Year of the Historical : Reading Challenge for 2010

I wish I had been informed of this earlier! What a fun challenge for me! I am still going to give it a shot even though January is almost over. This is great since I've been focusing a lot on nonfiction lately rather than the historical romance that I love so much.

Here are the rules as I understand them:

1. Sign up for the challenge at the original blog post (not mine).
2. Read one book per month. A grand total of 12 in the year.
3. Anything historical applies but it must be historical: young adult, romance, fiction, thrillers, mysteries, etc. Make sure it is set prior to the present day. (I like Regencies, LOL.)
4. They can be re-reads, new reads, or new-to-you-but-old reads.
5. Post a review at the end of the month for the book you read that meets the criteria for this challenge. Make sure the review is marked in some way to signify that it is for this challenge. For example, I will label mine ~Year of the Historical~ {month & book title}.
6. No nonfiction, biographies or reference books. This is a straight-up fiction challenge.

I think that covers everything. I am currently reading a Stephanie Laurens Regency and I can probably get it done before February but the review might be a bit late.

Happy reading, writing and blogging!!

~Book Review~ "The Crown of Anavrea" by Rachel Rossano

Synopsis: A slave woman helps an outlaw escape capture and travels with him to the only place he knows he'll be safe. He gives her her freedom in exchange for her assistance.

My two cents: I loved this story! It was short at only 109 e-book pages (80 paperback) and every time I was forced to walk away from it, all I wanted to do was come back and finish it. I found the hero and heroine easy to like. Neither one was by any means perfect; they were both realistic and believable. The tale is fast-paced yet takes place over the course of many weeks. Any love scenes are completely vague, making this a suitable read for young adults.

Despite the novella length of this tale, the characters are well developed. I would have liked to have had more story, more detail in regard to their struggle, both internal and external. I wanted to spend more time with them.

*Review based on e-book provided free by the author.

Title: The Crown of Anavrea

Author: Rachel Rossano

Publisher: PublishAmerica

Genre: Fiction/Romance/Fantasy

Format: Paperback, 79 pages

List price: $16.95US

Format reviewed: e-book, 109 pages (not currently avl for purchase)

Rating: 4.3 pearls

Warnings: NONE

A Celebration Book Giveaway

In four months, we went from 100 to over 200 members in our Clean Romance group on Goodreads. When we hit 100 members, we held a giveaway. Now that we've hit 200, we're doing it again. To be entered to win, all you have to do is be a member. That's it.

Already, over 15 books have been donated to the giveaway. There are many great authors on the list, authors who excel at writing beautiful romance without all the graphic sexual details. (I am donating a paperback copy of Spellbound for a USA winner and an e-book copy of Redemption for an International winner.)

So what are the deadlines? If you are an author of clean romance and would like to get in on the excellent exposure, join and make your offering by January 10. If you are a lover of good clean romance, become a member by January 10 to be a part of this drawing. The festivities begin on January 11.

I hope to see you all there! Have a lovely day and as always, happy reading, writing and blogging!!

Winner of "When the Bough Breaks"

Well, I have drawn a name from those who entered the drawing for an autographed copy of Miss Mae's young adult novel, When the Bough Breaks. The winner is....

Lori!!

Congratulations, Lori! Contact me at jaimeygrant (at) yahoo [dot] com to confirm your win. You are in for a treat!

Everyone else, here are those purchasing links again, LOL. :o)

Said the Spider to the Fly, e-book

Said the Spider to the Fly, paperback

See No Evil, My Pretty Lady, e-book

When the Bough Breaks, paperback

Thank you, everyone, for participating and I hope to see you all again.

*Winner was selected using random.org.

What I'm Supposed to be Doing Right Now

I'm supposed to draw a winner today for Miss Mae's young adult novel, When the Bough Breaks. Due to a high stress day--already--I will continue to accept entries until tonight. So those of you who thought you'd missed out, you still have a few hours to enter. I will draw a winner before I retire and post it tomorrow.

I apologize for the slight delay.

I wish everyone a lovely and stress-free day! :o)

~Author Interview & Book Giveaway~ Miss Mae, author of When the Bough Breaks

The day is finally here! Today I am interviewing the lovely and talented Miss Mae, author of the excellent YA novel, When the Bough Breaks. Discover the reason behind her pen name, the inspiration for her new release, and what time period she prefers. Then find out how you can win a copy of When the Bough Breaks.

To read my 5-pearl review of When the Bough Breaks, click here.

I always ask, have you always wanted to be a writer?

Well, pretty much. When I was younger, my dream was to be an artist. I took art classes in school and was told I had talent. One of my still life drawings was presented at an exhibition. This desire stayed with me until my teen years when I became drawn to romantic suspense from the library books I checked out. After reading those, I dreamed of creating my own worlds and characters.

"Miss Mae" is a pseudonym, I assume. Why did you choose to use a pen name?

Though my name is only four letters, people seem to have the hardest time remembering it, or pronouncing it correctly, or spelling it the proper way. I decided, if published, I needed something really simple and easy!

Give us a little glimpse into how your mind works. Do you think of a character or scene first? How does the story progress from there?

Hmm, you know I'm not exactly sure myself! LOL I think just a seed pops up, and I don't really think about it much. Weeks, or months may pass and over time that seed will take shape and morph into a "formula." So I guess it's the scenes first that appears and then the characters are created to fit.

What was the inspiration behind When the Bough Breaks?

LOL, the concept of the "bad boy" being tamed by his love for the "good girl". But in this particular story, I had to come up with a reason for his supposed "playboy" reputation. So the "rich master of the big house in a small town" was added, and the ensuing secrets that came along just created extra spice!

Do you like to listen to music while you write? If so, what type of music do you prefer?

No, I can't listen to music. Too distracting. I prefer quiet, but that's hard to find with four dogs running in and out of my room!

Just for fun, what's your favorite color? Food? Animal? Time period?

My favorite color is blue, but red comes close to tying it. Favorite food is chocolate...yum! And animal? Wow, I can't say there's a favorite since I adore animals (I can't eat them either). And time period...um, probably 1950's and early 1960's. Seemed like such a fun age then (thinking "Happy Days" here.)

Where can we find your books?

It would really help so much if prospective buyers would buy straight from the publishers' sites. That would be The Wild Rose Press and Whimsical Publications.

Direct book links from the publishers:

Said the Spider to the Fly, e-book

Said the Spider to the Fly, paperback

See No Evil, My Pretty Lady, e-book

When the Bough Breaks, paperback

Thank you for joining us, Miss Mae!

Want a chance to win a paperback of When the Bough Breaks? Miss Mae has graciously agreed to send a paperback copy to one very fortunate reader.

First, the ground rules:

1. You must be a follower of this blog. This makes it easier for me to contact you if you've won. Following is not an entry but it is required. I've only done a few giveaways but I've already experienced problems when the entrants don't follow me.
2. Multiple entries are allowed. Leave separate comments for each entry. For example, if you choose to follow Miss Mae's author blog and her group blog, leave one comment stating that you follow her author blog and one comment stating that you follow her group blog. Any questions?
3. Make sure your comment(s) are unique, as in, if you are known as Jane Doe, please add something to your comment to differentiate yourself from the other Jane Does out there.
4. This giveaway is open to US residents only. If you are under 18, please have an adult enter for you.

Here's how to enter:

1. Follow Miss Mae's author blog, Pure Southern Genteel. You must follow publicly and leave a comment on this post to indicate you're following or we won't know that you are.
2. Follow Miss Mae's group blog, The Sweetest Romance Authors. Again, you must follow publicly and leave a comment on this post to be entered.

It's that simple. A winner will be drawn Monday, December 28. Entries will be accepted until December 27, Midnight Eastern time. The winner will be announced on this blog on Monday, 12/28. Check back then to see if you won.

Happy reading, writing, and blogging!

Just a Quick Update

Hi! I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't fallen off the earth. I am participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), attempting to write 50,000 words in 30 days. (If this is the first you've heard of NaNoWriMo, please visit www.nanowrimo.org for more info.)

This has severely limited my reading and reviewing. I am focusing on books I've been asked to review instead of just any old book I happen to pick up.

If you're curious about the novel I've chosen to write...it's fantasy, not romance, although there is an element of romance in it. There is a medieval-ish fictional world, a group of mad scientists who seem to be pulling the strings, a king who turns into a dragon, a genetically engineered dragon hunter who doesn't know what she is and doesn't understand why she hates dragons, and killer mermaids. That's right, I said genetically engineered. I am attempting to write a medieval fantasy with a strong dose of technology. We'll see if I can do it. As of this post, my word count is 28,085.

What's coming up for Romance, Old School?

1. I do have two reviews to prepare and post. I will try to get these posted within the next week or so.
2. Later this month, hopefully, I will be posting an interview and giveaway with the talented Miss Mae, author of When the Bough Breaks.

Thank you for reading and following my reviews blog. If anything else occurs to prevent my normal review postings, I will be sure to inform you. If any of you are participating in NaNoWriMo, click the participant pic above to add me as a buddy. :o)

Happy reading, writing and blogging!