A Book Blogger's Diary

Blog Tour and Review - The Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate (& a Giveaway!)

2009-11-14T01:33:00.001-06:00

The Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate 352p, Downtown Press, Isbn-1439107173 In Melissa Senate’s sweet and sentimental eighth novel, twenty-eight year-old Rebecca Strand is about to lose her father and be left alone in the world without a family. But her father makes a confession on his deathbed—that he had a secret affair twenty-six years ago and Rebecca has a half sister named Joy that neither she nor anyone else has ever known about. Shocked by her father’s infidelity and secrecy,...

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A Speical Thanksgiving Recipe & Giveaway

2009-11-13T15:54:00.000-06:00

Earlier this year I'd reviewed a wonderful novel by Erica Bauermeister called The School of Essential Ingredients which follows the lives of eight students who gather in Lillian’s Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class. It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. I found this story to be "lyrical, magical and poignant" and it made me hungry for the flavorful dishes concocted through the length of the novel! That's why I was happy to...

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Author Guest Post - Fiona Ingram

2009-11-13T01:48:00.001-06:00

Readers, please join me welcoming Fiona Ingram who will be guest blogging here today! Her book, The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, is a thrilling adventure for two young boys, whose fun trip to Egypt turns into a dangerously exciting quest to uncover an ancient and mysterious secret. Sounds like a great read! No wonder it was just nominated a Finalist in the Children's Fiction section of the USA National Best Books 2009 Awards. It got the same nomination earlier this year in the New...

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Author Guest Post - Susan Shapiro Barash (& a Giveaway!)

2009-11-12T01:45:00.002-06:00

Readers, please join me welcoming Susan Shapiro Barash, author of Toxic Friends: The Antidote for Women Stuck in Complicated Friendships who'll be guest blogging here today! In Toxic Friends (St. Martin's Press, 288 p, ISBN: 0312386397), Barash explores the ten types of female friends and shows you why and how women get stuck with the worst kinds, the ways to get “unstuck, and how to recognize a true friend.” How Female Friendships Run Amok by Susan Shapiro Barash One of the more...

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Author Guest Post - Pat Bertram (& a Giveaway)

2009-11-11T01:03:00.032-06:00

Readers, please join me welcoming Pat Bertram, author of Daughter Am I who's guest blogging here today! In Daughter Am I, when twenty-five-year-old Mary Stuart learns she inherited a farm from her recently murdered grandparents-grandparents her father claimed had died before she was born-she becomes obsessed with finding out who they were and why someone wanted them dead. Along the way she accumulates a crew of feisty octogenarians-former gangsters and friends of...

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Blog Tour - Caridad Piñeiro's Sins of the Flesh

2009-11-10T01:47:00.002-06:00

Readers, please join me welcoming Caridad Piñeiro, author of Sins of the Flesh who's guest blogging here today! Synopsis : Caterina Shaw's days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment-a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body-and she's been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run. Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive,...

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Charlie and Mama Kyna Virtual Book Tour

2009-11-09T10:50:00.000-06:00

I received a copy of the book for participating in this tour. Join Diana Rumjahn, author of the children’s picture book, Charlie and Mama Kyna (Booksurge), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in October and November on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion! Diana Rumjahn received her bachelor’s degree in social science from San Francisco State University and has worked at the university for over the past two decades. She is currently an administrator at...

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Author Guest Post - Karen White (& Giveaway)

2009-11-07T01:27:00.006-06:00

I received a copy of this book for review consideration. Readers, please join me welcoming Karen White, author of The Girl On Legare Street who will be guest blogging here today! This book continues the story of Melanie Middleton and Jack Trenholm that was such fun in last November’s The House on Tradd Street. In it, Karen returns to Charleston where Melanie and Jack’s relationship remains rocky, the house on Tradd Street continues to be renovated and there are messages—and a...

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Author Guest Post - Maria Geraci (& a Giveaway)

2009-11-06T01:21:00.003-06:00

Readers, please join me welcoming Maria Geraci, author of Bunco Babes Gone Wild who's guest blogging here today! What kind of Girl are you? In my Bunco Babes books, the central characters have been friends for years. They get together every Thursday night to drink frozen margaritas, roll dice, and gossip about the inhabitants of their small north Florida town. The three main characters I introduced in the first book, Bunco Babes Tell All, were labeled as...

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Author Guest Post - Terri DuLong (& a Giveaway)

2009-11-05T01:02:00.004-06:00

Readers, please join me welcoming Terri DuLong, author of Spinning Forward who's guest blogging here today! About Spinning Forward: Sydney Webster's comfortable New England life comes crashing down when her husband dies suddenly, leaving her penniless and evicted. She had no idea about his huge gambling debts, and is getting no sympathy from her hurt and angry twenty something daughter. With nowhere else to turn, Sydney takes shelter at a college friend's B&B...

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Blog Tour - The Cutting by James Hyman

2009-11-04T01:48:00.002-06:00

I received a book for participating in this virtual tour. Today I'm pleased to welcome James Hayman, author of The Cutting. His guest post here today is part of the book's virtual tour, courtesy Pump Up Your Book Promotion. In The Cutting: Detective Sergeant Michael McCabe moved from New York City to Portland, Maine, to escape a dark past: both the ex-wife who’d left him for an investment banker, and the tragic death of his brother, a hero cop gone bad....

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Kylie Brant's November Guest Post & a Giveaway!

2009-11-03T22:38:00.043-06:00

For the last couple of months, author Kylie Brant has been guest posting here to coincide with the release of the three books in her Mindhunters trilogy! She's stopped by and kept us entertained with her experiences with writing her wonderful suspenses. This month marks the release of the last of this trilogy, Waking the Dead. About this book - When the body of a woman is found in rural Buffalo Springs, forensic investigator Ramsey Clark is called in. Ramsey believes in evidence, not...

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Speakaboos

2009-11-03T11:11:00.002-06:00

Speakaboos (www.Speakaboos.com), a publisher of exceptional digital content for kids, recently released storybook favorites read by the cast of ABC's "General Hospital," as well as educational activities and games. Featuring stories read by Kelly Monaco, Rebecca Herbst, Jason Thompson, and Greg Vaughan, Speakaboos continues to provide a dynamic and educational online destination for children. All stories and activities are available on Speakaboos.com for free, and may be downloaded for...

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Mary Balogh Blog Tour (& Giveaway!)

2009-11-02T01:21:00.004-06:00

This blog tour comes courtesy Pump Up Your Book Promotion. And I'll receive a book for participating in this tour. A Precious Jewel Synopsis : For Priscilla Wentworth, the path leading to Sir Gerald’s bed had been as filled with misfortune as it suddenly seemed charmed. But Priss couldn’t allow herself to believe she’d ever be more to a man like Sir Gerald than a well-cared-for object of pleasure. Now, despite Gerald’s deep distrust of marriage, neither scandal nor society’s censure can...

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An Article by Thad Carhart

2009-10-30T01:09:00.000-05:00

Readers, today it's my pleasure to bring you this article by Thad Carhart, Author of Across the Endless River (Doubleday, 320p, ISBN-10: 0385529775), a historical novel about Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea, and his intriguing sojourn as a young man in 1820s Paris. Across the Endless River imagines this mixed-blood child’s mysterious and unique boyhood in Missouri among the Mandan tribe and his time as William Clark’s ward in St. Louis. With unparalleled language skills and...

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Three Doggy Reads

2009-10-29T20:00:00.001-05:00

Coincidentally, I received three books this week, all of which had a cute dog on the cover. Here they are for your reading pleasure: Now & Then by Jacqueline Sheehan (Avon, 400pp, Isbn-0061547786) Anna O'Shea has failed at marriage, shed her job at a law firm, and she's trying to re-create herself when she and her recalcitrant nephew are summoned to the past in a manner that nearly destroys them. Her twenty-first-century skills pale as she struggles to find...

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Author Guest Post - Michael Baron (& Giveaway)

2009-10-28T01:59:00.025-05:00

Readers, please join me welcoming Michael Baron, author of When You Went Away, who will be guest blogging here today! In this book, drama springs from finding the courage to put one foot in front of the other each day and, for protagonist Gerry Rubato, the alternate universe is one he can only imagine—one in which his wife, the mother of their infant son, is still alive and his teenage daughter has not abandoned them. In a Sentimental Mood Many years ago, I read an article that John...

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Great New Books from Harper Collins

2009-10-27T23:46:00.000-05:00

I received these books for review today and I'm so excited! Check them out. Click the link below the images to read more about them. In Silent Night, Haunted Night, Joe Bascombe is no stranger to desire, but when a sexy spirit begins haunting his dreams, he finds himself ensnared by dark passions. What he doesn't realize is that the devious demon and her two sisters, otherwise known as the Three Fates, are out to teach the woman he loves a lesson. To Love a Wicked Lord by Edith...

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Author Guest Post - Blume Rifken (Giveaway!)

2009-10-26T01:37:00.002-05:00

Readers, please join me welcoming Blume Rifken, author of Scarecrow Finds a Friend who will be guest blogging here today. This heartening tale involves Tally, a good witch, who is losing her power to fly. She befriends a Scarecrow and he comes up with a plan to save her flying power. "Scarecrow Finds a Friend" is my first children's book, and the first book that I have self-published. In 1987, I wrote "Silhouettes In America 1790-1840, A Collectors' Guide" that was published by Paradigm...

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Horrid Henry - Review & Giveaway

2009-10-23T01:21:00.007-05:00

Come experience a world of fun and mischief in Francesca Simon’s latest books, Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter and Horrid Henry's Underpants! Don't know who Horrid Henry is?! Here's a brief intro: Francesca Simon is one of the world's best-loved children's authors. She is the only American to have ever won the Galaxy Book Award, and her creation, Horrid Henry, is the #1 bestselling chapter book series in the UK—with a hit TV show and over fifteen million copies sold! Each book contains...

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Author Guest Post - Therese Walsh (& a Giveaway!)

2009-10-22T01:30:00.022-05:00

Readers, please join me in welcoming Therese Walsh, author of The Last Will of Moira Leahy, who'll be guest blogging here today. This haunting debut novel explores the intense bond of sisterhood as a grieving twin searches for her own identity in the ruins of her sister’s past. When Your Characters Travel the World and You Don't Even Have a Passport Once upon a time, I had a passport. As a junior in high school, I had the good fortune to be invited for a tour of Europe, to sing sing...

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9 Dragons by Michael Connelly - Review & Giveaway

2009-10-21T19:15:00.000-05:00

I received a free copy of this book for review. There's no denying Harry Bosch is one of the smartest fictional detectives around and Connelly is a master at writing police procedurals. In Nine Dragons, crippled with a partner who has lost his nerve and with a self-imposed debt to pay, Harry investigates the death of a struggling Chinese shop owner which takes him into the deadly world of Triads. His own prejudices about Asians hampers him even as an internal leak has Harry suspecting...

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Flu!

2009-10-21T10:43:00.002-05:00

Despite all precautions, I've caught the Flu, maybe even H1N1. Doctors can't tell. As such, I'm offline until I get better. Sorry for any inconvenience. Hope to be back soon. ______________________________________________________________________ If you like this post, then please consider subscribing to my Full Feed RSS. You can also Subscribe by Email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

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Author Guest Post - Dianne Castell (& a Giveaway)

2009-10-21T01:36:00.002-05:00

Today I'm pleased to welcome Dianne Castell, author of Hot and Irresistible. Her guest post here today is part of this book's virtual tour, courtesy Pump Up Your Book Promotion. And I received a copy of this book for hosting this tour. Southern Speak Or...you’re not in Kansas anymore. My November release, Hot and Irresistible, is set in Savannah. I love Savannah. I don’t live there but my daughter goes to school there and we vacationed in the area long before that and I...

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A Conversation with Barbara Mahler (& a Giveaway!)

2009-10-20T01:08:00.001-05:00

Barbara A. Mahler was amazed when the wizzen Netri showed up in her life. Night after night he woke her up and told her stories about a land on the other side of the hole in the sky. She wrote down his tales and the result is her first full-length novel, The Hole in the Sky (Sea Turtle Publishing, 300p). Tell us about your book, The Hole in the Sky. Following the death of her mother, thirteen-year-old Kaela Neuleaf struggles with her loss. Lured by an old diary and the mysterious power...

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