Thursday, January 16, 2014

TBR Stack Frustration

A couple of months ago I posted a picture of my To Be Read stack. And here I am again with some of the same books(ok, MOST of the same books) and more added to the stack. So much for my New Year's resolution of cutting back on my request for books!

These are the books that have been waiting for me for months to read:

They are books that I absolutely MUST read! The Moxie one my friend Karin had the author sign for me! The rest are parts of series that I need to finish. I want to finish them, I MUST finish them!

These are books that I have requested or been requested to review:

I promised myself that I would cut back on how many books I would request this year. Ooops, here it is January and I am already behind and have requested way too many.

And these are on my Kindle:

Loving this one so far!!! Amber blogs at Seasons of Humility. Come visit me on February 7th as I am part of Amber's blog tour. Amber will be guest posting here and I will be reviewing Forget Me Not.

I've enjoyed everything that Lynette Eason has written so I am looking forward to delving into this book.

How about you? Are you swamped by your TBR stack or are you able to limit your requests?






Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen

Alec along with his mother and sister move to the town of Beaworthy. Alec intends to open a dancing academy. One problem...the people of Beaworthy have not danced in 20 years!

Strong-willed and strong-headed Julia Midwinter never felt love from her father and has had a strained relationship with her mother for years. When Alec arrives she shamelessly flirts with him but the new dancing master seems to be immune to her charms.

When events from both of their pasts rush to catch up with them how will the two of them stand when everyone around them seems to be against them?

My Thoughts:

Both Alec and Julia's characters grew on me throughout the book. I admit to times of frustration with both of them. Alec's unwillingness to stand up for himself and Julia's constant struggle with her mother wore me out! The story was slow moving and at times I found myself wondering if it was even worth finishing. Yes! Yes it was worth finishing! The characters developed nicely and the ending was perfectly satisfying. Throughout the book I did find similarities to the movie Footloose with a town that was forbidden to dance and two characters determined to change the minds of the powers-that-be. I loved the message of forgiveness and all that that entailed by the end of the story. If you like Regency romances the this is definitely the book for you.

Thanks to the publisher Bethany House through NetGalley for my copy for review. This is my honest opinion.


Friday, January 3, 2014

COVER REVEAL: Morning Glory by Amber Stokes

Isn't this cover absolutely beautiful? I love the vibrant color of the morning glory flower and the way that the title matches. The background is perfect in that it looks like the sun is about to break forth in glory over the mountains. I'm looking forward to reading this story as it is Myghal's story whom we were introduced to in Amber's first book Bleeding Heart. I love how all three covers of Amber's books seem to go together and match the theme in each story. Amber and cover designer Lena Goldfinch make a great team for their cover designs. Here are Amber's other two books:
Check out my review of BLEEDING HEART



For information on FORGET ME NOT

See what I mean about the covers? Aren't they all just beautiful? Back to MORNING GLORY:



About the Book
The depths of fear. The dawning of hope.

Myghal’s story continues… Summer 2014


The Book’s and Series’ Blogs
In conjunction with the cover reveal, Amber’s doing a double “blog reveal,” as well! You can check out the book extras for Morning Glory (more coming soon!) on the Morning Glory blog, and you can keep up with all the exciting news for the series on The Heart’s Spring blog, the new home site for all three of the main books and the companion short stories!


About the Author





Amber Stokes has a Bachelor of Science degree in English and a passion for the written word – from blogging to writing poetry, short stories, and novels. After her brief time at college in Oregon, she is now back home among the redwoods of Northern California, living life one day at a time and pursuing her passion via freelance editing and self-publishing. You can connect with Amber on her blog, Seasons of Humility.
 



 



About the Cover Designer
Lena lives in a scenic small town in Massachusetts with her husband, two kids, and a very spoiled Black
Lab. She writes fiction for young adults, mostly light fantasy with a healthy dose of "sigh-worthy" romance. You can visit her online at www.lenagoldfinch.blogspot.com.










GIVEAWAY
Enter via the Rafflecopter form below for a chance to win morning glory note cards (set of four) from Cindy Lindgren and lavender & copper flower earrings from Jaye L. Knight! Giveaway limited to U.S. residents only.


 



a Rafflecopter giveaway