Month: April 2014

Do You Judge?

Do You Judge

I would love to say that I don’t judge but it is so hard not to judge a book by what the cover looks like.    As all of you know I am an avid reader and I have found lately that when I pick a book to read for myself that I am picking books that have super cool looking covers.   I think that is part of the reason I would rather read an actual book instead of reading one on my Nook.

When I received books that have plain covers I always put them off until the last possible day to read them but when books have great covers I find myself wanting to read them right when I get them.  I have to say that I always seem to be shocked when I do finally read a book that I wasn’t interested in because of the cover and I fall in love with the story and the authors writing.  This has also gone the other way tons of times as well and those times I am so let down.

So the final answer is that yes I do judge a book by its cover but still read the other  books where I don’t like the covers as much.   I do judge books but I also read books that I don’t like the covers because I learned years ago that even if the cover sucks chances are the book itself is amazing.

Do you judge a book by the cover?

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

Tea & Primroses by Tess Thompson

Book Review Graphic

Tea & Primroses by Tess Thompson was a fun book to read.  I didn’t read book on in this series but I do want to go back and read it now that I have finished this book.  At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book but after I read a few pages I was hooked and didn’t want to stop reading it until I finished the book.  I loved the characters.  I also love how the author tells the story and I can’t wait to read more books in this series.

Tea Primroses

About The Book

Nothing is as it seemed in calm, quaint Legley Bay. 

Famous novelist Constance Mansfield lived a seemingly straightforward – if private – and somewhat predictable life. Friends, beloved daughter Sutton, a beautiful home, and all the success an author could wish for. A perfect life….but was it? 

When a hit and run accident suddenly takes her mother’s life, Sutton finds hidden secrets with her heartbreak. Emotional walls she assumed Constance had built to protect her privacy may have been to protect something – or someone – else entirely. Family and friends return home for support, including her own lost-love, Declan. He’s the first thing she craves to help her cope with her loss and the questions she’s left with, but he’s also the last person she wants to see. Will he be able to put down roots at last? 

Can the loss of true love be the making of a life, or is it destined to be the undoing of everything? When money, power and love combine across time, anything is possible.

Tess Thompson

About The Author

Tess Thompson is a novelist and playwright. She has a BFA in Drama from the University of Southern California. 

After some success as a playwright she decided to write a novel, a dream she’d held since childhood. She began working on her first novel, Riversong while her second daughter was eight months old, writing during naptimes and weekends. She considers it a small miracle and the good-nature of her second child (read: a good napper) that it was ever finished. Riversong was released in April 2011 by Booktrope, a Seattle publisher and subsequently became a #1 Nook book and Kindle best seller. Learn more about Booktrope at http://www.booktrope.com

Like her main character in Riversong, Tess is from a small town in Southern Oregon. She currently lives in Snoqualmie, Washington with her two small daughters where she is inspired daily by the view of the Cascade Mountains from her home office window. 

She was an active member of the theatre community in Seattle as an actor and director during the late nineties. In 2000 she wrote her first full-length play, My Lady’s Hand which subsequently won the 2001 first place prize for new work at the Burien Theatre. 

A voracious reader, Tess’s favorite thing to do is to curl up on a rainy afternoon and read a novel. She also enjoys movies, theatre, wine and food. She is fed emotionally by her friends and family and cherishes relationships above all else. 

Tess will be releasing her second novel, Caramel and Magnolias, in February 2013. She is busy working a historical fiction set in 1930’s Alabama that is based on a short story of her great-great grandmother’s.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

John C. Maxwell-Quote Of The Week

Quote Of The Week

This weeks quote is by John C. Maxwell.  I chose this one because I loved what it said about being able to admit your mistakes and be able to deal with them and fix them.  I think in today’s world people need to remember that making mistakes is okay and as long as you learn from them and try to fix them you will be okay.  I know making mistakes isn’t fun but it is part of life and we each make them.  Try not to get down on yourself when you make mistakes just learn from them and try and do better next time.

John C. Maxwell

I wanted to let everyone know that I have been getting most of the quotes I have been using from the website Brainy Quotes.

If you want to check out past quotes you can click here!

What quote are you loving right now?

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

Critical Condition Kindle HDX Giveaway from Richard Mabry!

Richard Mabry‘s latest medical suspense, Critical Condition, is receiving high praise. USA TODAY says, “Mabry combines his medical expertise with a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.”


Richard is celebrating the release with a Kindle HDX giveaway!

criticalcondition-400-click

One grand prize winner will receive:

  • A Kindle Fire HDX
  • Critical Condition by Richard Mabry

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on May 11th. Winner will be announced May 13th on Richard’s blog.


Don’t miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Richard’s blog on May 13th to see if you won.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

Touched With Fire by Chris Datta

Welcome to the REVIEW EVENT for Chris Datta’s Historical Fiction Novel Touched with Fire! We have a great giveaway at the bottom of the post and hope you enjoy hearing about this fabulous book. But first, the details:

Ellen Craft is property

In this case, of her half-sister Debra, to whom she was given as a wedding gift. The illegitimate daughter of a Georgia plantation owner and a house slave, she learned to hate her own image, which so closely resembled that of her “father:” the same wiry build, the same blue eyes, and the same pale—indeed, lily-white—skin.

Ellen lives a solitary life until she falls, unexpectedly, in love with a dark-skinned slave named William Craft, and together they devise a plan to run North. Ellie will pose as a gentleman planter bound for Philadelphia accompanied by his “boy” Will. They make it as far as Baltimore when Will is turned back, and Ellie has no choice but continue. With no way of knowing if he is dead or alive, she resolves to make a second journey—South again. And so Elijah Craft enlists with the 125th Ohio Volunteers of the Union Army: she will literally fight her way back to her husband.

Eli/Ellie’s journey is the story of an extraordinary individual and an abiding love, but also of the corrosive effects of slavery, and of a nation at a watershed moment.

Author: Christopher Datta

Genre: Historical/Women’s/African American Fiction

Kindle

Review:

From the minute I started this book right up until the end of the book. I haven’t read a book like this before in the aspect that it is from the slaves point of view and it was an amazing change in perspective for me. I also can’t wait to check out more books by him. I loved how Ellen was white but because of her mother she was treated as a slave. The one part this sticks out to me was when there was a woman visiting from the north and she didn’t understand why Ellen was treated as she was even though she was white. For me that sticks out because it breaks my heart to know what other people will do to people because of their skin color. Anyway this is a great historical fiction part and I would recommend it to anyone.

FTC:I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

Born in Washington, DC Chris Datta, Foreign Service officer, has been on numerous battlefields for his job and country. He has seen mass graves, brought war criminals to justice and in this new chapter, Datta brings readers a stunning historical account of the American Civil War with Touched with Fire. His attention to detail is superb, and his experiences abroad have given him ample stories to tell for years to come.

His action packed life has taken him across the world from the United States to Liberia and Southern Sudan. Not only serving in active war zones but often battling tropical diseases, Datta has nurtured his fascination with civil conflict by diving into the history books and historical records of America’s past. His research is meticulous, and his attention to detail creates vivid pictures of the past.

Follow Chris on his website for updates about new releases and upcoming events: http://touchedwithfire.org

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

A Sensible Arrangement by Tracie Peterson

Tracie Peterson A Sensible Arrangement
A Sensible Arrangement by Tracie Peterson was a fun book.  I started this book and didn’t want to put it down until I got about halfway through the book. I am not sure why but I struggled to finish this book and I think it was because the middle of the book got kind of slow and I always felt like I was waiting for something to happen and nothing really did happen. I did like this book though and I love Tracie Peterson’s books so I can’t wait to read more of her books.

A Sensible Arrangement

About The Book

A Lone Star Brides book.
Marty Dandridge Olson is ready to leave behind the pain of the past.
Answering an advertisement for a “Lone Star bride,” she leaves her Texas ranch and heads to Denver to marry a man she doesn’t know.
Jake Wythe is the man waiting for her.
Burned by love, he marries now simply to satisfy the board of Morgan Bank, which believes a man of his standing in society should be wed. Together Jake and Marty agree they are done with romance and love and will make this nothing more than a marriage of convenience.
When missing money and a collapsing economy threaten his job, Jake’s yearning to return to ranching grows ever stronger, much to Marty’s dismay. But a fondness has grown between them, as well, further complicating matters.
What will happen when their relationship shifts in unexpected ways . . . and dreams and secrets collide?

Tracie Peterson

About The Author

Tracie Peterson is the award-winning author of over eighty novels, both historical and contemporary. Her avid research resonates in her stories, as seen in her bestselling Heirs of Montana, and Alaskan Quest series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana.
Learn more about Tracie at: http://www.traciepeterson.com

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret