Review: A Fair Prospect: Disappointed Hopes By Cassandra Grafton

I loved this story! A Fair Prospect: Disappointed Hopes is the first of an epic three volume Pride and Prejudice inspired story. 

A Fair Prospect: Disappointed Hopes begins at Hunsford right as Darcy has made his disastrous proposal to Elizabeth. Events are changed by Grafton, not only did the proposal take place outside in the rain, but they also have to endure another evening together as the party of the parsonage is invited to dine at Rosings the next day. 

I loved seeing what Darcy and Elizabeth are thinking and feeling! Grafton doesn’t rush through each scene. She let’s us experience the moment from both Darcy and Elizabeth’s point of view. I could feel Darcy’s despair and anguish over losing Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s anger and then surprise as her feelings were slowly changing for Darcy. We see the awkwardness they were feeling as they dined together, wanting to know what the other was thinking.

Colonel Fitzwilliam, I so love him! He is just the way I like him to be in a story; humorous, loyal, and determine to get to the bottom of Darcy’s gloomy mood. And the Colonel can see clearly that Darcy needs his help, whether Darcy wants it or not.

I love Georgiana as well! She is stronger and smarter and has moved on from her episode with Wickham. Although Darcy doesn’t seem to realize it as he puts on a happy face in front of her, but she can see through his facade and is putting the pieces of his heartache together.

I'm also feeling a bit anxious about Nicholas, a childhood friend of Lizzy’s. I’m wondering if Darcy’s going to have a little competition in attaining Elizabeth’s attentions. 

I loved A Fair Prospect: Disappointed Hopes! The three volumes do NOT stand alone. It is a continuing story. You'll find a “To be continued in Volume II - Darcy’s Dilemma” at the end of this Volume.  Thank goodness Volume II is already out, and Volume III should be out in May sometime! Which is wonderful! I won’t have to wait that long between Volumes!

4 out of 5 stars.

I was provided an e-copy of the book for my honest review.

Buy your copy at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble.

This completes my 8th selection of the Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge 2013 hosted by Austenprose.

Connect with Cassandra Grafton:

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Website

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you!

Fun times at the LA Festival of Books + GIVEAWAY!

Last Saturday I had a great time at the LA Festival of Books!

Karen Cox,  Julie Cooper,  Lucy Parker,  Gail McEwen,  Michele Reed

I met these lovely ladies at the Meryton Press booth! I had a wonderful time hanging out with them.

At the JASNA-SW booth, I met Syrie James! 

Me and Syrie James

I got quite a few books...

My haul from various booths!

...a Pride and Prejudice shirt (it blends in with my couch, so you can barely see it) and a Mr. Darcy mouse pad drawn by Janet Taylor. 

My bag was pretty heavy carrying it back to my car. I think next year I'll bring a backpack and my messenger bag! It was pretty hot, so maybe I'll wear something a wee bit cooler. 

 This was my first year at the LA Festival of Books, and if I can, I will be back next year! 


* * * GIVEAWAY * * *

For those of you who couldn't make it to the LA Festival of Books, Michele Reed is generously offering a Meryton Press book of your choice to one lucky person!
Please, fill out the Rafflecopter below and leave a comment! 
This giveaway is open Internationally. The last day to enter is May 2, 2013.
Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


If you won, which Meryton Press book would you choose?
You MUST fill out the Rafflecopter above to enter the giveaway.

Winner of When They Fall in Love!

First, I would like to say thank you to 

Mary Simonsen for graciously offering to giveaway an e-copy of 

When They Fall in Love!

Rafflecopter has picked:

Kelli H!

Congratulations Kelli!

Thank you to everyone who entered!

If you didn't win, you can head over to Leatherbound Reviews for a chance to win a paperback copy! Or you can buy a copy at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Kelli, you should have received an email from me.

Review: Scorned Justice by Margaret Daley

Hi Everyone! Today, I’m happy to be apart of the 

Pump Up Your Book 

Scorned Justice 

Book Tour!

About the Book:

 Texas Ranger Brody Calhoun is with his parents in west Texas when an unexpected attack injures the brother of Rebecca Morgan, Brody's high school sweetheart. The local sheriff, a good friend, asks for Brody's help. At first, it seems an open-and-shut case.

 As Brody digs deeper, he realizes the attack may be related to an organized crime trial Rebecca will be overseeing. With Rebecca's help, he compiles evidence involving cattle rustling, bribery and dirty payoffs that shatter the entire community and put Rebecca directly in the line of fire.

 Brody expects to protect her. What he never expects is to fall for Rebecca all over again, or for a murder to throw the case wide open. Is Brody's faith strong enough to withstand not only deep-rooted corruption and cattle rustling but also love?









My Review:


Scorned Justice is an action packed suspense romance, full of murder, mystery, with a dash of romance! 

District Court Judge Rebecca Morgan is presiding over the trial of a top ranking member of the Russian Mafia. It’s beginning to look like someone wants her off this trial when, her brother, Thomas Sinclair, has an accident on the ranch that puts him in a coma, Rebecca is nearly run over by a truck, and a witness for the trial is found dead.  With her reputation as a tough judge, could the Russian Mob want her out of the picture? It certainly looks that way, as terrible things continue to happen to her and to those she loves.

Texas Ranger Brody Calhoun, childhood friend of both Rebecca and her brother, Thomas, is assigned to protect Rebecca. Brody has always loved Rebecca, but when she married someone else he moved away, now he’s back, and Rebecca’s a widow. Will spending so much time together finally bring them together? I loved how well Brody and Rebecca got along, even after ten years, it was like they had never been apart. Best friends before; best friends now. Rebecca could trust Brody with her life. He is the only one who makes her feel safe when everything is falling apart.

Scorned Justice has quite a cast of characters!  Hattie the housekeeper at the Ranch, who is more like a member of the family.  Brody’s father, Sean, a retired cop, is recovering from a heart attack, he doesn’t like being treated like an invalid and wants to help out in the investigation. Then there  are Rebecca’s sweet nieces, Thomas’s girls, I found them adorable! 

I liked how Daley left little cliff hangers every once in a while throughout the book to be picked up a short time later. And there is a twist at the end that totally took me by surprise! 

I was surprised by how much I liked this story because mystery and suspense are not my favorite genre to read. My first love is romance, and there is a happy mix of all three! 

Scorned Justice is the first book I’ve read of Margaret Daley, and I loved it! This is the third book in the series, but it stands alone. I definitely want to read the first two, and Daley is currently working on a fourth.

5 out of 5 stars.

I was provided a copy of the book for my honest review.

Buy a copy at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
(Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, should you purchase a copy of the book through the link, I will receive a small commission.)
About the Author:

Margaret Daley, an award-winning author of eighty-three books, has been married for over forty years and is a firm believer in romance and love. When she isn’t traveling, she’s writing love stories, often with a suspense thread and corralling her three cats that think they rule her household.

Her latest book is the Christian fiction, Scorned Justice.

To find out more about Margaret visit her website at http://www.margaretdaley.com.

TWITTER | FACEBOOK

Scorned Justice Virtual Book Publicity Tour Schedule

Monday, April 1 – Book Review & Giveaway at Mom Loves to Read

Monday, April 1 – Book Spotlight at By the Book

Tuesday, April 2 – Book Review at The Mary Book Reader

Thursday, April 4 – Book Review at Mocha with Linda

Thursday, April 4 – Book Review at Thoughts in Progress

Friday, April 5 – Book Review at LDS and Lovin’ It

Friday, April 5 – Guest Blogging at Parenting 2.0

Monday, April 8 – Book Review at Colletta’s Kitchen Sink

Monday, April 8 – Book Review at WV Stitcher

Tuesday, April 9 – Book Review at Christian Book Review Blog

Wednesday, April 10 – Book Review at Kaisy Daisy’s Corner

Wednesday, April 10 – Book Review at Ashley’s Bookshelf

Thursday, April 11 – Book Review at Splashes of Joy

Friday, April 12 – Guest Blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner

Monday, April 15 – Book Review at Reviews From the Heart

Tuesday, April 16 – Book Review & Interview at Review’s by Martha’s Bookshelf

Wednesday, April 17 – Book Review at A Book Lover

Thursday, April 18 – Book Review at Blooming with Books

Friday, April 19 – Book Review at Melina’s Book Blog

Monday, April 22 – Book Review at Bunny’s Reviews

Monday, April 22 – Book Review at Everyday Is An Adventure Book Blog

Tuesday, April 23 – Book Review at So Little Time…So Much to Read

Friday, April 26 – Book Review at The Self-Taught Cook

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you!

Review: The Karmic Connection by Libby Mercer

Hey Everyone! Libby Mercer's new book, The Karmic Connection will be released this Thursday, the 25th!  I was very fortunate to be able to read the book already! 

The Karmic Connection is a fun, quirky love story about two total opposites who are brought together by higher powers!

Adam Stowe is a workaholic. You wouldn’t think that would be a problem for his bosses, but they worry about him. The company has made great advancements because of him, and they would hate to lose him to burnout. So they send him (more like shanghai him) to a wellness clinic in the mountains. Adam is very angry to be at the clinic, but if he wants to keep his job he has to play along, so they will release him sooner.

Lorraine is a wellness guide, yoga, and Pilates instructor at the Luna Wellness Center. She loves her calm relaxed lifestyle at the Wellness Center, as opposed to the fast-paced life she used to live. She knows life is too short to spend it working all the time, not taking the time to enjoy it. But is she letting life pass her by in a different way?

When Adam and Lorraine meet there is an instant connection between them. Lorraine quickly recognizes Adam’s anger and knows she would never fit into his fast paced lifestyle. Adam is really turned off by Lorraine’s New Age beliefs. But they are both conscious of intense feelings that they feel for one another.  Feelings that neither Adam or Lorraine thought they would ever feel.

At first I thought Adam was a real jerk! He is so arrogant the way his judges Lorraine and all of the "friends" (clients) at the Wellness Center. But little by little, as his anger fades (and his caffeine headache finally goes away. Hehe!) we get to see the real Adam, and he starts seeing the others as more than fruitcakes. As Lorraine begins to fall in love with him, so do I. 

I really enjoyed The Karmic Connection! It’s a fun, quick read!

4 out of 5 stars.

I was provided an e-copy of the book for my honest opinion. 

Buy your copy at Amazon. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, should you purchase a copy of the book through the link I will receive a small commission.)


Connect with Libby Mercer:

Blog
twitter
facebook
goodreads
Amazon Author Page

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you!

W... W... W... Wednesdays ~ April 17, 2013

W... W... W... Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. To play along, just answer the following questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll read next?

What am I currently reading?  I'm going to start reading A Fair Prospect: Disappointed Hopes by Cassandra Grafton, hopefully today. We will be having company this week, so I'm not sure how much reading I'll get to do.

What did I recently finish reading? I just finished reading Scorned Justice by Margaret Daley. I really enjoyed it! Wow! The twist at the end surprised me!

What do I think I'll be reading next? My plan is to read If I Fall by Kate Noble. I went to a book signing here in California. As I was wandering around the room, I came to Kate Noble's table. I noticed on the table these cards that had The Lizzie Bennet Diaries printed on them. It turns out Kate Noble (Kate Rorick) is one of the writers for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries! She also writes regency romance novels! So, of course, I had to buy a copy of one of her books and have her sign it. :)

What are you reading?

Review and Giveaway: When They Fall in Love by Mary Lydon Simonsen

When They Fall in Love is a beautiful Pride and Prejudice variation that places Elizabeth and Darcy in Italy. In true Simonsen fashion, we not only get a lovely story of Elizabeth and Darcy falling in love, but we also get a bit of a history lesson, and in this case, we get to tour Florence with beautiful descriptions of paintings and sculptures. When They Fall in Love is a new twist on an old classic!

It has been seven years since that disastrous proposal at Hunsford, now Elizabeth and Darcy will meet again. While traveling in France with the Bingleys, Elizabeth finds herself on her way to Florence after Darcy invites them all to visit him there at his villa. Elizabeth's feelings have changed for him since Hunsford, but Darcy married Miss Amelie Cantwell just months after his proposal to Elizabeth. Could Darcy transfer his affections so easily if he had truly loved her?  Now he’s a widower, but too many years have gone by and Elizabeth is convinced Darcy would never renew those affections he once claimed to have for her.

Elizabeth and Darcy spend a lot of time together touring around Florence unchaperoned as Darcy is a family friend and rules of conduct were not as rigid in Italy. I was getting a little frustrated with Elizabeth. She is so sure Darcy would never renew his addresses to her that she misses every subtle hint Darcy drops! 

I also had mixed feelings about Jane. At first, I thought she was a little self-absorbed - too caught up in her illness, but soon I understood Jane a little more, especially as I learned more about her illness, and I began to like her again.

Throughout the story as Elizabeth is touring the sites of Florence, Simonsen gives beautiful descriptions of the artwork and a brief history to go with it. Not being familiar with the art pieces I was curious to see them for myself. I was happy to find Mary has written a short article about some of the pieces on her blog.

When They Fall in Love is a beautiful story that enjoyed very much. It's a delightful book to curl up on the couch with and spend a relaxing afternoon!

4 out of 5 stars.

I was provide an e-copy of the book for my honest review.

You can buy a copy at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

(Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, should you purchase the book through the link I will receive a small commission.)

Connect with Mary Simonsen:

Twitter

Facebook

Website

Austen Authors

This completes my 7th selection of the Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge 2013 hosted by Austenprose! You can see my list of completed selections here.

* * * GIVEAWAY * * *

Mary has graciously ofter to giveaway one e-copy (kindle or Nook format) of When They Fall in Love! All you have to do  to enter is fill out the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is open Internationally. The last day to enter is April 22, 2013.
Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Any thoughts? I would love to hear from you! 
Remember to enter the giveaway, you MUST fill out the Rafflecopter above. Thanks!