Winner !! of the Book Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter this giveaway. It was nice to have a few responding to it!

After we did the it oldfashioned way and placed all entries into a little bucket we picked a winner.

quixoticdreamer

Congratulations. I will contact you via email to get the details for posting the book!

Reminder - Book Giveaway "Sweet Dreams, Miss England"

Don't be shy - click the link, leave a comment and be in the draw to win a copy !!!!

 

 

"Win! I am giving away one free copy of my book 'Sweet Dreams, Miss England' to one of you lucky blog readers. It's Easy ! ..."

 

Iris B.: Book Giveaway of "Sweet Dreams, Miss England":

 

 

 

Book Giveaway of "Sweet Dreams, Miss England"

Win!

I am giving away one free copy of my book "Sweet Dreams, Miss England" to one of you lucky blog readers.

It's Easy !

To enter, you must follow this blog publicly through Google Friend Connect to the right (not anonymously please). That's it! No point system, no following twitter or FB - though re-posting would be appreciated

The giveaway runs with the publishing of this post until Saturday 2 July 2011 when I'll get up and  start my laptop - Melbourne / Sydney Australia time. The contest is open to everyone!

What else would I like you to do?

Easy again. Post a comment and let me know about your favourite book and why.

The winner will be drawn the old fashioned way. I write everyone's name onto a piece of paper, place them all in a bucket and let my girl choose the winner.

Good luck and thanks for getting this event on the way - as I said, I'd appreciate a bit of re-posting!



What others had to say about SDME:

Jamie:

I just got done reading this book and I had to sit down and write this review right away! The ending is really sad in a "P.S. I Love You" sort of way. This is one of those books that I probably would NOT have picked up if I hadn't been asked to read and review it.

The story itself is about Nicky who is a young mother of two little girls and wife to an actor who doesn't even live on the same continent as her due to work commitments. Basically, Nicky is raising her two childre...moreI just got done reading this book and I had to sit down and write this review right away! The ending is really sad in a "P.S. I Love You" sort of way. This is one of those books that I probably would NOT have picked up if I hadn't been asked to read and review it.

The story itself is about Nicky who is a young mother of two little girls and wife to an actor who doesn't even live on the same continent as her due to work commitments. Basically, Nicky is raising her two children as a "single parent." One day Nicky decides that she's going to meet two women who have created a fan page for her absentee husband and this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. But this also where a "tiny" wrinkle gets thrown Nicky's way and his name is Daniel. Daniel the PRESENT fun loving Irish man.

In the beginning it did take me a little bit to get into the story, all the extra back-story was a little distracting to me. All of the characters are a VERY unique that are possibly people that you know in real life. The overall story (minus the extra back-story) is a story that is very real and very relate able


Cheryl "Mash":

At the request from the author, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis (from back of book): 
She could still hear Daniel's grandmother saying, "Sometimes we meet people but not to share the rest of our lives with them, but merely for them to guide us onto a different path".
Set in London and Dublin we follow the life of Nicky, a young mother of two who is married to Shane, an actor whose work requires him to be in Los Angeles. When Nicky meets Daniel, a fun-loving, spontaneous man from Ireland, she realizes how much joy and passion are missing from her marriage, and consequently her life. Nicky is torn between her marriage to Shane and her love for this Irish charmer.

My Thoughts and Opinion: After finishing and digesting this book, I sit here very torn. I will try to write this review solely on the book and not the interjection of my beliefs. I will, however, say that I do not condone the main character, Nicky's, actions. I found it very hard to relate with the character Nicky because of the story line but once I took a step back and analyzed just "the book", I could see that she did have some good qualities. The author's writing style quite surprised me as a debut author. She wrote this story with a fluid, flowing and detailed account of the plot. The narrative, characters, emotions and descriptions of the settings were written in such a seasoned style that her words were conveyed with the ability to form vivid imagery. The relationships between characters profound and meaningful on many levels . I thought that this would be another typical love story and would know the ending, but, the author delivered an unexpected twist which left me with thought provoking questions. (I will not include spoilers in this review). Overall, a very well written novel from a very talented writer.

My Rating: 4

Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Nobody's Baby But Mine

Publisher: Avon

ISBN: 978-0380782345

My rating: 4/5


The Plan: Genius physics professor Dr, Jane Darlington desperately wants a baby.

The Target: Cal Bonner, the Chicago Stars' legendary quarterback, seems like the perfect choice. But his champion good looks and down-home ways are deceiving.

The Explosion: A brillant, lonely woman who dreams only of motherhood . . . A take no-prisoners tough guy who'll settle for nothing less than surrender . . . Can passion and physical attraction propel two strong-willed yet vulnerable people to a totally unexpected love?

Chicago Stars Book #3  (www.susanephillips.com)


My thougths

Am I allowed to say it? DANG - she's done it again.

I liked the story! The plot is simple and based on a somewhat far-fetched idea. The main characters are Jane - 34, not married, very cleversome physicist who doesn't want anything more than a baby she can love with all her heart. Neglected during childhood and feeling that she's an oddity because of her brains, she's looking for someone "dumb". That someone is Cal Bonner, Football player with the Chicago Stars! Cal is 36 and avoiding the subject of age like hot fire. Retirement is a no-no word around him. Though it's not his age and the retirement, yet the angst of not knowing what the "life-after-football" will bring. It scares the devil out of him. Yet, he's no "dumb" footy player as Jane soon finds out.

So through some opportunities, Jane gets "her night", falls pregnant, Cal finds out, and honourable as he is - they get married.

That's when the fun starts! We get to know Annie, Cal's grandmother, Ethan, his brother, and his parents, who over the course of the story rekindle their marriage and fall in love again. Well, let's not forget Kevin Tucker, another Football player of the Chicago Stars who's made his way to Salvation, Cal's hometown and the place he and Jane have settled for the next few months.

The characters are well developed. There's Jane in her mid-thirties, clever, witty though not the good looking stunner. And Cal, sexy, smart, stubborn comes to mind and honorable, but also commitment-phobic  - and please nobody mention retirement! Both of them together are a hoot. There arguments and conversations are well worth the lack of sleep I had in the morning after reading through most of the night! What a cracker!

And there's Annie .... nuff said. What a gem.

Go and get that one if you're in need for a good giggle or laugh.

Favourite Quote: "I married a damned cereal killer"

Cover for "Journey to Her Dreams" is ready

Okay, time for the unveiling of my new book cover!

I'm very excited about how turned out. The very talented Elaina Lee put my story perfectly into the picture. Thanks to Astraea Press and the team for trusting in the story. I will keep you posted on the release date which I hope will be sometime soon.

Suzanne Brockmann - Infamous

Publisher: Ballantine Books

ISBN:  978 - 0 - 345 - 52120 - 0

 

My rating:  3 /5

When history professor Alison Carter became a consultant to the film version of the Wild West legend she’d dedicated her career to researching, she couldn’t possibly know that she would not only get a front row seat to a full-blown Hollywood circus, but that she would innocently witness something that would put her life in danger. Nor did she expect that a tall stranger in a cowboy hat would turn the movie -- and her world -- completely upside down…

A.J. Gallagher didn’t crash the set in dusty Arizona to rub elbows with Hollywood’s elite. Unable to ignore ghosts from the past that refuse to stay buried, A.J. came to put an end to the false legend that has tarnished the reputation of his family. But when he confronts Alison, sparks fly. And when she becomes targeted by ruthless criminals, suddenly she and A.J. must face the intense attraction that threatens to consume them, in order to survive the danger that threatens their very lives. (www.suzannebrockmann.com)

My thoughts

Do I have to rate this book?  Honestly, this book was boring, but I want everyone to read it, because it was just a "cute" book. So what's cute? I don't know how to explain it, but it was just the idea of "Gramps" coming back as a ghost, though initially to have his great-grandson A.J. to put an end to the false legend and negative reputation "Gramps" aka Jamie Gallagher has in current history books. But it's more than that. It's the caring attitude and the talks between both men, both with their share of history, that makes this book "nice". I loved A.J.'s character and all he had become after what had happened to him in life. I loved the "Diaries" and most of all Melody's promise to Jamie, the same promise Alison later on gave to A.J.

Apart from that - it's some damn 400-odd pages to read for just some "cuteness". The story was somewhat "far fetched" with the ghost, but there was nothing else that I would call a page turner. I had to force myself to pick up the book to read and even then only because I needed some "gramps" time. It's only in the last 30 pages that the real interesting stuff starts, but WAY too late in my opinion and even then too fast needed to re-read passages to understand the who's who of the crime.

Another thing that was a bit overbearing for me personal is all the stuff SB added into the book - there was obviously a murder, but SB was really pushing the alcohol and war issue a bit too much for me, we never found out why the father killed his own son (somewhat annoying) and I would have loved to have Tom's character developed just that touch more - especially so as he was the one "seeing" Jamie as well.

As I said it's a long 400-pages long story, but just to get to know Jamie Gallagher I very carefully say - give it a try when you have nothing else to do!

Sigrid Writing Tips

Check out Sigrid's Website here

Sometimes a sentence can be phrased in such a way that we don't know who performed the action. This is called a passive sentence. For example, "Expenses were covered for Matt’s trip to Japan." After reading that, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Who covered the expenses? Did the school or his parents pay for his trip, or did he receive a visit from the Secret Millionaire? Let your reader know. Rephrase the sentence by saying, "Matt's trip to Japan was paid for by his scholarship and the money that he earned working at Apple.”

Most of the time we want to write active sentences; however, there are exceptions. You may want to keep the reader in the dark. "Blood was discovered on the stairway." If you're writing a thriller, you don't want the reader to know who discovered that blood until later in your book or short story.


Be aware of sentence structure and strive for active sentences.