What are you Reading? ~ June 10, 2015

What are you Reading? is my weekly Wednesday meme! You are welcome to join me, just answer the following questions:

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

What am I currently reading? I am just starting Suddenly Mrs. Darcy by Jenetta James. In this Pride and Prejudice variation, Mr. Darcy is accused of compromising Elizabeth, and she is forced to marry him. As one of my favorite scenarios, this story sounds promising!! 






What did I recently finish reading? I was up late into the night finishing Forever Yours: Yours by Design, Book 3 by Robin M. Helm. This one started out slow for me, but it's very exciting in the end!!







What do I think I'll be reading next? I'm not sure. It's the beginning of summer vacation for us, so I think I'll read something from my dystopian pile! I'll let you know next week! 


FTC Disclaimer: Links to Amazon. I am an Amazon Associate. Should you purchase a copy of the book through the link provided I will receive a small commission. Thanks!


What are you reading?

Holiday Romance Short Story Contest!

Hey, Everyone! Meryton Press is having another short story contest! Woot! The theme for this one is Holiday Romance! Below you can find some information and links for the contest. 

 Meryton Press is conducting a contest to find the best short stories.

The theme of the contest, “Holiday Romance,” represents the season from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. The interpretation of the theme is left to the writer’s imagination; the story may have the season as an incidental backdrop or may highlight the warmth and goodwill of the holidays. It may be a romance set entirely before a fire on a cold winter’s night, the plight of a young couple hosting their first family Thanksgiving, or the mystery of an anonymous holiday philanthropist with a reporter hot on his tale. So many holidays, so many stories: Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve…

Any genre is acceptable as long as there is ROMANCE. Austenesque is a plus but is not required. In other words, so long as there is a commonly accepted or acceptable interpretation of the theme embedded in the plot, it works for us. However, this contest is not for children’s stories. Our target audience is readers over 18 years old.

The contest will be open for submissions from 9:00 a.m., June 15, 2015 (US Pacific Time) until 11:59 p.m., July 15, 2015 (US Pacific Time)

The contest will be judged by a panel of independent judges, and the results will be announced around Labor Day 2015.

A long list of entries will be selected for final judging by a panel of expert editors and reviewers. All entries on the long list will receive a letter with constructive criticism on how the story could have been improved. Four winners will be selected from the long list and will be awarded prizes.

First Prize:

• US$150
• Professional editing of entry
• Blog tour inclusion
• Priority submission of a longer work
• Four copies of published anthology

3 Runners up:

• US$100
• Professional editing of entry
• Blog tour inclusion
• Publication in the anthology
• Two copies of published anthology

In addition, all four winning entries will be published in an anthology planned for late autumn 2015. The anthology will include not only the four winners but stories from Meryton Press’s popular and award-winning authors. 

The Summer Lovin’ Short Story Contest volume resulting from the contest held earlier this year has now been published as Sun-Kissed: Effusions of Summer.

For detailed guidelines and rules, please refer to http://merytonpress.com/anthology/ (or the PDF file).

So, if you are interested in writing a short story for the contest, head over to Meryton Press! 

What are you Reading? ~ June 3, 2015

What are you Reading? is my weekly Wednesday meme! You are welcome to join me, just answer the following questions:

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

What am I currently reading? I'm currently reading Forever Yours: Yours by Design, Book 3 by Robin M. Helm. I'm anxious to see how this series ends as it had a continuing storyline through all the books. 







What did I recently finish reading? I finish reading Hearts Stolen (Texas Romance Series Book 2) by Caryl McAdoo. I really enjoyed the first third of the book, then it dragged and felt redundant to me. I found the end anticlimactic. Plus, I was left with unanswered questions at the end. 





What do I think I'll be reading next?  I hope to read Suddenly Mrs. Darcy by Jenetta James, but I may need to squeeze in a different book between the two Austenesque books. So, we'll see! :)







FTC Disclaimer: Links to Amazon. I am an Amazon Associate. Should you purchase a copy of the book through the link provided I will receive a small commission. Thanks!

Are you reading any good books? 

Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview ~ My Review

Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview 

Publication Date: October 15th, 2013 
Publisher: White Soup Press 
Pages: 338 
Received: my own copy 
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

For the last year or so, I’ve had a shift in my reading. I’ve found a new love in Dystopian/Post-apocalyptic stories. Combine that with my love of all things Austen, Steampunk Darcy is a perfect fit for me!  

Set in American Republic, post-repression. Not only was there an uprising against the government, the greed of men destroyed the environment. Now a slime rain falls, the rivers are polluted, and people are living on ship-cities or in cities that are cover by a bio-dome shield. 

William Darcy, an eighth generation Darcy, is working on a top secret project. If this technology were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be very dangerous. But Darcy wants to use it to rebuild Pemberley, which was destroyed during the Blitz. He wants to rebuild it to look as it did when Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy lived there in the early 1800s.  To complete this project he needs the help of scientist Seraphene Grant.

Unfortunately, Seraphene feels that Mr. Darcy is the last man in the world she would want to work for! Oh, she could use the money, alright. She is the sole provider for her mom and younger sister. She had two jobs, one doing scientific research at MIT, and she flew a hansom cab for extra cash. Even with both jobs sometimes there wasn’t enough to get by. 

I really enjoyed this story! Not being a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, there is no Elizabeth, but Seraphene has so many of Elizabeth's character traits that she was just like her! And Darcy was enough like his ancestor that they were naturally drawn together!

I loved the fun use of names in this story too! Darcy’s cat is called Mrs. Bennet. Darcy works (and owns) Longbourn Laboratories. Rich is Darcy’s half-brother, and he is nothing like Colonel Fitzwilliam. In fact, he causes much trouble for Darcy and Seraphene. There are a few other fun use of names, but I’ll leave them for you to discover!

I loved Steampunk Darcy! It puts a wonderful sci-fi/steampunk spin to Pride and Prejudice!   

Buy: Amazon
Add to Goodreads

FTC Disclaimer: Link to Amazon. I am an Amazon Associate. Should you purchase a copy of the book through the link provide I will receive a small commission. Thanks!

Connect with Monica Fairview

twitter • facebook • website • Austen Variations

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

Month in Review ~ May 2015

Hey, Everyone! It's time to look back and see what my May looked like! Month in Review is a monthly meme hosted by Kathryn @ Book Date! 


Books Read:

Twin Piques by Tracie Banister
Alive by Scott Sigler
This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview
Worth the Fall by Caitie Quinn

Reviews:

Twin Piques by Tracie Banister



Newly Acquired Books:

The Geography of YOU and ME by Jennifer E. Smith
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Dead & the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Haven by Carol Lynch Williams
Blackout by Robison Wells
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
The Rule of Thre3 by Eric Walters
Slated by Teri Terry
Fractured by Teri Terry
Shattered by Teri Terry


My TBR pile just keeps growing!! lol!

Books for Review:

Suddenly Mrs. Darcy by Jenetta James
Inspired by Grace by Jeanna Ellsworth

Noteworthy Shows Watched:

The Gilmore Girls ~ watched season 6


Sewing Project:

I made this Plaid Skirt for my daughter's dance performance.

My May seemed to fly by! How about you? How was your May?

What are you Reading? ~ May 27, 2015

What are you Reading? is my weekly Wednesday meme! You are welcome to join me, just answer the following questions:

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

What am I currently reading? I'm currently reading Hearts Stolen (Texas Romance Series Book 2) by Caryl McAdoo. It's pretty good. I was in the mood for a western. :)







What did I recently finish reading? I finished reading Alive: Book One of the Generations Trilogy by Scott Sigler. I loved it! I'm looking forward to the next in the series! I was glad that it didn't end in a cliffhanger.







I also finished reading  Worth the Fall (Brew Ha Ha #2) by Caitie Quinn. It was a super cute, clean, romantic comedy! I loved it, and I plan on reading more books by Caitie Quinn!







What do I think I'll be reading next? I hope to start Forever Yours: Yours by Design, Book 3 by Robin M. Helm. I'm looking forward to reading this!






FTC Disclaimer: Links to Amazon. I am an Amazon Associate. Should you purchase a copy of the book through the link provided I will receive a small commission. Thanks!


So... What are you reading?