Final Contest Winners for Birthday Celebration- Day 5

Congratulations to the Winners of Day 5:

Anna

Fedora

Sinn

I will be contacting you ladies later today to arrange shipment of your prizes. 

Thank you to everyone who participated!

FTC Disclosure:  Prizes awarded were purchase by site owner.

Birthday Celebration- Day 5- Final Contest

So I've noticed as I've gotten older that Birthday Parties are not like they used to be when I was a kid.

Back then we stayed home and had cake and ice cream and it was pretty much only immediate family.

Now I go to my nieces and nephews parties and it's so different with all the kids and activities that people have come to expect.  I think that I preferred the party from when I was a kid :).

This is the Final Day of my Birthday Celebrations-

Today's prizes are below:

1st Prize - 1 copy of

2nd Prize- 1 copy of

3rd Prize- 1 copy of

To be entered into the contest for today please answer the question below.

Question:  What is your idea of the perfect children's birthday party?

Please make sure to leave your email address with your post so that I can contact you if you are a winner to arrange for shipment.  If you have a prize preferance- please state that too.

Contest Open to US and Canada Residents Only due to Shipping Issues.

Good Luck Everyone!

FTC Disclosure:  Prizes awarded have been purchased by the site owner.

Birthday Celebration Day 4 Winners

Congratulations to the Winners:

1st Prize goes to Flchen1

2nd Prize to Jacabur1

I will be contacting you ladies later today to arrange for the prize shipment.

Thank You to everyone who participated.

Birthday Celebration- Day 4

When I was a child, I wanted this kind of cake but I always ended up with a traditional layer cake, but they were chocolate :)

Prizes for Day 4:

1st Prize gets 1 copy of

Rowan Dietrich grew up on the streets. Now she's out to start anew, find a job-and keep her identity as a Kyndred secret, as well as her ability to "dreamveil" herself into the object of others' desires.

But Rowan isn't using her gift when world-class chef Jean-Marc Dansant is stricken by her beauty and strength. And when dark secrets from her past threaten her new life and love, Rowan realizes she can't run forever...
 

2nd Prize gets 1 copy of :

 

She made knitting sexy.

Now she's taking on a dilapidated winery, three sisters, and the bad boys next door.



The Baci sisters are on a mission to save the winery that's been in their family for generations-by transforming it into the perfect wedding destination. If only Alessandra Baci-affectionately known as the "Nun of Napa"-didn't need the help of tempting neighbor and business rival Penn Bennett.

 

Contest open to US and Canada Residents Only due to Shipping issues. 

 

To enter the contest please answer the question below and Please make sure to leave your email address so that I may contact you for shipping details.

 

Question:  What is your favorite kind of cake? 

 

Good Luck Everyone!

 

 

 

FTC Disclosure:  The prizes awarded have been purchased by the site owner.

 

Winners For Day 3 - Birthday Celebration

Congratulations to the Winners:

Borders Gift Card Winner is Kris

Book "I Love This Bar" Winner is Sinn

I will be contacting the winners later today regarding the prizes.

Thank You To Everyone Who Entered.

Birthday Celebration Week Continues- Day 3

Birthday Celebration Day Two (2) Prizes:

1ST Place Prize Winner gets $10.00 Borders Gift Card

2nd Place Winner Gets 1 Copy of :

To enter the contest please answer the question below.  Please make sure to leave your email address so that I can contact you in case you win!

Contest Question:

If you could have lunch with a World Leader - who would you want it to be with and why.

Contest open to US and Canada Residents Only due to Postage Requirements.

Good Luck Everyone!

Winners for Day 2 of Birthday Celebration Week

Congratulations to the Winners of Birthday Celebration- Day 2

Grand Prize Winner is Armenia

2ND Prize Winner is Ladybird Robbi

I will be contacting you ladies later today for shipping information.

FTC Disclosure:  Prizes awarded have been purchased by the site owner.

Birthday Celebration - Day 2

Birthday Celebration Day 2 - There will be 2 Prizes Awarded Today.

Grand Prize: 

One Copy of

And Also One Copy of

2nd Prize Winner:

Will Get One Copy of

Contest Question:

What is your favorite gift that you have received for your birthday?

Please make sure to leave your email address with your answer for the prize notification. 

Contest open to US and Canada Residents Only due to Postage Limitations

Good Luck

FTC Disclosure:  Prizes awarded have been purchased by the site owner.

 

Congratulations Winners of Birthday Celebration- Day 1

Congratulations To the 3 Winners:

1St Place Winner = Harris Channing

2nd Place Winner= Lindseye

3rd Place Winner= S7anna

I will be contacting you ladies later today to arrange for shipment of your prize.

FTC Disclosure:  Prizes awarded were purchased by the site owner

Birthday Week Celebration- Prize Giveaways All Week

I will be celebrating my Birthday this week and will be giving prizes/gift cards away in celebration.  Today marks the first day's celebration. 

For today's prizes I will be giving away a total of 3 Books:

The First Prize is a copy of Night Myst (Indigo Court Book 1) by Yasmine Galenorn. 

2nd Prize is a copy of Magic Bleeds (Kate Douglas Book 4)  by Ilona Andrews

3rd Prize is a copy of Delicious (Buchanan Sisters Book 1) By Susan Mallery

To enter the contest please answer the question below:

What is your most memorable birthday memory from childhood?

Contest open to all US and Canada residents due to postage requirements.

Good Luck Everyone!

Flashback Sunday Review/ The Stranger In Her Bed/ Janet Chapman/ Pocket Star

Title:  The Stranger In Her Bed
Author:  Janet Chapman
Publisher:  Pocket Star (An Imprint of Simon and Schuster)
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Publication Date:  January 30, 2007
Print ISBN:  978-1416505280
eBook ISBN:  978-1416538240
Length:  368 Pages
Format:  Print
Purchase:  Amazon     Barnes and Noble


Book Blurb:

When Ethan agreed to work at a sawmill his family is purchasing, he didn't foresee getting fired on his first day. He should be mad at the fiercely outspoken female foreman, but something about her seems disconcertingly familiar - even though Ethan is sure he'd remember meeting a stunning beauty like Anna Segee before.

My Review: 

I really liked this book by Ms. Chapman, it was a sweet romance with just enough spice to keep it interesting.  There was also a small mystery in the story which kept the plot of the story moving at a very good pace.  This is a sequel to The Seduction of His Wife and covers the romance and marriages of the 2 younger Knight brothers. 

The heroine of this story, Anna Segee, is the foreman at the sawmill that the Knight family just purchased and she and Ethan already have a past.  He rescued her from an attack when she was 12 years old, however, at the time she was using her first name Abigail and her grandfather's last name.  She has come back to Loon Creek Main to prove to her Canadian father that she can run a mill as well as any man and has taken her grandfather's run down mill that she inherited and has plans to renovate it and make it successful.   She has secretly carried a torch in her heart for Ethan and sees him as a "knight in shinning armor". 

Ethan Knight is an interesting hero in that he is used to having women swoon at his feet due to being the most attractive in a family of attractive men.  He's very attracted to Anna and he feels as if he knows her, he just can't remember how.  He's a little more liberated when it comes to women and has no problems with Anna wanting to be the foreman. 

Anna and Ethan are forced together both by circumstance and fate.  Their relationship starts out based on their mutual attraction and quickly becomes more.  During the events that take place during this book the youngest Knight son, Paul, also marries one of the women in town he had been dating for some time. 

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclosure:  The reviewer purchased this book for review.  No other financial remuneration was exchanged.

A Review/ Still The One/ Robin Wells/ Grand Central Publishing

Title:  Still The One

Author:  Robin Wells

Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing

Genre:  Inspirational Contemporary Romance

Publication Date:  May 1, 2010

Print ISBN:  978-0446555982

eBook ISBN:  978-0446569699

Length:  432 Pages

Format:  Print

Excerpt

Book Blurb: 
 
After Katie Charmaine's husband is killed in Iraq, all she has left is a closet full of his clothes, a few pictures, and fond memories. She not only lost her love, but her last chance to have the children she's always wanted. Until Zack Ferguson shows up in town . . . with the daughter Katie gave up for adoption nearly seventeen years ago.


Zack Ferguson has never forgotten Katie, or the one magical night they spent together. Seeing her again brings up a tidal wave of emotions: regret over the way he left her, anger at the secret she kept, and desire he hasn't felt in years. But he's in town for Gracie. Their daughter is sixteen, angry at the world, and-worst of all-pregnant. She needs the love of her two parents now more than ever. Can these three forgive the hurts of the past and open their hearts to each other?

 
My Review: 

I loved this book by Ms. Wells, this is the first book by her that I have read.  This story has all of the elements that I look for in a good love story, some things that take place are somewhat predictable but that is okay with me if the story is good and the plot is excellent. 

The main character of this story is Katie Carmichael, a widow whose husband died in Iraq serving his country.  Katie has been stuck emotionally and doesn't even realize it, she thinks she is just suffering from grief.  She still has all of the pictures that were taken over the years with her husband up on her walls and all over her house, she also has all of his clothing hanging in the closet and all of his things in the dresser.  She gets along great with both of her in laws, who just happen to be in town.  Circumstances however force her to re-evaluate her life, the man she loved and had a one night stand with comes to town with their daughter that she had given up for adoption.  How Katie grows thru this situation is completely heartwarming.

The second main character is Zach Ferguson, the young man that Katie had a fling with, who is now a very successful businessman.  Zach is carrying his own emotional baggage and doesn't believe that there is such a thing as true love and certainly doesn't think much of marriage, he is forced to face what he has been running from in his life too.  I was really touched by how his character grows throughout this book.  He has been faced by their daughter and has decided that they will be a family unit for the time being to get things on track for her sake.  He is put in the situation of having to deal with a teenager going thru a situation of her own.

The third major character, Gracie, is Katie and Zach's teenage daughter.  It is the death of her adoptive parents that acts as a catalyst to all of the events that shape this book.  Her unplanned pregnancy drives her to seek out her birth parents, she's very hostile at the beginning of this book and the growth of her character is a joy to watch. 

The other characters in this book are also a joy to read, from friends to Katie's in-laws.  In fact the entire town plays a part in this book and demonstrates both the good and bad of living in a small town.  I wanted to live in this fictional town after reading this book.

I highly recommend this book as a heartwarming contemporary romance with lots of family drama!

My Rating:   5 Out of 5 Crowns

A Review/ Bullet (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #19)/ Laurell K. Hamilton/ Penguin Group

Title:  Bullet
Author:  Laurell K. Hamilton
Publisher:  Penguin Group
Genre:  Paranormal Romance (Polyamorous)
Publication Date:  June 1, 2010
Print ISBN:  978-0425234334
eBook ISBN:  978-1101432976
Length:  368 Pages
Format:  Print
Purchase:   Amazon     Barnes and Noble

Book Blurb: 

The music came back up and the next group of little girls, slightly older, came out. There was a lot of that in the next hour and change. I liked dance, and it was no reflection on the kids, but my will to live began to seep away on about the fifth group of sequined children...

Anita Blake is back in St. Louis and trying to live a normal life-as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a U. S. Marshal. There are lovers, friends and their children, school programs to attend. In the midst of all the ordinary happiness a vampire from Anita's past reaches out. She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, their dark creator. It's hard to kill a god. This dark goddess has reached out to her here-in St. Louis, home of everyone Anita loves most. The Mother of All Darkness has decided she has to act now or never, to control Anita, and all the vampires in America.

The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with Anita and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to immigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken. Anita is about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing her body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can't succeed in taking over Anita's body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to Anita, has sent word: "Run if you can..."
 
My Review: 

I really loved reading this book.  It was very hard for me to put down and I finished it in almost one sitting.  I will state up front that you need to read this series in order, this is not a series where the order is pivital in character development and introduction.

The book takes place in St. Louis, where most of the books have taken place, and we get to see many of the characters that have not gotten much time in the last couple of stories.  I'm mainly speaking about Jean Claude the Master Vampire of St. Louis, Richard Zeeman the "Ulfric" or werewolf king of St. Louis, Asher (Jean Claude's second) and Damain, Anita's Vampire servant.   We also get to see Nathaniel and Micah, Anita's main love interests.

The character who has grown the most in this particular book is Richard Zeeman.  He's been under some serious personal therapy and is finally coming to terms with his emotional issues and is also making peace with being a werewolf.  Anita and Jean Claude both are happy with the changes that he exhibits, but also have some reserve due to damage that the has done to their triumvirate. 

Asher makes some demands in this book that are not un-expected but that are dealt with in an interesting fashion.  Asher continues to carry both the emotional scars and physical scars from being tortured centuries in the past by members of the church, who used holy water to remove the "evil" from him.  He is also still second in command to Jean Claude and as the story progresses, Anita realizes why he will never be a master of the city regardless of how much metaphysical power he gains.

Haven, the werelion, also returns in this book and is as much trouble to Anita as he has ever been.  In this book we get an explanation for why he and Anita are currently at odds and it is in dealing with Haven that one major character is injured, several minor characters are injured and one minor character is killed.  This forces Anita to make a decision that she could leave to others but she has never been one to shirk from her duties. 

As if the troubles with Haven aren't enough, we discover that "Marme Noir" didn't exactly die as we had previously thought.  She is now determined to either take over Anita and her triumvirates or kill her.  It is as a result of the events that take place with "Marme Noir" that vampire politics in America take a drastic change and that will lead to Jean Claude, Anita, Richard and their followers to gain even more power.  We see a return of the tigers that we met in Skin Trade (Vampire Hunter) and also see the return of Jake, the werewolf, who we met in The Harlequin (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 15). 

Anita does not leave town to hunt vampires or raise any zombies during this book, however, she does provide the U.S. Marshal service with assistance when the master of the city in Atlanta, GA. goes on a murderous rampage. 

All in all, I was very satisfied with how some of the open issues that have been lingering in the last several books were resolved and of course, there are other issues that have been left open that will hopefully be resolved in the next book in the series.  I am eagerly anticipating that release in 2011.  If you are a follower of this series- this is a must read!

My Rating:  5 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclosure:  The reviewer purchased this book for review.  No other remuneration was exchanged.

Review/ Mail Order Marriages/ Kate Bridges, Jillian Hart, and Carolyn Davidson/ Harlequin

Title:  Mail Order Marriages
Author:  Kate Bridges    Jillian Hart    Carolyn Davidson
Publisher:  Harlequin
Genre:  Historical Romance Anthology
Publication Date:  May 1, 2010
Print ISBN:  978-0373295913
eBook ISBN:  978-1426855313
Length:  281 Pages
Format:  Print
Purchase:  eHarlequin     Amazon


Blurb:
 
Three brides for three rugged men.


Rocky Mountain Wedding by Jillian Hart

Melody Pennington fled to Montana for a new start as a mail-order bride. Gabe Brooks, handsome older brother to the man she was supposed to marry, helps her settle in. But what Melody doesn't expect is to fall for the rugged, closed-off lawman who swears he doesn't believe in love!


Married in Missouri by Carolyn Davidson

Lucas Harrison needs a mother for his sons. He's not looking for love, but he expects his wife to act like one—in every sense of the word! Elizabeth has always felt tall and awkward, but Lucas towers over her. He's strong as a bull, gentle as a lamb, and Elizabeth's heart soon begins to melt….


Her Alaskan Groom by Kate Bridges

Newly trained midwife Sophie Grant had hoped marrying respectable John Colburne would be easy as pie. But he's tough, stubborn and cynical—except in bed with her at night! How can Sophie turn her passionate nighttime lover into a daytime husband who isn't afraid to show he loves his mail-order bride?



My Review:

I really enjoyed this historical romance anthology.  The first two stories in the book, Rocky Mountain Marriage and Married in Missouri, are longer in length than the third book but the third book was equally good.  These are not spicy novellas but are more along the sweet romance type of book.  All three novellas do have some sex but nothing overtly graphic.

I would say that the stories are fairly correct in the historical settings and that they did a fair job of depicting why some women were willing to be mail order brides.  The third story Her Alaskan Groom, depicted a woman who was a little more liberated or modern thinking than the other two. 

Overall the anthology was enjoyable and was a light read.  I was able to read the entire book in one day.

My Rating:   4 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclosure:  The review purchased this book for review.  No other remuneration was exchanged.