Casey Dawes's Blog, page 22
August 21, 2013
Book Tour: Kissing My Old Life Au Revoir
Kissing My Old Life Au Revoir
By: Eliza Watson
Blurb
Event planner Samantha Hunter is prepared for a few challenges when escorting a group of good ole boy beer distributors to Paris, the city of haute cuisine and fine wines. However, she doesn’t foresee being passed up for a promotion because she is too professional and doesn’t knock back beers with her clients. Her focus soon switches from landing the well-deserved promotion to finding her free-spirited sister, who lives in Paris and has disappeared, leaving behind family secrets to be uncovered. A sexy puppeteer helps Samantha search for clues to her sister’s whereabouts and teaches her to embrace her inner child. And a funeral-crashing psychic demonstrates the importance of living life to the fullest. It takes Samantha’s life spiraling out of control for her to finally get a life.
Link to Follow the Tour:
The more you comment, the more you have a chance to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card!
http://tastybooktours.blogspot.com/2013/05/now-booking-tasty-review-tour-for_21.html
Buy Links
Amazon
| B & N | Smashwords | Kobo
My Thoughts
I enjoyed Kissing My Old Life Au Revoir, although it was a bit of a slow start for me. The quirky characters engaged me, and yet their real-life problems drew me further and further into the story.
There were enough questions and suspense to keep me anticipating the next chapter, and, at the end, I was racing through the book to find out what happens.
I happen to love Paris, and the author’s descriptions brought me the atmosphere and memories that a good book can do. Eliza Watson did a good job evoking the lifestyle that contrasted with the heroine’s current corporately driven non-life.
I recommend this book as a great summer read!
Author Info
Eliza’s first attempt at creative writing was in fourth grade. She and her friends were huge Charlie’s Angels fans and she would sit in her bedroom at night writing scripts for them to act out at recess the following day. She was Kelly Garrett. The journey from fourth grade script writer to published author wasn’t an easy one, but it was always an adventure and the final destination was well worth it.
When she’s not traveling for her job as an event planner, or tracing her ancestry roots through Ireland, she’s at home in Wisconsin working on her next novel, bouncing ideas off her husband Mark, and her cats Quigley and Frankie.
Author Links
Website: www.elizawatson.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ElizaWatson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizaWatsonAuthor
August 6, 2013
Birthday Celebrations
A year ago tonight I had my first release party. That’s right, my book California Sunset is one year old today.
Tomorrow is my birthday. I am somewhat older.
The river is still here, but it’s quieter on my porch. Last year many people came to celebrate. What a joy! I am filled with gratitude a year later.
The wonderful support of the man I love must come first. To be accepted as you truly are is a gift from God too special to ignore. While I’m at it I should thank God/dess, too. You have created me and given me the talent of words. Thank you.
My teachers. You weren’t always kind, but you always taught me the lessons I needed to learn. I’m still learning them.
My friends, where would I be without you? From the most intimate friends of my heart to the casual acquaintance who said the right words at the right time. Thank you for loving me.
My family, who loves me as well. You are scattered. I don’t get to see you as often as I want to do. Know you are all in my heart and thoughts daily.
For my readers. Bless you, bless you, for giving a chunk of your lives to read about my heroes and heroines. Thank you for giving this humble writer the pleasure of your company.
For everyone else who has believed in me, told me what I’ve done wrong and right, fed me, housed me, and given me a job when I needed one. My publishers for being willing to take a chance on a less-than-mainstream style that seems to be working!
I am blessed.
Onward to another year of stories!
July 30, 2013
Book Tour: Outside the Lines
by
Kimberly Kincaid
Blurb
As an ivy-league ER doctor who eats double shifts for breakfast (and lunch…and dinner), Blake Fisher has little appetite for anything other than work. Being on the staff at Brenstville Hospital means taking care of people, a need Blake understands all too well from losing his brother to cystic fibrosis eight years ago. When he’s asked to coordinate a carnival fundraiser for the cause, he jumps at the chance to help others with the disease…until it lands him side by side with the one woman he never thought he’d see again: his ex-fiancée.
Streetwise and rough around the edges, Jules Shaw is no stranger to earning a living through hard work. But when her job as the restaurant manager of Mac’s Diner puts her shoulder to really broad shoulder with Blake Fisher, she nearly balks. She’d rather dodge and deflect than admit the real reason she broke things off, but the catering contract for the carnival means big business for Mac’s, and feeding people is Jules’s lifeblood.
As Blake and Jules join reluctant forces, they quickly rediscover the spark between them. But the possibility of a future together hinges on coming clean about the past, with potentially devastating consequences. Can Blake and Jules overcome their drastically different backgrounds and learn to love again, or will they always be outside the lines?
Link to Follow the Tour: http://tastybooktours.blogspot.com/20...
Buy Links
(Will distribute once received)
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18...
Author Info
Kimberly Kincaid writes contemporary romance that splits the difference between sexy and sweet. When she’s not sitting cross-legged in an ancient desk chair known as “The Pleather Bomber”, she can be found practicing obscene amounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to éclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book. Kimberly is a 2011 RWA Golden Heart® finalist who lives (and writes!) by the mantra that food is love. She has written two digital novellas, Love On The Line and Drawing The Line, about hot cops and sexy chefs, with a third novella, Outside The Lines, due this summer. She is also thrilled to have collaborated on a Christmas anthology with Donna Kauffman and Kate Angell, titled The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap, to kick off her Pine Mountain foodie series with Kensington this October. Kimberly’s first full-length novel, Turn Up the Heat, will follow in February 2014. She resides in northern Virginia with her wildly patient husband and their three daughters.
Visit her any time at www.kimberlykincaid.com or come check her out on Facebook, and Twitter.
Author Links
www.kimberlykincaid.com
www.facebook.com/kimberly.kincaid1
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938229.Kimberly_Kincaid
July 25, 2013
Guest Post: The Inspiration Behind Becoming a Writer
I’d like to welcome Krista Kedrick, author of Lacy (The Doves of Primrose),
as she talks about inspiration and reminds us not to die with our song unsung.
* * *
Krista Kedrick
Once upon a time there was a little girl with a wild imagination. She loved to crack jokes and make up crazy stories. She did this nearly every day. With whom did she share these stories?
Her father.
An average and yet extraordinary and talented man.
He would smile and laugh and join in from time to time with details and variations of his own. He answered every question with patience and specifics that his little girl asked no matter how many back to back to back she would pepper him with.
And so the little girl’s imagination grew and her stories became a part of their relationship. The years passed and she continued to weave her worlds often writing them down, but rarely did she ever share them with anyone but her father.
Theirs was a close bond continuing into adulthood. She set forth from home, married and returned to live nearby.
Father and daughter worked and continued to laugh as they built their own tails of sarcastic heroes and quick witted heroines together. Life was shared, transformed and intertwined.
But all this joy was not to last, the hard-working, regular dad began to grow weak and change. A devastating diagnosis broke a family. One year later the loving daughter accepted the journey her father must traverse never realizing his own dream. Life had hindered what he dreamed to become.
This impacted the path his daughter elected. Resolute to realize her dreams and have no regrets, she set out to become a successful published author. Had she known the winding road would lead to hills, obstructions and detours she still would have taken it.
Six years have passed and she is still trudging the road today a little farther than when she began.
My father was the reason I chose to publish my books. He was a beautiful and very talented singer but never chased his dream. He passed away with only his community and family knowing how fantastic he was. I didn’t want his story to be mine, so to honor him and myself I am chasing my dream and doing whatever it takes to make it happen.
Lacy (The Doves of Primrose)
Blurb
Lacy Weston… or is it Campbell? Hell her husband took off so fast he may as well take his name with him. She is trying to run the historic family bed and breakfast out in the middle of the prairie while coping with her husband’s desertion, trying to keep up with her two best friends and oh yeah, the movie production that has landed in the middle of The Dove House and taken over, bringing former rodeo champion, famous actor and Lacy’s old flame with it.
The last thing Lacy needs…
Kyle McClintock is back in Primrose to shoot his latest western blockbuster and to see if the passion he and Lacy Weston had so many years ago could be reclaimed. Yes, he had ulterior motives when requesting his old hometown for the set, but he may get more than he bargained for. Strange happenings, hot tempers and Indian summer nights may prove too much for this cowboy.
Nobody ever said it was easy loving a Weston.
Get Lacy Now at Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My (Humble) Opinion
It’s been many years since I’ve been in Nebraska, but the descriptions Krista wrote for Lacy were breathtakingly wonderful without interfering with the story. The characters were delightful and well-drawn. Within a short while I was engaged in this story in a way I haven’t been in a long time. I’ll definitely be looking for the next two books!
Author Info
Hi y’all! I’m Krista Kedrick and I’m a country loving writer. I write stories with the country way of life in mind. Yes, they have cowboys and cowgirls, ranches, tractors, dogs, children and your occasional bar room brawl, but in the end they are down home people who do the right thing and find a love more powerful and promising than your everyday story. Because that’s how we are. Everything is stronger, more passionate and long-lasting.I write from my home state of Nebraska while living my dream life (well, almost). I have an amazing husband, two of the cutest daughters on the prairie and a Basset Hound who teaches me the meaning of the word “patience”.
Kick back and enjoy my books about the country life– but keep your boots off my coffee table.
Author Links
Get Lacy Now at Amazon | Barnes & Noble
July 19, 2013
Christmas Wish in July
If you’ve read any of my stories about love, you’ll know that I believe in the power of love to heal. I’m not naive enough to believe that individual or world conflict will stop, but I’m hopeful enough to pray for human beings to allow love’s energy to help them open their hearts to other humans, especially those with whom they disagree.
It’s not always possible. There are villains in my books, and people who are so self-centered they can’t open up to any other point of view. Sometimes, as in the case of Chasing the Tumbleweed, there is no other answer other than “do what you have to do in order to survive.”
I like to write books with hope and happy endings. The Christmas story I have coming out from Books to Go Now this year, is a book like that. Clara Misowski has a new business connecting food and drink artisans with potential customers through exclusive road trips. She knows Sam Richards would be a perfect addition, but Sam couldn’t disagree more.
If you want to be notified when the book comes out, subscribe to my newsletter, Stories About Love, by entering your email address in the box to the right.
Books to Go Now is graciously offering two grand prizes for the blog hop.
1st Grand Prize: (1) $100 Amazon Gift Card
2nd Grand Prize: (1) $25 Amazon Gift Card
If you want to be entered in the drawing, leave a comment letting me know your Christmas wish in July AND your email address. Two winners will be chosen at random and notified no later than July 29, 2013.
My July Christmas wish? I wish the spirit of love, hope, and happy endings fill your heart to overflowing.
I will also be giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky commenter on my blog, but remember, you MUST have a Christmas wish and an email address to win!
All three books of my California Romance series are on sale until July 31! Start with California Sunset
for $1.99. Continue with California Wine
for $1.99. Finsh with California Homecoming
for 99 cents! Remember this is a limited time offer so act now!
The more times you enter in the blogs participating in the blog hop, the more you have a chance to win. So…hop along to the following!
July 16, 2013
More Hopping Around for Contemporary Romance, California Homecoming
The winners for the Goddess Fish Blog Hops are Andra and Rita. Congratulations!
But I’m still hopping and I’d love for you to stop to say “hi” and leave your thoughts.
Remember many Crimson Romance titles are $1.99 on Amazon in July! This includes California Sunset and California Wine!
Blog Tour Calendar
July 16 & 17: Just Contemporary Romance Guest Post & Giveaway ($5 Amazon Gift Card)
Why ARE contemporary romance novels having a resurgence? I’d love to know your thoughts!
July 19 – 22: BTGN Blog Hop – Grand Prize $100 Amazon Gift Card
What’s your Christmas in July wish?
July 19: MK McClintock
July 10, 2013
The Blue Dolphin Romantic Suspense Review and Excerpt
Book Two of the Desert Heat Series
By: Robena Grant
Blurb
She’s determined to expose a murderer, but opening her heart to love might be the greatest danger of all.
When Debbie Williams discovers a dismembered body in the dumpster behind her health spa, she’s determined to find out what happened. As a single parent, she must be sure the town she loves is safe for her daughter. Debbie won’t be deterred by anyone—not even the ruggedly handsome agent on the case who doesn’t appreciate her amateur sleuthing.
After his partner’s body is uncovered, DEA agent Jack Davis vows revenge. But three words shouted over the phone before his partner died—azul, delfin, Almagro—are Jack’s only clues. Even worse, a sexy blonde spa owner refuses to stay out of his investigation, and the chemistry between them is difficult to ignore. As danger strikes ever closer, Jack and Debbie must figure out what blue dolphins and a small California desert town have to do with a dangerous drug cartel…all while protecting their hearts from an attraction neither can resist.
Buy Now!
Kindle
| Print Copy from Amazon
| The Wild Rose Press
My Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed the suspense in the book. It’s a light summer read, perfect for escape. I had a difficult time connecting with the characters. Part of the problem was I had a difficult time differentiating them and they both would go off into long paragraphs of thought at strange times–like in the middle of a conversation or a particularly tense action moment.
Descriptions of the action were good. Fight scenes are difficult to write and Grant did a credible job. You can also see her medical knowledge shine through, although the scene where Jack is injured went on too long, I thought.
This is the second book in the series and I would recommend reading the first book, Desert Exposure
, first. The Blue Dolphin makes quite a few references to things that I (assume) happened in that book and it was a bit confusing at times.
For light summer escape reading, The Blue Dolphin is a fine read.
Excerpt
What did he want?
She gestured toward the bed and recalled how he’d stared at her at the meeting.
Perspiration began to bead on her brow and upper lip. She moved closer to the doorway.
“Go ahead and, ah, lie down. You don’t have to remove clothing if you don’t want to…um, just your boots. Maybe take off your jacket, too. Um, I’ll leave you now,” she said, unable to stop the rush of words. “If you get cold there are blankets folded at the end of the bed. I turn on the treatment switches at the front desk. If you need anything, there’s a buzzer.”
“You don’t stay in here with me?”
“Nope.” Thank goodness. The very last thing she needed would be to sit beside his gorgeous body while the bed undulated. She pointed to a buzzer. “Press that if you get anxious. Remember it’s your private time to relax and to let the vibrations soothe you.”
“Anxious?” He sat on the side of the bed and stared at her, his dark eyes narrowing again.
“Well, some people feel claustrophobic. Most don’t, as a rule. But just in case.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, and turn off your cell phone so you don’t have any disturbances.” She closed the door behind her, pulled in several deep breaths, and scurried back to the desk. The man had her all on edge and not in a good way. Actually, it was a good way, but one she didn’t want to explore with him. He was all wrong. So big and dark, and she’d bet he had chest hair. In her limited adult love life, she’d never been with a guy who had chest hair. She’d often wondered what it felt like and—
“Oh, hell,” she said. “Snap out of it.”
Buy Now!
Kindle | Print Copy from Amazon | The Wild Rose Press
Author Info
Robena Grant writes contemporary romance about ordinary women who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Travel and discovering new places brings her great pleasure, and she often includes travel locations in her stories. She is Australian by birth, and now lives in Southern California. Robena may be contacted at: www.robenagrant.com where she blogs weekly, or follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Click here to follow the blog tour!
July 7, 2013
Still Hopping Around for Contemporary Romance, California Homecoming
I’m excited this week because this weeks blog stops are review stops! I’m hoping that the positive review trend will continue!
So once again I’m pulling out the stops my third Crimson Romance book, California Homecoming! I’ll be hopping all over the blogosphere, sometimes with prizes, but always 
with fun information about contemporary romance and California Homecoming
.
For the stops marked with an asterisk (*), I’ll be offering the following:
Grand Prize: A bottle of Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noir (a wine served in California Homecoming)(US ONLY in states where wine can be shipped) OR a $25 Amazon gift certificate (winner’s choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during the Virtual Book Tour AND the Virtual Review Tour
Donation of $20.00 to Fisher House in honor or memory of a service person of the winner’s choice.
For each tour stop $5 will be donated to Fisher House in honor or memory of a service person of the host’s choice.
Don’t forget to enter the Crimson Romance contest to Win a Year of Romance on a Kindle Fire! The contest runs from June 15 to July 15!
Andra was the winner of the last Goddess Fish sponsored blog tour!
Blog Tour Calendar
STOP BY & COMMENT ON THESE BLOGS TO WIN!
* July 8: Rose Wynters Book Review
July 8: Leanne Tyler Character Interview
* July 9: The Boyfriend Bookmark Book Review
* July 10: Storm Goddess Book Review
* July 11: Jacqueline’s Reads Book Review
* July 11: Renee Luke Book Review
* July 12: Flirting with Romance Book Review
July 16 & 17: Just Contemporary Romance Guest Post & Giveaway ($5 Amazon Gift Card)
July 19 – 22: BTGN Blog Hop – Grand Prize $100 Amazon Gift Card
July 2, 2013
Two Recommended Contemporary Romances from Indie Publishers
Happy INDIEpendence Day!
I’d like to highlight two books I’ve found recently by doing Tasty Book Tours.
The first is A Hea
ling Love by Tara Chevrestt. It’s an unusual book that moved me in ways I hadn’t anticipated.
Kimberly Rogers is all woman. The problem is that after a horrible injury in the war, she doesn’t feel like a person, much less a woman. Resistant to all offers of help, she has to hit rock bottom before she can make any changes.
The characters were engaging and the situation rang true. Portrayals of Kimberly’s injuries and the consequences of serving were vivid and moving. The happy ending didn’t come easily and is all the sweeter when it happens.
I felt profoundly satisfied at the end of this read and highly recommend it. If you’d like to read more about this book, click here.
To purchase A Healing Love, click here
.
The second is Lacy, the first in the Doves of Primrose series by Krista Kedrick. This book was an engaging read that had me flipping pages as quickly as I could read at the end.
Lacy is a spitfire, determined to make a success of her life, even if she isn’t quite sure how to accomplish it, given her sordid family history. A choice of her bed and breakfast for a movie location would give her the break she needed, if the movie crew didn’t include Kyle, the man who broke her heart years before.
There are lines of breathtaking beauty in the description of this small Nebraska town and the characters are fully drawn. I’ll definitely be back for more of this series.
Check back on July 25, when I’ll be hosting Krista Kedrick on her upcoming blog tour.
To purchase Lacy, click here
.
To continue on the blog hop, follow this link!
June 28, 2013
Last Day to Enter for Contemporary Romance, California Homecoming Blog Contest!
This week I’ve been hopping all over the blogosphere, sometimes with prizes, but always with fun information about contemporary romance and California Homecoming. To see a full list of all the spots so you can enter at all the blogs offering a a prize, click here.
For the stops marked with an asterisk (*), I’ll be offering the following:
Grand Prize: A bottle of Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noir (a wine served in California Homecoming)(US ONLY in states where wine can be shipped) OR a $25 Amazon gift certificate (winner’s choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during the Virtual Book Tour AND the Virtual Review Tour
Donation of $20.00 to Fisher House in honor or memory of a service person of the winner’s choice.
For each tour stop $5 will be donated to Fisher House in honor or memory of a service person of the host’s choice.
Don’t forget to enter the Crimson Romance contest to Win a Year of Romance on a Kindle Fire! The contest runs from June 15 to July 15!
Blog Tour 6/28
STOP BY & COMMENT ON THIS BLOG TO WIN!
* June 28: J.M. Stewart Blog Interview Questions, Excerpt
Next week on July 2 there’s another chance to win! Then on July 8, I’ll pick up with a second week of prizes and reviews of California Homecoming.
