Mosey on over to Eleni’s blog for a chance to win Eyeleash by Jess C. Scott.  You have until September 5th to leave your comment on Eleni’s site and there are ways to get other chances to win.

This is an e-book so you’ll have to read it on your computer or an e-reader of some sort.

Jade Ashton is a sassy virgin. In her private blog, she vents about “fitting in” a world where superficiality reigns supreme. Suddenly all logic flies out the window when she meets Novan: the former geek, who’s morphed into a delicious songwriter-musician. They decide to be “friends-with-benefits”. But it’s Novan, with his poems and riddling passages on his own blog–which *isn’t private*–that backs out. EyeLeash captures self-discovery in the 2000s, and showcases the colorful, intricate drama in two youths’ relentless search for themselves–and what’s really in their hearts.

One of my fellow book bloggin’ friends is giving away this book to 5 lucky winners. check out her blog, leave a comment and enter for a chance to win! make sure you leave your email address for her to contact you if you win!

Visit Andi’s Blog to win

Author – Linda Masemore Pirrung
iUniverse
978-1440140747, April 2009
Right always wins out over wrong in the end
4 out of 5 stars

Linda Masemore Pirrung is the author of several romantic suspense novels including “Cracked Hearts” and “I Will Wait for You”.

“Explosion in Paris” is the newest romantic suspense novel from this author. Angie has been married to Mitch for seven years and of those seven, only the first year was a good one. Mitch has a very controlling personality and subtly forced Angie to resign from her job as a teacher stating that he needed her at home to maintain their home and assist him with his career as an architect. Eventually his actions over the years become those of an abuser, both emotionally and physically. Angie knows she needs to get out but doesn’t have the confidence any more to know that she can make it on her own. That is until a chance meeting with Ross. It started with Ross accidently wandering onto their property from the woods behind their home to a chance meeting at a local restaurant. From that moment on, Angie feels a kinship with Ross and they start spending more time together as friends which eventually turns into more.

During this time Angie thinks that Mitch doesn’t know about her friendship with Ross but she later finds out she is wrong. Mitch has a business trip to Paris and Angie must go along with him. Mitch has other plans for this trip besides business which include killing his wife in a boat explosion. What Mitch doesn’t realize is that Angie wasn’t on the boat when it exploded, that she managed to get off before that happened. The up side to this is that she is able to start a new life in Paris without Mitch, but this also means a life without Ross.

The story continues with her experiences in France, the messages she is sending Ross without him realizing it and how she confronts her past without having to forfeit her future. I don’t want to spoil the rest of the story so you will have to read the book for the rest of the details!

When I first started reading this book I wasn’t sure what to expect. At first I didn’t like the storyline because I saw that Mitch was an abuser and that didn’t sit well with me. But as I continued reading I saw that Angie blossomed from her friendship with Ross and that it was most likely that she would have left Mitch if he hadn’t tried to kill her. I was glad to see that Mitch didn’t escape punishment from his actions. There were times when I felt that the descriptive language could have been trimmed back and nothing would have been lost from the story or the imagery that the author created.

Overall I would recommend this book. The description on the back of the book does not do this storyline justice and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at all of the storylines come together. I also found it to be a fairly fast read and it was hard for me to put down because while I guessed what happened next in many places, there were also parts of the story that I didn’t see coming and it surprised and delighted me to read those chapters.

Reviewed for RebeccasReads (6/09)

Amanda Hamm was born in Ohio and now lives in North Carolina with her husband and children. Writing has been a life long dream for Amanda and has written several books including Dear Jane Letters and Zero Station: A Science Fiction Novella.


“Tightening the Knot” begins with Meredith Donnor sitting in an attorney’s office contemplating filing for divorce. At some point she realizes that she doesn’t want to be there and walks out before getting very far with the process. Meredith has been married to Greg for six years, but at some point over the last year they stopped really talking to each other due to a sensitive subject, fertility and her inability to get pregnant. As the months go by, the communication decreases and Meredith is frustrated because Greg is not interpreting her hints at restarting communication. Then Greg signs them up for a Tightening the Knot marriage seminar through church, could this be the help they need to get back on track and rekindle their marriage?


This is not a very long book at all, but it does a good job of reflecting how many relationships sour and what causes the decline and what could turn the relationship around. Meredith’s “hints” and Greg’s inability to read between the lines is typical of many male-female relationships. Too many women don’t say what they think or want or need and men just can’t figure it out without the direct approach.


As I was reading the book, I was reminded of the movie “Fireproof” in small ways. When Greg started doing nice things for Meredith I immediately thought of the principals of that movie. However, the book changed direction and I was glad that it would be different.


When Greg and Meredith decide to attend the marriage seminar, I wondered if it would help their relationship. The description of the exercises they did together did seem strange but they were good principals that every married couple should remember in their day to day relationship with their spouse. As it turns out, the seminar has a positive effect on Greg and Meredith and was what their relationship needed to turn it around.


Along with Greg and Meredith’s story line is Meredith’s friendship with Jenna. There is also Tom and Ellie – Meredith’s brother and future sister-in-law. Greg’s mother, Judy, also arrives for a visit and creates some tension. These are all minor story lines but play an intricate part to the story as a whole and add sufficient background to give the reader a larger picture of why Greg and Meredith are in this situation.

For my first blog giveaway of a copy of Dial Emmy for Murder.

Congrats to the winners:

Vandana D from VA

Patty R from CA

Enjoy the book, it is a great read and if you can read the 1st in the series, Death in Daytime, read it first!

Author: Eileen Davidson

978-0451228253
Published by Obsidian, a division of Penguin Group

From the back of the book:
Alexis Peterson’s days are flled with scheming, backstabbing, adultery and murder. She is a soap opera star after all. But a new role has her feeling like she’s in the horror business.

Tabloids and fans are stunned when Alexis Peterson leaves her popular show for another soap, but she’s too busy preparing to be a presenter at the Daytime Emmy Awards to even notice. When her copresenter loses his life before presenting a winner, Alex realizes she has another murder mystery on her hands.

Working behind the scenes to find out how her costar could have met such an end, Alex invites handsome Detective Frank Jakes – a man she can’t stop imagining having a real love scene with – back into her life. But first Alex must focus on finding the killer before she sees another one of Hollywood’s brightest stars burn out.

My thoughts:
They always say you should write about what you know and Eileen Davidson has done just that. As an actress who has had roles on The Young and the Restless and Days of our Lives, she definitely has an in to the soap opera world and is able to use that knowledge to her benefit. She even mentions some well known soap actresses in the book although she has changed the names of the various shows but the titles aren’t too far off!

This is the second in a series and while this book could stand on its own, it would be best to read “Death in Daytime” before this one because there are many references to the murder that occurred in that book. I did feel a little lost at times not having read “Death in Daytime” but not too much! Plus the storyline between Alex and Jakes started in the first book and continues to develop in this installment.

Alex is like many of the main characters in other cozies, she gets involved in helping to solve a murder even though she has another career field. But somehow she manages to stumble across the murderer but not without putting herself in danger.

With all that said, I really enjoyed this book. While I don’t watch soaps anymore, I used to watch Days of our Lives and remember Eileen Davidson on the show. Reading this book was like going back to those days and a behind the scenes look at what goes on the set of a soap. The book is fast paced and has short chapters (some are only 4 pages!) which made it quick reading for me but would easily give me a place to stop. There is a nice cliff hanger at the end that leads you wondering what will happen in the next book (no title or date as of yet).

If you like cozies, check out this book. I’ll even make it easy for you, the publisher has given me 2 copies to give away. So leave a comment with contact info and I will draw two names on Monday, July 20th.

Author – Charlotte Hughes

You might recognize the name Charlotte Hughes as a co-author with Janet Evanovich of the Full House series. What you may not know is that Charlotte has authored several of her own books including several for Loveswept and Silhouette, along with a new series featuring Dr. Kate Holly.

‘Nutcase’ is the follow up book to ‘What Looks Like Crazy,’ which features psychologist Kate Holly, her friend and receptionist Mona, ex-husband Jay and her hot tub loving ex-boyfriend Dr. Thad Glazer. Throw in her mother and her twin sister that run a “junque” shop and create “art” from that junk, a dog named Mike and a cast of interesting patients and you have a recipe for disaster, but in a good way!

In this installment, Kate is being evicted from her office, which throws her for a loop as she is not able to find another office that has a reasonable rent rate or is close to her existing office. Thad offers to let her share his office and she agrees to take him up on it. After all she has no other choice and only has 3 more days to find a new office.

On top of that, she has a depressed dog and a kind older lady offers some of her homemade dog treats and playtime with her dog. It sounds like a good idea until she finds out what the special ingredient is in the treats. And even more, she has to worry about her ex-husband Jay since an arsonist is targeting firefighters in the Atlanta area and while he may be her ex, she still loves him and is worried about his well being.

If you have read any of Charlotte’s other books, you are sure to like this one too. It is filled with crazy people (and not just her patients), a little intrigue, lots of warm and fuzzy moments and some conflict, after all what is a book without some conflict?

I really enjoyed this book. I had to read the first one before this one because I have to read a series in order, but this book could easily be enjoyed without having read ‘What Looks Like Crazy’ first. While this may be categorized as a romance, I found it to be quite humorous and hard to put down.

If you are looking for a book that will make you laugh out loud, this is one to consider!

Reviewed for RebeccasReads.com 4/09

Author – Lisa Black

“Takeover” is the first in a new thriller series by author Lisa Black. Lisa is a forensic scientist so the topic of this book is very familiar to her. She previously worked in Cleveland where the story is set but now resides in Florida. The second in this series, “Evidence of Murder” will be published in August 2009.

Theresa MacLean is a forensic scientist living in Cleveland with her daughter, Rachel, and is engaged to a Paul Cleary, a local policeman. She is called investigate the murder of Mark Ludlow who was found dead in front of his own home. It is a curious murder because it doesn’t seem logical how he was murdered or even why.

Later that morning she finds out that her fiancé is being held hostage in the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland in what appears to be a bank robbery, but at the Federal Reserve? Enter Chris Cavanaugh, the local negotiator that has a seemingly clean track record and hasn’t lost a hostage yet. Chris doesn’t want Theresa involved or around the scene, but her fiancé is in that bank and she can’t just stand around and do nothing. So will she help matters or make them worse? And what will happen to her fiancé, Paul? Will he make it out of the situation?

I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. The first being the time frame of the book. The story takes place over eight hours and it is a very intense eight hours. The second is the shorter chapters; it made it easier to find a stopping place even though I didn’t want to put the book down!

There were times where I wanted to shake the main character, Theresa, and ask her if she was crazy?! Only someone not in their right mind would change places and become a hostage in an already volatile situation.

As I was reading the book I could help wondering why someone would try and rob a Federal Reserve Bank when they really don’t have cash on hand like a normal bank. Was there another motive of the robbers? Was there an inside man helping them? What was their plan to get out of there alive, or did they even have one? I did become suspicious of a character or two and wondered what it was that I did not know yet about this person. And I liked that I was on target with one of the characters, although it was a slightly different twist than I expected.

Reviewed for RebeccasReads.com 10/08

On Tuesday, I took the day off from work and attended a luncheon to hear the author Dixie Cash speak at the Woman’s Club of Fort Worth.

Now Dixie Cash is not one person, it is 2 sisters, Pam & Jeffrey, that write this series of humerous books set in West Texas. By no coincidence they grew up in West Texas and in a small town, so they know of what they write!

Pam is definitely the zany one of the two. Jeffrey is a bit more quiet and reserved but very nice and I can see how the two of them could write a really good book between Pam’s humor and Jeffrey’s writing experience (she had written several books before they started collaborating).

If you read the books, make sure to read them in order. The first is Since You’re Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash.

Life in the small town of Salt Lick, Texas, is pretty ordinary—until someone decides to knock off Pearl Ann Carruthers, the wealthiest and nas- tiest woman in town. Hairdresser and salon owner Debbie Sue Overstreet is shocked by the news, and she has a pipeline into the sheriff’s office to find out the latest. Her sexy ex-husband, Buddy, is also the town sheriff.

When Harley Carruthers offers a $50,000 reward for the killer, debt-ridden Debbie Sue can’t resist launching an investigation. But keeping Buddy from discovering her undercover machinations won’t be easy. Once you start digging for secrets, you never know what you will uncover!

We are going to France in May which includes a 10 hour plane ride there and back which means lots of reading time! I could haul a bunch of books or I could take a few books and also get a digital e-reader like a Kindle or a Sony. While I like the old Kindle, I’m not too keen on the new one with some of the features they removed.

I have a friend from a book club that has the Sony PRS-505 and it is $100 cheaper than the Kindle and it is pretty easy to use. Another friend (from the same book club) purchased one this week after being able to play with it to determine how much she might like it over the Kindle.

So I will be taking the plunge and buying one next week (after my credit card closes for the month) and will download the PDF books I have on to it and see what other free books I can find to put on the e-reader. After all, free is much better than paying for books especially when I still have about 400 books at home that I need to read!

I know this won’t replace books but it will make traveling easier where I can take fewer actual books and have plenty of other books in digital format to keep me occupied on trips, in the doctor’s office, wherever!