Winner of A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White

Congrats to Suko from the wonderful blog,  Suko's Notebook.  She is the lucky winner of A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White.  I really enjoyed this novel, to read my review, click on this link.

Thank-you to all who entered the giveaway, TLC Book Tours and author Roseanna M. White for allowing me to host this giveaway.

A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White (TLC Book Tour) Review and GIVEAWAY!

It is always wonderful to find a new author that you greatly enjoy, and even better when you discover it is the start of a new series! A Name Unknown is set in England just before the start of WWI. Peter Holstein has a German last name, a German mother and Grandparents, and is also very close to the King of England. Is he a traitor or is he loyal to England?

Rosemary Gresham has been orphaned since she was a youth and has managed to survive by becoming one of the best thieves in England. She has helped to put together other orphans to become a family of thieves. She has just got an assignment of a lifetime, to determine whether Peter Holstein is loyal to England or not and for which she will be paid a princely one thousand pounds. Disguising herself as a librarian to help straighten out the disastrous Holstein family library, Rosemary finds herself drawn into Peter’s world. Will Rosemary be able to put her feelings aside to discover the truth? Who is out there trying to cause harm to Peter?

I loved this book. Rosemary and Peter were fantastic characters. I really loved going through Peter’s writing process. I loved that he had a stutter and was socially awkward, and that this could lead to feelings in the village that he was a traitor. I loved that Rosemary was his complete opposite, a tough cookie that isn’t afraid to say what she feels. I also love that Peter had a profoundly deep faith that he was able to share with Rosemary as well as with the King. Faith was woven throughout the story seamlessly. It was a wonderfully written Christian Historical Fiction novel.

It was an interesting period of historical fiction for me. I had never thought about Germans and their descendants living in England having to prove their loyalty. I had also never heard about authors being asked to include national pride in their books – I really enjoyed the afterward explaining this.

My favorite quotes:

“Rosemary Gresham may have been a thief, but she was a thief who preferred to work in broad daylight.” – A great first line!

“Fiction is a way to express mankind’s deepest heart. His fears. His hopes. His failings. His successes. Fiction is truth . . . in a pretty wrapping.”

“Because just like our logic tells us these rocks fall and gather and join the other rocks below, so our faith tells us our prayers whisper in God’s ears and gather and join the prayers of the other faithful.”

“It seems like yesterday. And a century ago.”

“And the best sort of villain is smart and subtle and so very tricky that you don’t even know he’s the villain, because he thinks himself the hero in his own story.”

“Don’t wait around for life to happen to you, Peter. Give it a good chase.”

Overall, A Name Unknown was an intriguing Christian Historical Fiction novel that had a great arc for both of the main characters and also included intrigue and great secondary characters. This is the first book in the Shadows Over England series and I can’t wait to read the next one!

What book have you read about an author at work? Did it make you want to become an author or run the other way?

Book Source: I received a review copy as a part of the TLC Book Tour. Thank-you!  For more stops on this excellent tour check out this link.

Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a copy of A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White. If you would like to win this book, please leave a comment on what interests you about this book.

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 (or a Monte Carlo simulation in excel) to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to addresses in the United States and Canada.

The deadline for entry is midnight on Friday August 11th!

Please make sure to check the week of August 14th to see if you are a winner. I send emails to the winner, but lately I've been put in their "junk mail" folder instead of their inbox.

Good luck!

Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham

“Mommy, is that man going to take his shirt off again? He’s so handsome.” – Penelope, six years old.

I’ve been watching Poldark from last fall as I always seem to be slightly behind on my TV viewing. I’m also trying to read the corresponding books to get me ready for Season 3 this fall. I typically watch it while folding clothes. My six-year old daughter Penelope now likes to come in and see what I’m watching as she finds Poldark very handsome. Although I’m watching Masterpiece Theatre, Penelope makes me feel like I’m watching a daytime soap opera. Poldark’s shirt does seem to magically disappear almost every episode, but hey, a man gets hot working in a copper mine!

Besides the excellent television adaptation, I have been enjoying the Poldark historical fiction book series by Winston Graham as well. I wish that I would have discovered this book series sooner, but I am enjoying it now! It is set right after the American Revolutionary War. Ross Poldark was fighting with the British and came back to America defeated only to find his fiancée now engaged to his cousin. The series covers the lives of Ross and friends and foes that intersect his life. The Poldarks are copper / tin mine owners as well, and I find the storylines about the mining very intriguing.

Jeremy Poldark is the third book of the series. It picks up right where Demelza ended. Ross is in a very dark place after the death of his only child Julia and finds himself at the wrong end of the law as he goes to trial accused of inciting a riot and making the locals salvage the contents of two ships that ran aground in the previous book. His wife Demelza uses her skills to try to help Ross out, but his enemy George Warleggan is on the other side trying to make sure Ross ends up at the end of the hangman’s noose. Will Ross make it and will the Poldark family be able to get over the personal affronts that happened in the past to get together as one united family? Will Ross be able to get his mine going and profitable?

I enjoyed the actions and all of the characters in Jeremy Poldark. Demelza is one of my favorites. I love her strength. She’s a fish out of water in Ross’s world, but she is a good person and is able to win the love of everyone. I also loved how Doctor Dwight Enys has a love story of his own after the tragedy that befelled him in the previous books. The characters have large story arcs that encompass love, tragedy, and copper mining, but they also have smaller stories that I love as well. For example when Ross’s cousin Verity has to meet her step children for the first time and the awkwardness that ensues. The TV series did an excellent job of adapting this book.

Favorite quotes:

“Her nature always preferred the straightforward settlement to the lingering suspicion.” - This passage is about Demelza, I feel the same way!

“Resentment and bitterness and old grudges were dead things that rotted the hands that grasped them.”

“She felt that if she was not careful she might become a part of the mob in the yellow dark, be caught up in it and lose her individual purpose and volition, being sucked toward the window with each wave that broke.”

“’Maybe it’s because I’m from common stock, but I want the home about me: candles burning, curtains drawn, warmth, tea, friendship, love. Those are what matter to me.’” Another great quote from Demelza.

“Human beings were blind, crazy creatures, he thought, forever walking the tightrope of the present condemned to ever changing shifts and expedients to maintain the balance of existence, not knowing even as far ahead as tomorrow what the actions of today would bring.”

Overall, Jeremy Poldark was an excellent book and the Poldark series is amazing historical fiction. I love the setting and the characters. The TV series is doing a wonderful job of adapting these novels. I have the next three books on my night stand – hopefully I’ll be reading them soon!

What novel do you enjoy that has been adapted into a TV series?

Book Source: Purchased from Amazon.com

Hex on the Beach by Gina Lamanna

Lily Locke is living the daily grind in Minneapolis when one day she meets her two eccentric Aunts after passing “a magical assessment for normal folks” test that had been left on her desk. They whisk her away to “The Isle” a magical island in the middle of Lake Superior. There Lily learns that she has inherited the duties of “The Mixologist” from her grandfather. A non-related wizard had taken over duties after her grandfather’s death, but had ended up dead. Once Lily arrives on the Isle, new mysterious deaths start to occur. Will Lily be able to fulfill her destiny? Who is responsible for the mysterious deaths?

I was intrigued by this novel as it promised a mix of Harry Potter and Stephanie Plum. I agree with both, although it was more heavily Stephanie Plum in a magical world. Several elements rang familiar such as Lily’s eccentric Grandma and a mysterious guard of the island named “Ranger X” that seemed brooding and magnetic just like Ranger in the Stephanie Plum series.

I liked this book – it was light hearted fun, just like the beginning of the Stephanie Plum series. Quirky characters, light romance, mystery, all of these helped to make the book compelling and fun. I’ve already purchased the next book in the series!

I highly recommend this book looking for a light escape read for the summer!

Favorite Quotes:

“A rising star at a hotshot marketing agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota, all Lily knows is she’s a PowerPoint guru, an Excel ninja, and a coffee-maker extraordinaire. Not to mention she’s next in line for a huge promotion.”

“Lake Superior spanned as far as I could see, and I understood why it might be called a great lake. The water sparkled and glittered under the sun, the blue so deep and dark it mesmerized me in a dangerous way.” – I love this description of Lake Superior!

“My reputation is the fault of nobody except myself. And if people want to think I’m bonkers, so be it. I’d rather be underestimated than overestimated, ain’t that right?” – Lily’s Grandma Hettie.

“He left the room, the door closing on his way out, and took a piece of my smile with him.”

What novel is your favorite escape read?

Book Source: I purchased this e-book from Amazon.com for my kindle.

The Cottage at Firefly Lake by Jen Gilroy (TLC Book Tours)

Are you ever able to truly let go of the past?  As a teenager Charlotte Gibbs loved visiting the family cottage on Firefly Lake.  While her father was distant and off having affairs, Charlotte loved the simplicity of time spent at the lake with her mother and sister.  Most of all, she loved Sean Carmichael.  Friends as children, they grew into teenage lovers that imagined a world together.  Unfortunately, events took them in other directions.

Now eighteen years later, Charlotte is unexpectedly back. Now a war torn journalist, Charlotte is back with her sister and nieces to sell the family cottage after her mother’s death.  Sean is now a divorced Dad with a teenage son who still has feelings for Charlotte.  Will these two be able to resolve past differences?  And will Charlotte sell the cottage to a developer who will put the Carmichael’s out of business?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It was a perfect light read for the car on a recent family vacation.  I enjoyed that both characters had depths and issues to work through.  Sean has the responsibilities of raising a son and keeping a family business together while Charlotte has her own demons from her PTSD to work though.  I was intrigued by the storyline that you aren’t quite sure why the two of them broke up and I really wanted to know.  As the story progressed, it pealed by the layers until the full story was told.

 

The Cottage at Firefly Lake is an enjoyable romance with intriguing characters and storyline. It’s the perfect light read for your summer vacation.

Book Source:  Review Copy as part of the TLC Book Tour.  Thank-you!

 The Cottage at Firefly Lake is the first book in the Firefly Lake series. The next book, Summer on Firefly Lake, comes out on July 25, 2017.