morrissey
US Only

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Linny's Sweet Dream List - Promo & Giveaway

Linny's Sweet Dream List
Willow Hill #1

By: Susan Schild

Releasing January 5, 2016
Lyrical Press

Blurb

Set in the off-beat Southern town of Willow Hill, North Carolina, Susan Schild’s moving and witty novel tells of one woman who loses everything—and finds more than she ever expected.

At thirty-eight, Linny Taylor is suddenly living a life she thought only happened to other, more careless people. Widowed for the second time, and broke, thanks to her cheating late husband, Linny has no house, no job, and no options except to go back home. There, in a trailer as run down as her self-esteem, Linny makes a list of things that might bring happiness. A porch swing. A job that nourishes her heart as well as her bank balance. Maybe even a date or two.

At first, every goal seems beyond reach. But it’s hard for Linny to stay in the doldrums when a stray puppy is coercing her out of her shell—right into the path of a kind, compassionate vet. The quirky town is filled with friends and family, including Linny’s mother, Dottie, who knows more about heartache than her daughters ever guessed. And as Linny contemplates each item on her list, she begins to realize that the dreams most worth holding on to are measured not in worldly success, but in the sweetness of a life lived to the fullest.

Buy Links:

Amazon | B & N | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo

About the Author:

Susan has a graduate degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has used her work background as a psychotherapist and a business consultant to add authenticity to her characters.

Susan is a wife, a stepmother, and a dog lover, Lab Mixes in particular. She and her family live in North Carolina where she is busy finishing up the third novel in the Willow Hill Series.

Connect with the author at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Two Winners will receive a Tin of

Carolina Cupboard Cheddar Cheese Straws

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The Hole in the Middle - Pub Week & Giveaway

The heartfelt and hilarious, international bestselling debut about having it all without losing your mind.

Sophie Whelan is the kind of woman who prides herself on doing it all. In a single day, she can host a vegan-friendly and lactose-free dinner for ten, thwart a PTA president intent on forcing her to volunteer, and outwit her hostile ‘assistant’ in order to get her work done on time.

With her fortieth birthday looming, and her carefully coordinated existence beginning to come apart at the seams, Sophie begins feeling like she needs more from her life—and especially from her husband, Jesse.

The last thing Sophie needs is a new complication in her life. But when an opportunity from her past suddenly reappears, Sophie is forced to confront the choices she’s made and decide if her chaotic life is really a dream come true—or the biggest mistake she’s ever made…

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About the Author:

Before turning to fiction, Kate worked in law, higher education, public relations and major gift fundraising. She has an English degree from McGill University and a Law degree from the University of Toronto.

She is a working mother, a community volunteer, a voracious reader and a pretty decent cook. On good days, she thinks she might have it all. On bad days, she wants a nap. Kate lives with her family in Toronto.

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NAL is giving one lucky winner a print copy of

The Hole in the Middle by Kate Hilton

US Only

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

What Was Mine - Review & Giveaway

Review by Marlene Engel

Every parent’s worst nightmare is having one’s child abducted. What would you do if you were at the store, turned your attention from your child in the shopping cart for moments, only to find that the child was taken during that time?

In an impulsive decision, Lucy spies a child left unattended in a shopping cart and snatches the child when no one is looking. She renames the four month old baby Mia and raises her as her own for twenty one years. Telling people that she adopted the baby and even hires a nanny from China to help care for her. Taken place in the 1990s, the story alternates between several people who were affected by the incident. It’s told from the current day with flashbacks to the time of the abduction and years proceeding it.

For the most part, Lucy justifies her decision to take Marilyn’s baby. She feels that she is a good mother, who did a great job raising Mia. At times she thinks back to her actions and how it must have impacted the birth mother. For Marilyn, her life is in shambles. She tries her best to pick herself up and move on. In time their lives cross and what happens from there will change both of their lives forever.

Talk about giving you chills. This book literally had me on the edge of my seat with each page I read. If you’re looking for an impossible to put down thriller, you won’t want to miss this book. You will be thinking about it long after you turned the last page!

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About the Author:

Helen grew up in King of Prussia, PA, the first of eight children. She wrote her first novel at age 8, in a school composition notebook, a domestic tale about a family of birds. After graduating from Cornell University, she took up another kind of fiction–advertising. She spent over 20 fun-filled years at ad agencies in San Francisco and New York, working as a writer and creative director on global brands like Clairol, Nikon, Volvo and Absolut.

Helen received an MFA in fiction from The New School and is an avid speaker on 21st century storytelling. She lives with her husband in New York and Salisbury, CT.

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Gallery Books is giving one lucky winner a print copy of

What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross

US only

Friday, January 1, 2016

The Center of the World - Review & Giveaway

Review by Marlene Engel

What would you do if you received a letter stating that the life you knew was all a lie? For fifteen year old Sofia, who was born in Mexico and adopted at a young age by her mother Kate, it happened after the passing of her stepfather, Martin.

Martin was also adopted and learned the truth of his birth parents only when his mother was on her death bed. Knowing the pain it caused him, he vowed that as long as he was alive, he would keep the secret that Kate was hiding. But instead chose to write a letter outlining the events of her past, that were unknown to most, and give it to his attorney to deliver upon his passing. A past that included her real birthplace of Guatemala and the extreme measures Kate took to give this child the life she deserved and Kate the child she desperately desired.

Upon learning the truth, Sofia’s trust in Kate is broken. Kate knows that she must bring Sofia to the place she was born, the place where violence ran high, the place where Kate found love in such devastation. Until Sofia learns the truth of her past, she won’t be able to understand the sacrifice and impossible decisions Kate made in smuggling her into the country. But is it too late to undo the damage and move forward? And will Kate be forced to return Sofia to her place of birth now that her secret has been revealed?

In a moving and heart-wrenching book about love, heroism and the measures one will go to for the sake of a child, the author gives us a first-hand perspective of a war-torn country and the lives effected. I found myself emotionally involved in the story, crying one minute and rooting for the characters another. This was my first novel by Jacqueline Sheehan, but certainly won’t be the last.

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About the Author:

Jacqueline Sheehan, Ph.D., is a fiction writer and essayist. She is also a psychologist. She is a New Englander through and through, but spent twenty years living in the western states of Oregon, California, and New Mexico doing a variety of things, including house painting, freelance photography, newspaper writing, clerking in a health food store, and directing a traveling troupe of high school puppeteers.

Jacqueline teaches workshops at Grub Street in Boston and Writers in Progress in Florence, Massachusetts.

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Kensington Books is giving one lucky winner a print copy of

The Center of the World by Jacqueline Sheehan

US only

Thursday, December 24, 2015

All the Rage - Review

Review by Darcie Czajkowski

Romy Grey was raped. A tragic, scaring event that was made worse because of who the perpetrator was.

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner.

No one believes Romy. That’s her father’s fault. A drunk who mouthed off to the sheriff’s wife.

Romy has no credibility. Why would anyone believe the girl from the wrong side of the tracks?

One year later, Romy is still the outcast. Shamed by all. Friend to none. Except for Leon, the boy who works with her at the diner. But under the weight of shame and embarrassment, Romy has trouble letting him in. It’s hard for her to believe he wants her, despite the fact that when she says, “stop,” he does. Does he see the real her, though? Would he still care if he knew what happened to her?

Further complications arise when Romy’s former friend, Penny Young, disappears after a party, and Romy was there but can’t remember a thing. She’s questioned countless times about the night but has no answers. Is Kellan Turner responsible? Did he rape and kill her? And if he did, will anyone believe it?

Brilliantly written, Courtney Summers tackles an incredibly difficult topic. As a victim of sexual abuse as a child and rape as an adult, this book hit close to home. It was tough to read, largely because Summers nails it with her descriptions of how girls feel when they are violated. Girls and women are afraid to come forward, as they fear that they, like Romy, won’t be believed. They fear that nothing can be done. They fear that they will be blamed, or that they will be told that that they brought it on themselves. Society still has a long way to go in protecting girls and women from these types of offenses. But when authors like Summers are brave enough to raise the issue, let the world know and talk about the injustices that surround it, she is standing up for everyone who has been in Romy Grey’s shoes. Myself included.

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About the Author:

Courtney Summers was born in Belleville, Ontario in 1986 and currently resides in a small town not far from there. At age 14, she dropped out of high school to pursue her education independently and spent those years figuring out what she wanted to do with her life. At 18, she knew she was meant to write.

To date, she has authored five novels. Her first novel, Cracked Up to Be, was published when she was 22 and went on to win the 2009 CYBIL award in YA fiction. Since then, she’s published four more books–2011 YALSA Top 10 Quick Pick and White Pine Honour book, Some Girls Are, 2012 YALSA Quick Pick, Fall for Anything, and 2013 YALSA Top 10 Quick Pick and White Pine Honour book This is Not a Test and All the Rage as well as an e-novella, Please Remain Calm (a sequel to This is Not a Test).

When she is not writing, Courtney loves playing video games, watching horror movies and obsessing over the zombie apocalypse. Her favorite color is green and she’s a total feminist.

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