Take My Books Please! A Romance Giveaway

I've decided to seriously embark on becoming a minimalist.  I'm sick of stuff, working to buy more stuff, moving stuff around to make room for more stuff and mostly cleaning all of the dust off of this stuff! Yes. Seriously. Ebooks do not count because they don't take up all of my space, am I right? Tell me I'm right! My tbr piles, however, have taken over my home and instead of making me happy they fill me with feelings of dread and guilt. I know I will never, in this lifetime, get all of my collection read and honestly I am much preferring my ereader and audiobooks to lugging around a paperback these days.  I never thought the day would come but I guess it's here.  So, dear readers, this is going to be a common event so I can assuage my guilt at hoarding all of these books for so very long. I am offering up my collection in the hopes that these books find a  better home. One where they are appreciated and maybe even read! 

I am NOT going to read these first because in reality that never works and I can get most of them in Epub if I must have them. Most of them have been purchased used so have a little bit of wear and they all include bookcrossing labels because I'm a geek like that. Please enter via the Rafflecopter below and let me know in the comments which of the 2-packs you'd like to win. You can pick more than one and I will pick more than one winner if there is interest in the 2-packs. I'm sorry but I can only ship within the US right now because of an ungodly amount of medical bills (why on earth do I pay for insurance if they don't pay for anything?!). Good luck and thanks for checking out my little blog! 

CONTEMPORARY 2-Pack

Savannah Secrets by Fiona Hood-Stewart

Meredith Hunter, a recently widowed attorney, acts as executor for a wealthy client, who leaves most of her fortune to her illegitimate grandson, Grant. Meredith must track down Grant who was given up for adoption at birth years ago. Her inquiries take her from Savannah to Scotland and back again. As family secrets and past betrayals are revealed, Grant and Meredith can't ignore the attraction growing between them

                                          

Beachcomber by Karen Robards

"Hot summer passion. Cold-blooded fear."When Christy Petrino discovers that her fiance, Michael DePalma, and the law firm where she works are linked to the mob, she breaks her engagement and quits her job. But no one walks away from the DePalma family so easily. Christy's freedom comes on one condition: She must deliver a locked briefcase to a motel on North Carolina's Ocracoke Island. Her late-night drop-off is only the beginning of a tide of terror: In the shadows of the Outer Banks, Christy senses she is being followed...and suddenly she is a witness in a police investigation of a serial killer known as the "Beachcomber" -- who targets young women who all resemble "her." Handsome surfer Luke Rand offers the best kind of shelter in his strong arms. But as their sensual attraction flares, Christy hears warning bells telling her "if you want to survive a hot and deadly summer, trust no one... 

SERIES ROMANCE 2-Pack

Summer's Freedom by Ruth Wind

Joel Summer knew about living with lies--his past forced him to--but loving with lies was different. Every day he spent with sweet Maggie Henderson, every time she looked at him with deepening trust, he wrestled with his deception. As their precious, innocent springtime moved toward heated, dusky summer, could he halt the churning wheels of fate, prevent the truth from escaping, keep Maggie believing in him?

Her brawny neighbor gently liberated man-shy Maggie--body and soul. Days with Joel were perfect . . . nights, breathless with splendor. Still, like the birds of prey he cared for, a fierce intensity sometimes swooped into his eyes, hinting at inner torment. But surely love would release him into joy ...

Single Dad by Jennifer Greene

How did one handle a kleptomaniac first grader? Solo parent Josh Penoyer was mystified by his youngest's latest hobby--swiping trinkets from Ariel Lindstrom's shop. Then he uncovered Killer's ulterior motive. She wanted a mother, and Ariel fit the bill!

Ariel always had time for kids--including a certain sticky-fingered miniature matchmaker and her big brothers. In fact, the motherless brood--and their sexy dad--almost made her wish she were the marrying type ....

                               ROMANCE CLASSIC 2-Pack


Summer Pleasures by Nora Roberts
They were talented, ambitious women with exciting careers...But a single, spectacular summer would explode their tidy worlds. 


Second Nature (1986)
Wangling an exclusive with notoriously reclusive Hunter Brown was a real coup for Celebrity magazine reporter Lee Radcliffe. But alone on a camping trip with the seductively mysterious author, she discovered it was Hunter she wanted . . . exclusively. 

One Summer (1986)
A summer spent traveling across America with cynical, brooding photojournalist Shade Colby was not Celebrity photographer Bryan Mitchell's idea of a dream assignment. They disagreed about everything -- everything, that is, except the fierce attraction they could not deny

                                            

Separate Beds by LaVyrle Spencer

They became husband and wife…in name only

The wedding of Clay Forrester and Catherine Anderson was the social event of the season. It seemed like a page out of a fairy tale. But everything about it -- from the formal vows to the magnificent reception -- was a lie, Catherine had reluctantly agreed to Clay's "marriage of convenience"...and the only thing that could threaten their arrangement was the unexpected arrival of love.

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The 2013 #ArmchairAudies Romance Wrap Up

Over the past few months I have listened to the five romance nominees up for the 2013 Audies Competition this year. The Audies is a competition sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) "recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment".   The Armchair Audies, organized by The Literare Housewife, are a group of bloggers who read the nominees and predict their own  winners. There are 28 categories with 5 nominees in each category. You can see all of the nominees by clicking here. That's a heck of a lot of audiobooks so several of us tackled the various categories. If you want to learn more click on the chair up there.

I had such a great time with this event and am so glad I was able to be a small part of it. I read some true gems and only one dud.  If it weren't for The Audies I probably wouldn't have listened to many of these for years to come because I am always so behind. I thought the selections were a good mix of historical and romantic suspense but I do wish the committee had included at least one straight up contemporary romance and maybe one on the humorous side. And I do hope someday they add a horror and erotica category. Maybe next year?

These are my results, many of which coincide with the rest of my blogging romance group. I have to tell you I am still on the fence about #1 because The Witness and Never Seduce A Scot (review coming soon) were both so different from each other and terrific in their own regard. But they made me choose only one so here goes.

The Audies announce the award winners on May 30 and I have a feeling The Witness is going to take the award though it would be equally as rewarding to see the Maya Banks book take it home because the narration was lovely.

My Picks (click on cover for review):

Who do you think deserves The Audie award for best romance production this year?

#ArmchairAudies Review: Don't Cry For Me by Sharon Sala

Don't Cry For Me by Sharon Sala
Romantic Suspense
Unabridged Audiobook, Released October 2012
Length 11 hrs, 17 mins, 400 pages
Published by Harlequin Enterprises, LTD.
Narrated by Kathe Mazur


I hadn’t read Sharon Sala’s work in many years and was kind of excited to get this audiobook started for the Armchair Audie Awards. I was once a big fan of Sharon Sala’s writing. Tallchief? Sweet Baby? Annie and the Outlaw? Now  those were some romantic, emotion filled books and were one of the reasons I gorged myself on romances back in the 90’s. Haven’t read them? I recommend seeking them out instead of this one.

Anything but this one . . .

Quinn is a former soldier with PTSD. He’s been home for three years and is living a quiet life near his family way out in the mountains. He works as a ranger, a job he enjoys because he rarely has to deal with people. One day he gets a phone call and learns that a former comrade, one without a family or place to call home, is being released from the VA Hospital. He drives for hours to pick up this old friend who once saved his life and he plans to help out with the healing in any way he can. Quinn’s a pretty nice guy, right?

But wait, I thought he didn’t like dealing with people? Now he has one living with him? Color me a little confused.

Ahhh, hang on. The friend is a she. A beautiful she named Mariah. They used to have lots of sex while stationed in Afghanistan together.

And now it’s starting to make a little more sense. He’s a guy alone in the woods and she has no one in her life. He becomes her entire world. This sort of bugged me and creeped me out just a wee bit, if I’m being honest, but I was willing to play along. It is fiction after all. But you can only push me so far. When a crazed bear, a drug dealer with a gross mommy sexual kink, and a nasty poacher are mixed into the story for pizazz and given their own point of view I wanted to hit the delete key in ITunes. Actually, let me back up and offer up a warning first. There are dog deaths! Nasty, unnecessarily descriptive dog deaths of seven or eight redbone coonhounds (for the record I am biased, I own a redbone mix and he is the sweetest, silliest dog ever). BUT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A ROMANCE NOT A HORROR NOVEL and I was not ready! Not ready at all. It was at this point, which is kind of early on, that I wanted to delete the audiobook from my Ipod and bleach my brain of the horrid images. But I couldn’t because I promised to see it through. And see it through I did.

It turned out to be mostly boring for me. But remember I don’t like suspense much at all and if I don’t love the characters I lose interest and that’s what happened here. Because so much emphasis was put on the suspense, I didn’t feel them falling in love, you know what I mean?  The heroine also suffered from an unforgivable (at least to me) too stupid to live episode. I know, I know, she had some sort of head injury but seriously there is a ravenous, killer bear roaming about and she says something like, “Sure let’s let the puppy out to play unsupervised. Why the heck not? He’ll be fine.”  Gah, I hate it when a character is setup to look like a moron in order to plot a nail biting scene.

Despite all of that I DID enjoy the fact that Mariah wasn’t a weak “save me” type and took initiative to go out and save the day herself when necessary.

I can’t give this book any more than two stars. I will admit that I am completely biased on many levels when it comes to this story. I miss the good old days when romances were actually romantic and didn’t have to rely on disjointed suspense plots to fill out the book.

Narration Notes: The audio was read capably but completely without emotion by Kathe Mazur. Her voice was dead, as dead as those poor doggies (and no I am not letting that go). Seriously, that’s the only way I can describe it. She read it okay but added absolutely no life to the story. I’m a bit surprised this production is up for an Audie Award, but what do I know?

2013 Audio Nominee in the Romance Category

Quote-Tastic: Never Seduce A Scot by Maya Banks

Anna over at Herding Cats & Burning Soup has created another fun meme which she's hosting every  Monday.  If you love discovering hilarious, touching or romantic quotes as much as Anna and I do check out her meme and join in on the fun!

Have a blog? Grab the button and toss up your post! Link up info can be found at the bottom of this post or by clicking HERE! 

I just started the audiobook version of Never Seduce A Scot by Maya Banks. It is my final book to finish up for the 2013 Armchair Audies (you can see all of the picks and my reviews HERE) and so far it looks like I may have saved one of the best books of the bunch for last. The narration is spot on and the characters and their situation are engaging and I'm really loving their confused chemistry. The heroine is left deaf after a riding accident but her family and all those around her think her daft and incapable of being a wife and only want to keep her safe and loved. When the King decrees she wed their clans nemesis they are horrified and this exchange happens between her mom and the groom to be. For some reason, it made me smile. Review to follow later in the week.

Have you read Maya Banks? If so, share your favorites with me.

Join the fun and link up:

#LazyReview That Summer by Sarah Dessen

That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Young Adult

Viking Publishing 2006, 240 pgs

I've heard a lot of good things about Sarah Dessen and even though I'm not a huge fan of teen fiction I grabbed it up when my library made it available on audio.

It turned out to be a very realistic slice of life novel about a fifteen year old girl named Haven whose life has been turned upside down.  She is adjusting to her parents divorce, her father's wedding to the "other woman" and her sister's impending wedding. She is unable to share any of her feelings with her best friend because she's turned into a boy crazy self-centered stranger.

It seems the only one she can confide in her sister's ex-boyfriend whom always made everyone happy.  Haven longs for the days when things were easy; back when she was close to her sister and her parents still loved each other and Sumner is the only one who takes the time to let her vent.

This isn't a romance instead it explores Haven's feelings, all of the pain, the longing and the new reality that she must face and it doesn't flinch away from it. I liked that. Sumner is the catalyst for a change within Haven and ultimately helps her heal simply by listening and then by being imperfect.

I thought this was a very good book.  These people felt real to me.  They weren't always likable but reacted in ways that didn't ring false. If this book is typical of the author's writing I can see why she pops up on so many favorite lists.

Top Ten Books To Make You Gloomy

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. They dig lists and because I do as well I hope you'll join in.

Each week they post a new Top Ten list and everyone is welcome to join. All  they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Top Ten (and a bonus) Books Dealing With Heavy Subjects

To balance out the light and fun of last week, this week I'm listing my all-time favorite books that deal with heavier subjects. You're pretty much guaranteed to cry or  feel something painful or uncomfortable when reading any of these.  Many of these books deal with grief, depression, self-medicating, anger, guilt and the aftermath of losing someone close to you. I lost my dad in the most traumatic way when I was barely 13  and it changed me as a person, as well as those around me, in some very unpleasant ways.  In the end, my past has made me a stronger person but I wouldn't wish it on anyone. This is probably why I'm drawn to darker stories and here are some of my favorites. Click on the links below to read my review or if I was too lazy to write one the link will bring you to the books Goodreads page.

1.    Addicted by Charlotte Featherstone (drug addiction) historical romance
2.    Chase In Shadow by Amy Lane (trauma, grief, guilt, bulimia) m/m romance
3.    Going Under by S. Walden (rape, grief) New Adult
4.    The Red Tree by Caitlin Kiernan (madness, grief, loneliness) ghost story
5.    The Mourning House by Ronald Malfi (grief, madness) ghost story
6.    Loving Edits by Mickie Ashling (terminal illness) m/m/m romance
7.    BloodRaven by PL Nunn (sexual brutality) fantasy m/m
8     Skin by Kathe Koja (extreme body modification) horror
9.    Life After Joe by Harper Fox (depression) m/m romance
10.  Horns by Joe Hill (grief/madness?) horror
11.  Out by Natsuo Kirino (rage, desperation, murder) horror/mystery

What Are Your Favorite Heavy Reads?

Book Review: Horrorween by Al Sarrantonio

Horrorween by Al Sarrantonio

Horror Fiction

Leisure Books, 324 pgs, Released 2007

I snatched this book out of my tbr pile thinking it was going to be a spooky tale about a town plagued by the "Lord of Death" and creepy pumpkins. Who can pass up creepy pumpkins? What it really was, however, was a hastily slapped together book containing three loosely related novellas that had previously been printed elsewhere. This would've been lovely if I were looking to read a collection of ho-hum poorly researched novellas.  But the blurb led me to believe this was a complete novel and it wasn't. I've been deceived! And now I'm a bit grouchy.

I made it through the first story even though I had a nagging feeling I'd read it somewhere before (turns out I had). It was about a writer suffering through writer's block, a marriage that is falling apart and bees. The ending drove me nuts because I saw it miles away (and quite possibly because I had read it before) but I did have to wonder why the protagonist never realized it.  This made him look like a real dummy. 

To aggravate me further, a character named Samhain "The Lord of Death" arrives to wreak some havoc. Apparently "Sam" is terrorizing the small town where the nasty bees and the not-so-bright writer live. Typically the Celtic holiday is not pronounced "Sam Hain" but "Sow - En" but I guess it would've been too silly to nickname the Big Baddie "Sow".  Hee hee, that might've kept me reading though! Anyway, if the story hadn't been so average I might have been able to overlook that silly nitpick and go with the flow but it wasn't and I can't let it go. Sorry, I warned you I was grouchy.

The last story bored me so much that I couldn't even get through it. I guess what I'm saying here in this crappy review is that I'd recommend skipping this one unless you're looking for some Horrorweenie type short stories and this all sounds fab to you.