Cynthia D'Alba's Blog, page 25

Blog Prizes? Weigh in With Your Opinions

I'm working on my 2012 Texas Two Step Blog Tour. It's hard to believe it'll be here before I know it. My "plan" is get these done and sent to my hosts as by January. Possible? Maybe. Hope so.

But as I'm working on blog prizes…yes, I know that my sparkling personality isn't enough! But I'm wondering WHAT people really like to win on blogs.

Texas Two Step (official cover coming soon – fingers crossed) is my debut so I have no back list of books to give out. I have some wonderful author-friends who have volunteered to "sponsor" my tour and give me their books to give away. However, let's talk about other prizes you might suggest…Remember I'm not talking about one MAJOR BIG prize but some small individual prizes for each blog post.

So tell me some of the things you have won on a blog besides books or gift cards. I'd love to have some new ideas.

so HELP!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

Winthrop Rockefeller Institute ROCKS!

Yesterday Staci Culver and I took a field trip to the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute (i.e. Conference Center) on Petit Jean Mountain, the location we feel is the best for our May Writers' Retreat. To say that we were knocked out by the place would be a major understatement. I was totally IN LOVE. I would move there in a heartbeat. My biggest concern about the writing retreat is that security will have to physically toss me off the property at the end of our stay because I'll not want to leave on my own. I'm serious! My writing muse was beating around my skull begging me to pull out some paper and a pen and write!

Staci and I took some pictures to share. Also I've linked to the website (above). Enjoy these pictures! They will only give you a very small taste of the wonder that is WinRock.

We will be staying in the President's Lodge.

Entrance to President's Lodge

President's Lodge Great Room

President's Lodge Great Lodge View

President's Lodge Fireplace (with mini fire marshal)

If the weather is cold enough, we can have a fire here!

President's Lodge Patio

Now the next picture is blurry and awful, but it's an outdoor fireplace. If the weather allows, we can have a fire out there!

Outdoor Fireplace

Waterfall outside the President's Lodge

Lake

There is a lake with lakeside tables. This ISN'T adjacent to the President's Lodge but you can easily drive over there if you need to get away.

View from The Studio

The Studio is not up for rent as it's used for "special guests" but it's awesome inside.

I thought Staci was going to move in and never leave when she saw the inside!

I hope you enjoyed these! I wish the retreat were next month and not next year!

Thanks for Kristan Ramsey at WinRock with the great tour yesterday and the lunch!

Got questions for me or Staci? Ask away

A Werewolf in the North Woods ARC Winner

Congratulations Gail Hart.
Random.org chose you as the ARC winner. 

Please contact me at Cynthiadalba  at  gmail  dot come with your mailing address

A Werewolf in the North Woods – by Vicki Lewis Thompson

I got this Advanced Reader Copy from the author with no expectation of review. In fact, she'll probably be surprised when she sees this!

A Werewolf in the North Woods is the second book in the "Wild About You Series." The first, A Werewolf in Manhattan, was reviewed here. If you haven't read that book, go read the review. You don't have to read A Werewolf in Manhattan to enjoy A Werewolf in the North Woods. The books are linked in that the heroes of these books are brothers, but the books stand alone.

"Official" Book Blurb from the back of the ARC: When she used to walk around her grandfather's property outside Portland, Abby Winshell loved the idea that Bigfoot was somewhere out there too. Now her grandfather swears he's seen two creatures that fit the legendary description–and he has evidence. Sort of. Grandpa Earl may be a bit dotty, but when his neighbors invite a renowned anthropologist to disprove his theory, Abby decides to send the man packing…until she sees how hot he is. 

Anthropology professor Roark Wallace can't risk news being made of a Bigfoot sighting in the north woods–not with a local pack of werewolves to protect. Disproving the evidence should be easy, but ignoring Abby is not. Her fiery red hair makes him want to sit up and big, and this obvious attraction is making the pack suspicious…

The entire Winchell family has relocated from the Portland area to Arizona. Her Grandpa Earl's the last of the family left in Oregon. He suffers from arthritis and he is getting older. The family wants him to retire from running his general store and more to Arizona to be with them. He, and his father before him, spent their entire lives looking for Bigfoot. Now Earl has finally seen the elusive creature, except the picture is blurry, no one believes him, and the neighbors (who want to buy Earl's property) have brought in a well-respected professor to refute Earl's claims. Except the professor is a werewolf and Bigfoot does actually exists and the professor has actually been brought to Oregon to find the Bigfoot couple and relocate them.

Abby has been sent by the family to get Grandpa to move. But he just won't leave until he can prove Bigfoot is real. She loved her grandfather and would anything to help him, including meeting the NYC professor to convince him to lay off the public talks refuting Earl's claims. Except the professor isn't want she expected. He's hot, sexy, and OMG…A Werewolf! She blackmails Roark into taking her with him into the north woods as he looks for the Bigfoot couple.

This is a fun book with witty dialog and some wonderful sexy scenes. But I have to reprint my favorite lines from the book:

"Shut up, Spot."

"Just try not to be a complete butthead, Rover."

You'll have to read the book to find those lines. If you don't laugh, or at least smile, you have no sense of humor!

Some lucky commenter will win my Advanced Reader Copy of A Werewolf in the North Woods. I have only ONE copy. Leave a message for a chance to win!

Over on my other blog, EverybodyNeedsALittleRomance, I'm giving away two books. Vicki Dreiling's How to Marry a Duke and How to Seduce a Scoundrel. Go here and leave a comment there for a chance to win one of these books.

To pre-order A Werewolf in the North Woods, click on one of the links below.

Borders | B & N | Indiebound | Powell's | Amazon

To find Vicki Lewis Thompson on the net, here is a link to her website.

I remembered that I did an interview with Vicki with A Werewolf in Manhattan came out. Thought I'd post a link. Vicki was hysterical!

The Love of the Game by Jeanette Murray – A Review

Available Aug. 29, 2011

I got this Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

From Back of Book:

Chris St. James is ready for normal. After walking away from her pro tennis career and a toxic relationship with a star hockey player, she's starting a new life as a teacher and tennis coach in a small town. Now all she needs is an average guy to share it with.

Brett Wallace is no average guy. Forced to retire from the NFL after an injury—and suddenly single after being dumped by his status-conscious wife—he's returned to his hometown to coach the varsity football team. Wary of women interested only in his celebrity, Brett finds Chris's indifference to his former career refreshing.

The last thing Chris needs is to get involved with another pro athlete, but she can't deny the sparks that fly between them. So she agrees to a purely physical, no-strings attached affair. But the rules of the game change when she falls for him…

I really enjoyed this debut book by Janette Murray. When I was in junior high and high school, we had some very attractive coaches, so it was no stretch on my part to picture Brett Wallace. Now I confess we didn't have a women's tennis team (that I was aware of) but we did have a men's tennis team but I only knew about that because I dated one of the tennis team. There were no uniforms, no stands for fans to watch the matches, etc so these elements of this story didn't seem that urgent to me, but in today's high school world, it's probably realistic.

I liked the heroine, Chris St. James even though she enters the story with a huge chip on her shoulder. It was fun to watch the hero not only knock that chip off and watch as he wormed his way into her life. Now her parents? The WORST set of parents ever.

Chris's ex-boyfriend, Dax, displayed many of the negative personality traits too commonly seen in professional sports stars. I had no trouble with his characterization, with the exception of all his money. Not being familiar with professional hockey, I'll assume they are paid as well as portrayed here but flying someone across the country for dinner is really expensive! But as a gal who loves escapism, I love the idea.

I adored Brett's family…all of them- his mother, brothers and sisters-in-law. The Wallace family was the complete antithesis to Chris's family.

The book isn't without its occasional hard-to-believe scenes, such as the football coach sending his players over to watch/support the women's tennis team. Most of the football coaches I am familiar with are usually too involved in their own world and the stress to win to allow their players time away from practice. However, within the context of this story, it worked just fine.

My verdict: This is a wonderfully fun contemporary read that I can comfortably recommend.

p.s. LOVE the cover. Very yummy, don't you think?

Saint's Gate by Carla Neggers – A Review

I got this book from Ms. Neggers's publicist in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description from Book Cover:  When Emma Sharpe is summoned to a convent on the Maine coast, it's partly for her art crimes work with the FBI, partly because of her past with the religious order. At issue is a mysterious painting depicting scenes of Irish lore and Viking legends, and her family's connection to the work. But when the nun who contacted her is murdered, it seems legend is becoming deadly reality.

Colin Donovan is one the FBI's most valuable assets–a deep-cover agent who prefers to go it alone. He's back home in Maine after wrapping up his latest mission, but his friend Father Bracken presents him with an intrigue of murder, international art heists and a convent's long-held secrets that is too tempting to resist. As the danger spirals ever closer, Colin is certain on only one thing–the very intriguing Emma Sharpe is at the center of it all.

A ruthless killer has Emma and Colin the crosshairs, plunging them into a race against time and drawing them deeper into a twisted legacy of betrayal and deceit.

This is the first Carla Neggers book I've read, so whether this book is typical of her storytelling, I don't know. However, as I read, I felt like I'd walked into the middle of a movie and missed the first half. There are many references to a previous case (where Emma's information was vital to Colin's success although the two had never met until this book) that I tried to look up the first book. However, unless I've misinterpreted what I read from other book descriptions, there is no book with these characters prior to Saint's Gate. That left me feeling as though I didn't have the whole story on the characters.

What I Liked: The Maine coast setting was luscious. Since I've been in the area where some of this book takes place (although the names are changed in the book), I had no trouble picturing the setting in my mind. Ms. Neggers writing is strong and descriptive. She has plotted in an interesting mystery in which I didn't figure out the antagonist until near the end, something that is very rare for me. Her heroine, Emma Sharpe, is strong, smart, and emotionally deep. I liked her a great deal and I felt like there was more to her than we see in this book. Her brother, a secondary character, also intrigued me and I would have liked to have spent more time with him. The mystery begins as a murder and art theft, but become more as other art objects are found to have been stolen worldwide, although in most cases the owners never reported the crimes. I am a sucker for a good art theft mystery.I would also like to know more about Emma's boss, Matt Yankowski.

What I Didn't Like as Much: I didn't find myself attracted to the hero, Colin Donovan as much as I would have liked. I didn't feel there was the sexual chemistry between him and Emma to support the eventual sex scene. Maybe it's because I read more romance than mystery/suspense, I didn't feel much emotional depth between Emma and Colin. I was told there was attraction but not much was shown in the description. At times the dialog didn't seem to fit the scene. This happened more than once causing me to flip back a few pages to see if I'd missed something that would have made a character say that. I hadn't missed anything. It just seemed like random comments out the blue, but instrumental to solving the crime or moving the story along. When the villain was reveled, I admit I was surprised because the inciting incident had happened like forty years prior and nowhere in the story did I get that this person's age was near forty. I had pictured him in his late twenties, maybe early thirties but that's it. I've looked for a detailed description of the antagonist to see how I missed his age, but either I've overlooked it, or it was never there to begin with.

Verdict: I think the story had more potential than was developed. I didn't buy the sexual attraction between the hero and heroine and the "I love you" at the end rang false. However, this is the start of a new series for this author, so it is possible the characters will continue to develop with each book. Neggers fans will enjoy this book. I suspect that new Neggers readers may have mixed opinions.

I'm giving my ARC to one lucky reviewer. Leave a comment here on this review. I'll pull a winner on Friday, August 19. Thanks

Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl – A Review

Available Aug. 30, 2011

I got this book as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description

Series: Hqn | Publication Date: August 30, 2011
Too much of a good thing…With her long ponytail and sparkling green eyes, Tessa Donovan looks more like the girl next door than a businesswoman—or a heartbreaker. Which may explain why Detective Luke Asher barely notices her when he arrives to investigate a break–in at her family's brewery. He's got his own problems—starting with the fact that his partner, Simone, is pregnant and everyone thinks he's the father.Tessa has her hands full, too. Her brother's playboy ways may be threatening the business, and the tension could tear her tight–knit family apart. In fact, the only thing that could unite the Donovan boys is seeing a man come after their "baby" sister. Especially a man like Luke Asher. But Tessa sees past the rumors to the man beneath. He's not who people think he is—and neither is she.

Victoria Dahl is really really good at many aspects of storytelling but she shines with her dialog and sex scenes. One minute she has me laughing with snappy repartee between her heroine and hero and then, before I can catch my breath, she has me panting with  hot, steamy sex. Since I follow her on Twitter, more than once I felt her "Twitter" personality coming through in her heroine. Ms. Dahl seems to have so much fun with her always naughty heroines and this book continues with that theme.

The Donovan siblings lost their parents in a car accident (man, authors get rid of a lot of parents this way!) when Tessa was only 14. Her older brother, Eric, at 24 became the head of the household, responsible for raising Tessa and her other brother, Jamie.  Tessa is grown woman of twenty-seven, something her older brothers can't seem to grasp, including continuing to believe Tessa is a virgin. That fallacy sets up a nice scene between Tessa and Luke, who believes her brothers when he is told Tessa is a virgin. Truly laugh out loud funny.

This is a wonderful read, and obviously book one of a trilogy starring the Donovan siblings. Personally, I can't wait for Bad Boys Do in September and Real Men Will in October.

You Know It's Hot When…

You know it's hot when you…

1. Sit in a dim house all day because even a 20 watt light bulb adds too much heat to the room.

2.  Get up at 4 a.m. to do the laundry because your a/c repair man husband says that the dryer will pull too much hot air into the hour during the day

3.  Won't walk barefoot on the back deck because the soles of your feet will blister. On the other hand, I might be ready for the "walk on a bed of hot coals" contest

4.  Have to let the dogs out and in a million times a day because once they go outside they realize it's too hot to stay so they come right back

5.  Have to move your hidden cookie stash into the house (from garage food cabinet) because the chocolate stripping is melting

6.  Just give up on the tomato plants and let them die when you can't water them enough.

7.  Eat lots and lots of salads and cold cereal for dinner because you don't want to heat up the kitchen with the stove or oven

8.  Realize you keep turning down the temperature of your shower water until your lips turn blue

9.  Laugh when your husband asks if you want to take the boat for a joy ride. Joy ride? Sweat ride would be more like it.

10. Have to wear a bra so your boobs don't touch your abdomen. (That might just be me and my big 'ems)

So how do you know it's hot at your house???