Happy 235th Birthday Jane Austen!!

Today is Jane Austen’s 235th birthday!

Sourcebooks, the world’s leading publisher of Jane Austen fiction, is offering a unique deal to readers who want to celebrate Jane by reading special editions of all six of Austen’s beloved novels in a 21st century format.

Special e-book editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park will be available for free for one day only. These celebratory editions include the full novels, plus the legendary color illustrations of the Brock brothers, originally created to accompany the books in 1898.

In addition to the Jane Austen classics, readers can also enjoy these bestselling Austen-inspired novels. The following bestselling e-books will be free on December 16th (and 17th) in honor of her birthday:

Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

Available wherever eBooks are sold.

There has been some problems reported with downloading the free eBooks today. iBooks and Google books currently has everything correct.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony are currently working to get their prices adjusted. They should be correct shortly. Sourcebooks.com will also have our books and the illustrated versions available for free!

Because of this confusion the celebration will be extended an extra day! This offer will be good tomorrow as well.

Room by Emma Donoghue

Room is a disturbingly great novel. I’ve been thinking ahead to my top ten books of 2010 list (which I’ll put out in January when I’m actually through the year 2010 to make sure I don’t miss any great books I read at the end of the year), and I know for sure that this book will be on the top of my list!

Room is the story of a five-year old child named Jack. He has a loving “Ma” and enjoys life with her in “Room.” Room is an eleven by eleven space that includes the entire world for Jack. He lovingly points to the stain on the rug where he was born, enjoys exercising with Ma, their meals, reading books, and having “scream” time each day. Almost every night “Old Nick” visits while Jack sleeps in the wardrobe. Jack believes that the things he sees on TV are all make believe and that there is not world outside of Room.

After Jack’s fifth birthday, Ma tells him the truth. She has been a prisoner of Old Nick for the past seven years since she was kidnapped from her college campus at the age of 19. There is an entire world outside of Room, and Room is Ma’s prison. At first Jack is unable to accept this fact, but then he agrees to help Ma with her daring escape. Will they succeed?

I literally couldn’t put Room down. This novel kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t stop reading it until it was finished. The characters were fantastic and wonderfully drawn. Jack was a very unique narrator. Emma Donoghue did a fantastic job of writing the entire novel through the eyes of a five-year old. As a mother of a 4-year old boy, this novel rang very true as the thoughts and perspective of a young child. The only time I was annoyed was that they somehow were able to get Nickelodeon cable shows such as Dora the Explorer on their TV with bunny ears. But that is a very minor detail!

I first learned about this novel through praise on Jennifer Weiner’s blog and a great review on NPR. The praise was well deserved. Room is a unique, riveting novel. Through the eyes of a five-year old child, what constitutes life and love is put in a whole new perspective. It is so good; I’m having a hard time trying to describe why I loved it!!

One of my favorite quotes from the novel:

“Also everywhere I’m looking at kids, adults mostly don’t seem to like them, not even the parents do. They call the kids gorgeous and so cute, they make the kids do the thing all over again so they can take a photo, but they don’t want to actually play with them, they’d rather drink coffee talking to other adults. Sometimes there’s a small kid crying and the Ma of it doesn’t even seem to hear.”

This quote made me sad as a mother. I would like to play with my kids more than I do, but dishes, chores, etc. sometimes keep you too busy to just enjoy life with kids.

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

The Heir by Grace Burrowes

If you are looking for a way to warm up your cold winter nights, The Heir is the perfect romance novel for you! The Heir is a very original romance that provides plenty of mystery, excitement, and steamy love scenes.

Gayle Windham is the Earl of Westhaven and is the heir to his father, the Duke of Morland. The Duke schemes and tries to force Westhaven into marriage in order to provide an heir to the dukedom. Westhaven is not amused, but finds solace in the fact that his brothers also are not amused and agree to spend the summer with him in his townhouse.

While at his townhouse, Westhaven starts to notice the homey touches provided by his housekeeper “Mrs.” Anna Seaton. In fact, underneath her drab garb and cap, Anna is a rather attractive woman in her twenties. The more Westhaven learns about Anna, the more intrigued he becomes. Anna is mysterious and seems to be much more than a housekeeper. Who is Anna and what is she trying to hide from?

I thought The Heir was one of the best romance novels that I’ve read in a long time. I loved that Anna is not the typical heroine. Having her be the housekeeper was unique and intriguing at the same time. I loved reading the novel and trying to figure out her mysterious past. It kept me riveted!! The scenes of romance were also very hot!

I must admit though that I was confused on a couple aspects of the novel. Westhaven had a niece named Rose that appeared to be the daughter of his ex-fiancée. I was confused on how that worked and never quite figured it out. I also liked the character of the old Duke and wish we could have learned more about him. The ending of The Heir seemed to drag out a bit. I actually started to get a bit annoyed with Anna after loving her for the entire novel.

Grace Burrowes will be interviewed on this blog in two weeks on Monday December 27th. I’m hoping to get the answers to a couple of my questions!

Book Source: Advance Review copy from Sourcebooks. Thank-you!

Winners of Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley

Christmas, blizzards, and power outages have me running a bit behind on everything. I apologize for posting the winners of this giveaway so late! I'm also a bit behind on book reviews. Hopefully I catch up soon.

The two lucky winners of Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley are Kwana of Kwana Writes and PoCoKat of MysteriesEtc. Congrats to both of the winners! Winners were chosen using random.org and were both notified via email. If I don't hear back from them with their mailing addresses by Monday, December 20th, I will draw new winners.

Thank-you again to Danielle from Sourcebooks for allowing me to host this giveaway and for providing the giveaway copies of the book. A very big thank-you to Phillipa Ashley for answering my questions, and for being such an active author responding to comments on the giveaway blog. You made the giveaway very fun Ms. Ashley!

Dating Mr. December is a great romance for the holidays or for any season, so pick up a copy if you didn't win one! Also if you are looking for another great interview and giveaway, please check out my interview with Jennifer Becton, author of Charlotte Collins. A giveaway of one copy of Charlotte Collins ends this Friday the 17th at midnight.

Interview (and GIVEAWAY) with Jennifer Becton, author of Charlotte Collins

I am very excited to have Jennifer Becton, author of Charlotte Collins, as a guest on my blog today. Charlotte Collins is a very original story about one of my favorite Pride and Prejudice characters. After the death of the odious Mr. Collins, will Charlotte be able to find happiness in a quiet life or will she finally be able to discover true love? My original review of the novel can be found here.

Now on to the interview . . .

LAG: What was your motivation for writing a novel about Charlotte (Lucas) Collins? What draws you to her as a character?

JB: I chose to write about Charlotte because I could relate to her. I suppose it’s as simple as that. As much as I would like to think of myself as a Lizzie, I certainly have some Charlotte-like qualities. Charlotte was a good, obedient daughter, and she sought to please her family in all her actions and choices, even those that might lead to her own unhappiness. And though I doubt I would have married someone as silly as Mr. Collins, I could understand why she did it. I wanted her to have the opportunity to make a more adventurous choice.

LAG: In Charlotte Collins, you did a fantastic job of sticking true to Austen’s original characters, while creating great new characters. What was your inspiration for the new characters? Which new character is your favorite and why?

JB: Thank you. I am so glad to find that my interpretation of Austen’s characters seems to remain true to what she intended them to be. It is intimidating to attempt to write a beloved Austen character, especially when everyone’s interpretation will not be the same as mine. Still, I took great pleasure in writing them, but I found equal joy in creating their companions. I fell in love with Mr. Basford as I wrote him, but I also enjoyed writing the villains of my novel. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m wickeder than I thought! But truly, conflict drives characters, and I enjoyed writing the villains because their actions gave the main characters the opportunity to grow and change. Adversity, though unpleasant, usually seems to result in a new awareness of life.

LAG: Did you have to do any research while writing Charlotte Collins on the regency period? If so, did you find out any interesting facts or have any interesting references? Even better, were you able to make a “research trip” to Great Britain?

JB: While my trip to the UK in college does not really count as Regency study, I did a great deal of research on subjects including etiquette, grammar, money, food, and even nineteenth-century American customs. I read many modern articles and books on the Regency period, but I most heartily enjoyed reading original source material such as Domestic Manners of the Americans by Frances Trollope and The Book of Household Management by Mrs. Isabella Beeton.

LAG: When did you first discover Jane Austen? Which of her novels is your favorite?

JB: My interest in Austen began with the BBC/A&E adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in 1995. I watched it in my college dorm room between bouts of study, and afterward, I immediately bought and read as much Austen as I could. I had finally found my literary idol: a woman whose work had endured for almost 200 years and didn’t end tragically.

My two favorite Austen novels are Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. I adore the characters of Pride and Prejudice, and I felt as if I knew them by the end of the novel. But I am drawn more to the plot of Persuasion. I love plots in which characters have the opportunity to redeem themselves and make the right choice, as Anne Elliot did at the end of the novel.

LAG: As a first time author, what about the process of writing and getting your novel published have you found invigorating? On the other hand, what has been exasperating?

JB: Charlotte Collins is independently published, meaning that I am responsible for every aspect of the book. I wrote it, had it edited, designed the cover, formatted the interior, converted it to an ebook, and undertook all the marketing. Before Charlotte Collins, I had worked for more than ten years in the traditional publishing world as an editor, so I had a great deal of prior knowledge and a large bias against self-publishing.

Now, my opinion has changed. While I certainly respect my colleagues in the traditional world, as an aspiring author, I found the process incredibly frustrating. Invariably, agents and editors had nothing negative to say about my writing, but still, they rejected my novel based on their belief that Austen fans do not buy books about minor characters. I just could not believe this to be true. So I took up the challenge to self-publish and see who was right. As a result, I have a deeper understanding of my own industry and a new-found respect for self-published authors. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

LAG: Are you working on a new novel, if so, can you share any details?

JB: Yes, I am working on another Austen sequel that focuses on Caroline Bingley. I plan to follow her as she undertook life without Mr. Darcy, the gentleman she clearly intended to marry. And as the villainess of Pride and Prejudice, she may not make the best heroine, but I’m hoping she’ll make an interesting anti-heroine. I am also releasing a free short story on Black Friday that describes what happens to Maria after Charlotte Collins.

In addition, I am working on a mystery series and am co-authoring a non-fiction book about overcoming horseback riding fear with Laura Daley. For more information about Charlotte Collins, self-publishing, or my future books, please visit my website (http://www.jenniferbecton.com) and my blog (http://jenniferbecton.blogspot.com).

Thank-you Jennifer for letting me interview you! Charlotte Collins is an excellent novel and I highly recommend it to all lovers of Pride and Prejudice, or just for someone looking for a great regency romance.

Giveaway Details

Jennifer Becton has been kind enough to send me a copy of Charlotte Collins to review and to giveaway. My gently read review copy is ready to move on and find someone else to enjoy it as much as I did.

If you would like to win a copy of Charlotte Collins, please leave a comment about what intrigues you about the novel or this interview.

As part of your comment, you must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner.

For an additional entry, blog about this giveaway or post it on your sidebar. Provide a link to this post in your comment.

I will be using random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to US and Canadian residents (Sorry!).
No P.O. Boxes.

The deadline for entry is midnight, Friday December 17th.

Good luck!

Oogy by Larry Levin (audiobook)

If you loved Marley and Me and are looking for another great tale of man’s best friend, Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin is the novel for you. Oogy is a moving tale of a loving dog that started off life in terrible circumstances.

Oogy was used as a bait dog, but was rescued by police officials and brought to a clinic with staff that cared and patched the poor, horrifically wounded dog. When Larry Levin and his twin sons (Noah and Dan) brought their cat in to be put to sleep one fateful day, they met and fell in love with Oogy.
Oogy was a kind-hearted and gentle dog despite his wounded appearance. The Levins adopted Oogy and soon shared a special relationship with him unlike any other.

I really enjoyed this story. I was more than a little disturbed by Oogy’s background story and about fighting dogs, especially when Levin quoted the numbers. It is hard to believe how many poor dogs are victimized this way. Levin gave a great description of Oogy’s background, adoption, and life within the Levin family. Of even more interest to me was the personal part of the story. Levin described the adoption of his twin sons and background of his own family. It was a great story and was great how Oogy’s adoption into the family made the boys feel even more loved.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story as read by Joe Barrett. I liked his voice and thought he did a great job of bringing the story to life. It was a good heartwarming tale to listen to in the cold of winter.

Overall, I thought Oogy was a great uplifting tale of a dog and his family. I would recommend this to anyone who has or has had a dog. It was a memoir and dog story in the same vein as Marley and Me.

Audiobook Source: Review Copy from Hachette Book Group. Thank-you!

Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell

Pemberley Ranch is a wonderful new western starring my favorite literary couple, Mr. Darcy (known as Will in this book) and Elizabeth Bennet (referred to as Beth).

The novel starts with William Darcy and Charles Bingley in the thick of action during the American Civil War. After an altercation with crooked Yankee officer George Whitehead, Darcy and Bingley are shipped off to a prison camp for the rest of the war. Afterwards, Darcy goes back to his ranch, Pemberley, near the small town of Rosings, Texas. Bingley moves to town as the town doctor, but unfortunately, George Whitehead shows up after receiving a government appointment. Darcy tries to avoid town and Whitehead in order to forget the past, but he finds it hard to avoid when he meets the lovely Beth Bennet.

Beth Bennet grew up with her family on a farm in Ohio. After her elder brother Samuel’s death in the war, Beth finds herself unable to forgive Southerners. In order to better their situation in life, Mr. Bennet moves his family to a new farm in Rosings, Texas. Beth has prejudice against the townspeople as they were on the side of the South during the Civil War. Although she hates the ex-confederate officer Will Darcy and all he stands for, she can’t help but be attracted to him.

Will’s cousin Cate Burroughs owns the other half of the land around Rosings that Darcy does not own. Together with George Whitehead and Billy Collins, Cate embarks on a scheme to make money in a nefarious way. Will Darcy and Beth Bennet have to work together to stop them and find romance along the way.

I really enjoyed this novel. I loved the Civil War action at the beginning of the novel, but I thought the novel got a bit slow when it moved to Rosings Texas five years after the war. Luckily the action picked up after that point and I had a hard time putting it down. Pemberly Ranch had a great historical fiction background, and I loved the footnotes that explained certain historical items in more detail.

Caldwell did a fantastic job creating wonderfully unique characters. The characters use similar names as our beloved characters in Pride and Prejudice, but Caldwell made them his own by changing each slightly in unique ways. For instance, Charlotte Lucas is the plain outspoken daughter of the Sheriff who has a secret romance with Darcy’s foreman, Richard “Fitz” Fitzwilliam. I loved this change in Charlotte and I also loved how Mrs. Bennet is a good farmer’s wife that talks too much. She and Mr. Bennet have a much deeper love than what is seen in Pride and Prejudice. And of course, Beth and Will are fantastic lead characters. I was a bit annoyed with Beth’s automatic hatred of Will at the beginning, but soon the two characters were sharing a passionate (though chaste) romance that was riveting to watch unfold on the page.

It was also delightful how characters from other Austen novels would make “guest” appearances. Henry Tilney, Edmund Bertram, Mr. Knightly, etc. all make appearances. Each arrival of an old favorite made me smile.

I thought the novel did an excellent job of using the theme of pride and prejudice. There is much exploration of pride and prejudice between the north and south and that war is actually a grey zone with wrongs and rights on both sides. There was also prejudice against religion (a nice twist was that the Darcys were Catholic) and race (the Darcys have Native American and Mexican heritage and an ex-slave family moves to town). It was intriguing.

I was initially drawn to this novel as it says on the cover that it is a mix of Gone with the Wind and Pride and Prejudice. I love both novels so I was excited by that. As I read the novel though, I thought this description is actually a disservice to the novel. Pemberley Ranch is an excellent western and is the perfect blend of Pride and Prejudice with the old west. Caldwell makes the characters his own and has his own unique plot. I loved it.

Jack Caldwell will have a guest post on my blog on Thursday December 16th. Please stop back by and see what he has to say about this novel. I can’t wait!

Pemberley Ranch is my thirteenth item in the Everything Austen Challenge II.

Book Source: Advance Review Copy from Sourcebooks. Thank-you!

Winners of Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley

The two lucky winners of Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley are Jacque of Good Family Reads and Bethie of Improve Your Child's Reading Ability. Congrats to both of our winners! The winners were chosen using random.org and were notified via email. They have until this Friday December 10th to email me their mailing addresses or I will contact a new winner.

Thank-you to Danielle at Sourcebooks for sponsering this giveaway with the two copies of the novel. Thank-you to Persia Woolley for answering all of my questions and for writing an excellent novel. And finally thank-you to all of you who entered this giveaway.

Sad that you didn't win? I have a new giveaway currently going for Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley. To enter, please click here.

Phillipa Ashley Interview (and GIVEAWAY!), Author of Dating Mr. December

I recently read, reviewed, and enjoyed Phillipa Ashley's Dating Mr. December. I am very excited that Phillipa Ashley is on Laura's Reviews today to answer all of my questions I had while reading the novel. I have my DVR set to record the 12 Men of Christmas this weekend (the movie based on the novel) and I can't wait to see it!

LAG: What was your inspiration for Dating Mr. December?
PA: I’ve always been an admirer of mountain rescue teams and this book gave me a chance to chat up our local team and ask if they’d mind getting their kit off! Seriously, I did tour a base (literally about 5 mins walk from our apartment - see below.) The team had to raise lots of money to build it and that’s how the idea came about.

LAG: Forgive my ignorance of England, I know the Lake District exists and I loved it as the setting for Dating Mr. December. Do you live near the Lake District? Why did you choose it as the setting?
PA: Well done on even knowing the place exists, Laura, because it’s a very small region of England. We have a holiday apartment in the Lake District which we also rent out. Whenever we arrive, something just clicks in me and I instantly relax and feel inspired. The natural beauty, the changing weather moods, the literary associations and the tight-knit community all strongly appeal to me.

LAG: Will Tennant is a very athletic man. Do you do any of the climbing or bungee jumping that he so enjoys?
PA: I did abseil (rappel) off a small (50ft) cliff for one of the scenes because the editor had suggested I could make more of Emma’s fear of heights. It made the scene stronger but I would never do it again and as for bungee jumping or climbing – no way! However, I do love hiking in the mountains. When went to see the movie set, we walked some trails in the Rockies – terrified in case we saw a bear or a cougar!

LAG: Have you seen the movie, 12 Men of Christmas, based on your novel? How do you think it transferred to the television medium?
PA: I’ve seen it many times. When it was optioned, a writer friend said it was very filmable because there are lots of action and conflict and a strong sense of place. The men are a dream for a movie too, of course, although they are more obviously hunky and handsome in the movie than in my book. No complaints there! However, there are big differences, not least being my book is set in Britain rather than the USA. I also think that the screenwriter made more of the comedy aspects, whereas in Dating Mr. December the romantic relationship drives the story and you learn a lot more about the character’s motivations – particularly Will’s back story. And my book is much, much sexier than the film!

LAG: What other novels do you have coming out in the U.S.? You write a great romance novel!
PA: Thank you! I’ve been genuinely delighted with the response to the book and the warm welcome I’ve got from the US romance community – you’re very passionate about the genre here. Sourcebooks are publishing another three of my novels. The next one is Wish You Were Here, released in summer 2011.

DATING MR. DECEMBER BY PHILLIPA ASHLEY – IN STORES NOVEMBER 2010
Praise for Phillipa Ashley:
"Ashley’s writing is deft, sexy, and full of humor."
—Trashionista.com

"Lovely books filled with warm and likeable characters. Great fun!"
—internationally bestselling author Jill Mansell

"Sharp, sexy, and exuberant."
—SingleTitles.com

She doesn’t need rescuing, she only needs a change of scenery...

After a disastrous discovery loses Emma Tremayne both her boyfriend and her high-profile PR job in London, she moves to the Lake District to recover her confidence and live a simpler life. She loves her new job with the tourist board, and she’s settling into small town life just fine—until she ends up responsible for a fundraising effort that calls for twelve naked mountain rescuers...
Buy it here: Amazon Barnes & Noble Borders

ABOUT THE AUHOR

Phillipa Ashley studied English Language and Literature at Oxford before becoming a

freelance copywriter and journalist. Dating Mr. December (called Decent Exposure in the UK) was the basis of last year’s Lifetime TV Movie “The 12 Men of Christmas.” A frequent guest on BBC national, local and independent radio on all matters romantic, she lives with her husband and daughter in Staffordshire, UK. For more information, please visit http://phillipa-ashley.com/, follower her on Twitter or find her on Facebook!

Giveaway Details
Danielle of Sourcebooks has been kind enough to offer two copies of Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley for this giveaway.

If you would like to win a copy of Dating Mr. December, please leave a comment about what intrigues you about the novel or this interview.

As part of your comment, you must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner.

I will be using random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to US and Canadian residents (Sorry!).

No P.O. Boxes.

The deadline for entry is midnight, Friday December 10th.

Good luck!

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay is a short riveting novel about a young teenage girl and her heartbreaking decision on whether to stay and live or to go to the great beyond after she is involved in a tragic car accident.

Mia is seventeen and a passionate cello player. She has a quirky family with a former punk rock band father that is now a teacher and a strong mother who isn’t afraid to tell people what she thinks. She also has a cute, beloved, younger brother named Teddy. After a snow day is called, the family decides to visit friends and family. Along the way, they are hit by a truck driver. Mia awakes to an out of body experience and sees the tragic outcome of the accident and her own fight for survival.

The novel flashes back and forth between Mia’s struggle for life and the story of her life. She has a great love, her boyfriend Adam, who is a college student in a rock band. Mia’s classical music has won her a scholarship to Juilliard and she is faced with the decision to stay in the state of Washington to be with Adam and her family, or to pursue her dream and move to New York City. This decision causes her much teenage angst, but it is nothing compared to the decision she now faces on whether to live or not.

Although this novel starts out with a bang with tragedy, I found myself riveted and unable to put it down. The story was great, and the characters were vivid and original. I found myself wanting to meet Mia and hang out with her family. Mia was a very relatable teen girl who happened to be in extraordinary circumstances.

If I Stay was chosen for the December pick for my FLICKs Book and Movie Club. It was a great pick and will hopefully lead to some great discussion next week!

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library