Margaret Tanner's Blog, page 8

BOOKS WE LOVE BLURBATHON - JAMIE HILL

Family Honor by Jamie HillBodies of dead women are piling up and Detective Melanie Curtis is doing everything she can to solve the 'Cheerleader Slasher' case. Surprised to discover her chief has requested help from the FBI, she's even more shocked when she meets the sexy FBI special agent sent to assist her.
SSA Nate Willis tracks serial killers for a living. The slasher case is a challenge, but nothing compared to the feisty police detective he finds leading the investigation. Their attraction is swift and mutual, but the killer is escalating and they need to solve the case before they can focus on their personal relationship. When the unthinkable happens and the investigation is turned upside down, is their chance for happiness also in jeopardy?
“Author Jamie Hill has a knack for pulling a reader deeper and deeper into her stories as they try to figure out where she is leading them.” ~ Tammy, Fallen Angel Reviews

Find this title here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00898JCXQ/
See more of Jamie's titles here: http://bookswelove.net/jamiehill.php
Visit her website here: http://www.jamiehill.biz/
Please stop back on Feb. 14 to read a blurb by BWL Valentine's Sweetie Gail Roughton!

BWL BLURBATHON - PAT DALE

  
Magic of the Chimes

What’s a gal to do? Cassie Sizemore is a thirty-four year old divorcee with a pair of teen/'tween kids and a burning need for male companionship. Her philandering husband dumped her for a teenager, leaving her with a nice house and not much else. In her job as a waitress, she's confronted daily by Howard Williams, local Romeo bachelor attorney, who's trying to convince her he can't live without her.
Cassie's backyard neighbor, Matt Riley, makes a hit with her kids and becomes her confidant. Mythical magical wind chimes play an important role as widower Matt falls for Cassie. After she learns that Howie's true interest is in a secret bet that he can get Cassie to sleep with him, her hormones are stifled big-time. What will it take for Riley to reignite her passion?
Find this title here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BANEHDM/
Find more of Pat Dale's work here: http://bookswelove.net/dale.php
and please come back on Feb. 12 to read a blurb by author Jamie Hill.

BWL BLURBATHON - JANE TOOMBS

The Outlaws by Jane Toombs
Blurb: In the New Mexico Territory--One decent man, an attractive young woman, and a teen-aged boy obsessed with a legendary bad man--all caught in the crossfire of the West’s bloodiest range war.
Do you need a cover as well? I added it, just in case. Jane

website: www.JaneToombs.com Buy link here!

Be sure to come back on the 10th Feb to read Pat Dale's blurb.

BWL BLURBATHON - SYDELL VOELLER

Dummy & Me, by Sydell Voeller

Fifteen-year-old Deanna Lambert is miserable. She can't find her niche with the popular kids at school and believes she is ugly. Then too, after her mother deserted the family to pursue an acting career in New York City, Deanna's father has grown distant and embittered. Now Deanna is saddled with most all the chores at homeâ€"and she and her dad barely communicate.
Yet Deanna's one happy escape is her volunteer work at the nearby Children's Hospital. There the activities director convinces her to get back into her ventriloquism, a creative skill Deanna's grandfather had taught her years earlier.
Deanna and her puppet, Ramblin' Roy, entertain and delight the young hospital patients, but Deanna is worried. What if the kids at her school discover what she's doing? Will they think she's just “a baby� who still plays with dolls?
Deanna takes the risk, but one problem soon leads to another. Can she ever gain true acceptance at school, especially from Jason, the guy whom she has a major crush on? And most of all, can Deanna embrace her gift of ventriloquism, and in so doing, come to terms with her mother's leaving?

Buy at:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B9ZJYDO
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/281588
All Romance eBooks/Omnilit: https://www.allromancebooks.com/product-dummyme-1052253-149.html

Learn more about Sydell's characters and her books at www.sydellvoeller.com

And do check back to learn all about Jane Toomb's books on Feb. 8

BWL BLURBATHON - HEATHER HAVEN

Persephone Cole, A Vintage Holiday Mystery SeriesbyHeather Haven It’s 1942 and Persephone ‘Percy’ Cole is bucking the odds and pounding the pavement of Manhattan as one of its first female private detectives. Joining the ranks of other gumshoes such as Sam Spade, Lew Archer, and Phillip Marlow, this five-foot eleven, full-figured gal has the same hard-boiled, take-no-prisoners attitude, but with a difference. A shamus with a wicked sense of humor, she’s the mother of an eight-year old son. Whether it be on the Great White Way, the Diamond District, or chocolate-covered corpses, Persephone Cole blazes a trail for all other lady dicks to follow. She finds her holiday cheer in solving crimes of the most deadly kind - murder . [image error]Persephone Cole and the Halloween Curse - http://tinyurl.com/agayofv Persephone Cole and the Christmas Killings Conundrum - http://tinyurl.com/arm3pxk Persephone Cole and the Mother’s Day Murders – Coming soon!Amazon Buy Page for Heather’s books: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004QL22UK Don’t forget to come back on Feb 6 for a blurb on the books of Sydell Voeller    

VBWL BLURBATHON - SHEILA CLAYDON

RELUCTANT DATE by Sheila Claydon from Books We Love Publishing available at:http://amzn.to/WNE8Vr

In a rut, and with her love life at an all time low, Claire Harris makes a New Year’s resolution to join an Internet dating agency. Her challenge is twelve dates or twelve months, whichever comes first, unless she is lucky enough to meet Mister Right along the way. On her final date, and convinced that only frogs are left in the dating pool, she is relieved that it’s nearly over…until she meets enigmatic American, Daniel Marchant. The only problem is, his brother has set him up, and Daniel makes it very clear that he’s not interested in dating anyone at all. He is looking for someone to work in his developing conservation research company though, and when he discovers that Claire has the photographic and cataloguing skills he needs, he offers her a dream job in Florida.But Dolphin Key is not as idyllic as it seems. There are too many secrets and too much heartache. And Claire has her own secrets as well. Not that she is going to share them with anyone, least of all with Daniel, because he must never know he has stolen her heart.


Wonderful story! The story had me from the start to finish, this book was an emotionally good story that had a great romance with humor entwined. I believe anyone who reads this book will enjoy it (LadyAtlantis)
Perfect warming read for a grey,cold winter day Another heart warming romance from Sheila Claydon. (Liz)
Learn more about Sheila's characters and her books at: http://sheilaclaydon.com or http://amzn.to/LJMM16And do check back to learn all about Books We Love author Heather Haven's books on February 4

BWL BLURBATHON - CHERYL WRIGHT

Running Scared by Cheryl Wright Emma Larkin is running for her life – nowhere is safe. Stalked by her husband's killers, and desperate to protect her young daughter, Emma must find what the killers are looking for before she becomes their next victim. When undercover cop, Gary Bedford, planned a relaxing break, he hadn’t counted on bumping into Emma. Now he can't resist the temptation to discover all her secrets.But should Emma trust her life and heart to Gary Bedford?Can they solve the mystery surrounding her husband’s death – and uncover his deadly secret? …. "Oh wow. Could not stop reading this. Was on pins and needles through the entire book . Wonderful story and very well written. Looking forward to more books by this fantastic writer!" ~ D. Gilman“A great fast paced light suspense romance captivating the reader in a plot of many twists and turns. You will not want to put this book down until the end when all is revealed.” ~ Claudia R.…. Buy Running Scared at:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089I0LQS Learn more about Cheryl’s characters and her books at: http://www.cheryl-wright.com
And do check back to learn all about Sheila Claydon’s books on February 1st!

BOOKS WE LOVE BLURBATHON - JULIET WALDRON

In Honor of Mozart's Birthday, January 27th, the BWL Blurbathon brings you:My Mozart by Juliet Waldron from BWLPP "…Mozart was her teacher, her mentor, her rescuer, and, finally, fatally, her lover." "Mozart, Ich liebe dich. I love you. Love you.""Come here, Nanina Nightingale. Come and give your poor old Maestro some of your `specially sugary sugar."My mouth on his, the friction produced warmth and sweetness, with a decided undertone of the expensive brandy he liked, flowing from his tongue to mine. I slid my arms across the brocade of his jacket, none too clean these days, and swayed a slender dancer's body against him.Let me assure you that my sophistication was assumed. It really doesn't matter - then, or now. I was young, foolish, and drowning in love. I was seventeen. He was thirty five. He had once been boyishly agile, doing handsprings over chairs, turning cartwheels of joy at a prima donna's kiss or a perfect performance of his own celestial music. He was never tall, and was, like most men of his age, working on a bit of a belly. Still, he kept more or less in shape by a daily regimen which included running from bailiffs, dashing out the back doors of taverns to avoid payment, and climbing in and out of the bedroom windows of adventurous (and talented) musical gentlewomen.I believed he knew everything--that he could see right through me with those bright blue eyes. He probably could. He'd been my music master--and, more--my deity, ever since I'd met him, in my ninth year.His jacket, now spotted and stained, must have been fine enough to wear in the presence of the Emperor. Bright blue, it perfectly matched his eyes. I can still feel the fabric sliding under my fingers as my arms passed over his shoulders and around his neck.I can still see him a woolly frizz of blonde hair, long, aquiline nose--a ram that had once been an angel. Sometimes, when he was loving me in some exquisitely naughty way and joyfully smiling as he did it, I could almost see horns… Buy My Mozart at: http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Books-Historical-Romance-ebook/dp/B0089F5X3C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359121244&sr=8-1&keywords=My+Mozart Juliet Waldron, Award Winning romantic HistoricalsLearn more Juliet's characters and about their life and times at: http://www.julietwaldron.com
And do check back to learn all about BWL author Cheryl Wright's marvelous books on January 29th!

BWL BLURBATHONWelcome to the Books We Love Author Blurbat...

BWL BLURBATHON
Welcome to the Books We Love Author Blurbathon.

SAVAGE POSSESSION BY MARGARET TANNER
A sweeping tale of love's triumph over tragedy and treachery in frontier Australia.A mistaken identity opens the door for Martin Mulvaney to take his revenge on the granddaughter of his mortal enemy.
An old Scottish feud, a love that should never have happened, and a series of extraordinary coincidences traps two lovers in a family vendetta that threatens to destroy their love, if not their lives.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008EL0FTI
I hope you will return to read Juliet Waldron's blurb on the 27th January

FRONTIER LIFE AUSTRALIA AND AMERICA

FRONTIER LIFE – AUSTRALIA AND AMERICA
Posted by Margaret Tanner, Australian Historical Romance Author
Life on the American and Australian frontiers have a strikingly similar history. For example, take the The American Homestead Act, and the Australian Act of Selection, which is the basis for my novel, Frontier wife, and compare them.
Australia: In the colony of Victoria the 1860 Land Act allowed free selection of crown land.  This included land already occupied by the squatters, (wealthy land owners) who had managed to circumvent the law for years and keep land that they did not legally own.
The Act allowed selectors access to the squatters’ land, and they could purchase between 40 and 320 acres of crown land, but after that, the authorities left them to fend for themselves. Not an easy task against the wealthy, often ruthless squatters who were incensed at what they thought was theft of their land.
In 1861 the Act of Selection was intended to encourage closer settlement, based on intensive agriculture. Selectors often came into conflict with squatters, who already occupied land and were prepared to fight to keep it. The bitterness ran deep for many years, often erupting into violence.
The first permanent homesteads on the Australian frontier were constructed using posts and split timber slabs. The posts were set into the ground, about three feet apart, according to the desired layout. Slabs of timber were then dropped into the slots. A sapling or similar, straight piece of timber ran across the top of the posts, which allowed them to be tied together so they could support the roof. Clay was often plugged in between the joins and splits of the cladding to stop draughts. The internal walls were sometimes plastered with clay and straw, lined with hessian/calico, white washed or simply left as split timber. Roofs were pitched using saplings straight from the bush and often clad with bark. Early settlers learnt from the aborigines that large sheets of bark could be cut and peeled off a variety of trees and used as sheets to clad the roof.

America: The original Homestead Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20th, 1862. It gave applicants freehold title to up to 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River. The law required only three steps from the applicant - file an application, improve the land, then file for a deed of title. Anyone who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government, including freed slaves, could file a claim on the provisions that they were over the age of twenty one and had lived on the land for five years.
The Homestead Act's lenient terms proved to be ill-fated for many settlers. Claimants didn’t have to own farming implements or even to have had any farming experience. The allocated tracts of land may have been adequate in humid regions, but were not large enough to support plains settlers where lack of water reduced yields.
Speculators often got control of homestead land by hiring phony claimants or buying up abandoned farms.
 Most of us visualise the frontier home as a rustic log cabin nestled in a peaceful mountain valley or on a sweeping green plain. But in reality, the "little house on the prairie" was often not much more than a shack or a hastily scratched out hole in the ground. In the treeless lands of the plains and prairies, log cabins were out of the question so   homesteaders turned to the ground beneath their feet for shelter. The sod house, or "soddy," was one of the most common dwellings in the frontier west. The long, tough grasses of the plains had tight, intricate root systems, and the earth in which they were contained could be cut into flexible, yet strong, bricks.
Ground soaked by rains or melting snow was ideal for starting sod house construction. When the earth was soft and moist, homesteaders would break the soil with an ox- or horse-drawn sod cutter, which was an instrument similar to a farming plough. Sod cutters produced long, narrow strips of sod, which could then be chopped into bricks with an axe. These two- to three-foot square, four-inch thick sod bricks were then stacked to form the walls of the sod house. Soddy roofs were constructed by creating a thin layer of interlacing twigs, thin branches, and hay, which were then covered over with another layer of sod. To save time many sod houses were built into the sides of hills or banks. Some settlers gouged a hole in a hill side, so they only had to build a front wall and roof.
As a result of their extremely thick walls, soddies were cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Soddies were also extremely cheap to build. Of course, there were drawbacks to sod-house living. As the house was built of dirt and grass, it was constantly infested with bugs, mice, snakes. The sod roofs often leaked, which turned the dirt floor into a quagmire. Wet roofs took days to dry out and the enormous weight of the wet earth often caused roof cave-ins. Even in the very best weather, sod houses were plagued with problems. When the sod roof became extremely dry, dirt and grass continually rained down on the occupants of the house.
A typical American log cabin measured about ten by twenty feet, regardless of the number of inhabitants. Settlers often built lofts across the cabin roof or lean-tos across the rear of the cabin to give the family more space. Typically, frontier cabins featured only one room, which served as kitchen, dining room, living room, workroom, and bedroom.

Homesteaders could often build a log cabin in a matter of days, using only an axe and auger. No nails were required for the task. The first step in construction was to build a stone or rock foundation, to keep the logs off the ground and prevent rot. Once the foundation was laid, settlers would cut down trees and square off the logs. These logs were then "notched" in the top and bottom of each end then stacked to form walls. The notched logs fitted snugly together at the corners of the cabin, and held the walls in place. After the logs were stacked, gaps remained in the walls. Settlers had to jam sticks and wood chips into the gaps, then they filled in the remaining gaps with cement made out of earth, sand, and water. Fireplaces were built of stone, and often had stick-and-mud chimneys. Most cabins had dirt or gravel floors, which had to be raked daily to preserve their evenness.

FRONTIER WIFE - Can a beautiful English rose tame a rugged frontier man?