Beautiful Sacrifice - Giveaway and Review

Well here it is, 2012 and once more there is talk of the Mayans and the prophetic December 21, 2012 date looming in the very near future. This is the under lying theme for the latest book by Elizabeth Lowell, Beautiful Sacrifice.

This one is an action-packed version of Romancing the Stone meets Indiana Jones with a whole lot more sexuality going on between the two main characters Dr. Lina Taylor and Hunter Johnston. There on and off again steamy relationship became when Hunter was called in to audit some of the classes Lina teaches at the museum her family owns. Now with the light being drawn on the Mayan prophecy, Hunter calls in a favor with Lina. Apparently during a recent arrest some Mayan artifacts have gone missing. Very rare artifacts that border on priceless and would guarantee the owner of such items to be not only wealthy but to gain such importance in all social aspects, they could write their own ticket to anywhere.

Hunter's friend, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer or ICE for short, has been accused of the stealing the artifacts. If he can't locate and return the items, he will be fired. This isn't something he can do since he's married to his wife Ali, who is pregnant and between them already have five kids. So he enlists Hunter's help.

This is where the storyline truly escalates in fast forward as the body count begins to climb. These artifacts are objects used in a blood sacrifice ritual that is culminating around the Mayan calendar prophecy. As arrests are made, the trio discover human sacrifices are already being conducted, lives are being exchanged and the hunt is on. Only now Lina is the object of the hunt and a man by the name of El Maya and he will stop at nothing to ensure that she is found and brought to him. Could her lineage have anything to do with the artifacts, the upcoming ceremony and the need for a blood sacrifice? You'll just have to pick this one up to find out!

I received Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell compliments of William Morrow, a division of Simon and Schuster Publishers for my honest review. This book does contain some graphic violence and sexuality, so the reader should be warned before picking this one up as some subjects matters may not be suitable for all audience types. However if you love a great romance story with a bit of mystery, suspense and action thrown in, then you will love this one. It definitely keeps the reader engaged til the very end. I would rate this one a 3 out of 5 stars just based on my personal rating system, but overall the story is amazing.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the link below:

Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell

Thanks to the generous folks at William Morrow, they are offering a giveaway copy of this book to one lucky follower of my blog. Here's your guidelines:

1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes.

3. Leave a comment below telling me why you would love to win a copy of this book. Please remember to include your email address along with your comment. If you don't include it, I can't email you back to let you know if you're the lucky winner. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

4. "Like" my Facebook page, Reviews From The Heart and leave me a comment telling me you stopped by. Hopefully you'll enjoy my page because I update it all the time with the latest giveaways I'm offering so you won't want to miss out.

I will notify the winner via email when the giveaway ends on June 4th.

Arranged

In the latest novel by Catherine McKenzie, Arranged is a book I think every single woman can relate to. I know I for one can! In this delightful romantic fiction, Anne Blythe is ready for a change in her normal life. Seeing the future for what it can be, she realizes that the man she's been living with Stuart has been cheating on her. He wasn't about to tell her until she came across his emails and with that all the proof she needed to confront him.

Now that she has moved out and is hoping to move on, Anne struggles with her emotions like all of us women have at one point, asking herself why are my relationships working out? Why am I always with the wrong guy and how can I find the right one I know is out there for me? Why do all my family and friends find the right one, but I am left with Mr. Wrong?

Then she is hit with all kinds of news she doesn't need in her life. Her brother Gil and his wife, Cathy, are having their fourth child and her parents wonder just when Anne is finally going to get her life together and have kids, get married? Then she learns her best friend Sarah is getting married and at that point it almost pushes Anne to the edge.

Walking the streets alone one night on her way to meet Sarah, she comes across a business card left on the street with her name on it, or it has the same name on it, Blythe and Company. When she contacts the company thinking it's a dating service, she soon learns that this is a pricey, arranged marriage service. Knowing where she is at in her life, she decides to take a risk and give it a try, after all they have a proven 95% success rate. What turns out along the way, is a quirky, romantic love story that has an unexpected twist in the end. Not your typical romantic story but one that I think most women would love to read.

I received Arranged by Catherine McKenzie compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and LOVED it! I would have to caution my readers that it does contain mild profanity and some sexual content but over all the story is great summer read. I rate this one 4 out of 5 stars. For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the link below:

Arranged by Catherine McKenzie

In The Bag

Based on a true life circumstance that provided her with the incentive to write this amazing novel, Kate Klise takes readers from two different generations along on a world wind trip to Paris and Madrid in In The Bag.

As two unlikely passengers boarding a flight to Paris, Daisy Sprinkle, sitting in first class and having a complimentary glass of wine, encounters through a bump of fate, Andrew Nelson. He is the one who accidentally bumps her and causes her to spill her wine on her blouse while making his way to his assigned seat. As a stewardess sweeps in to take care of the crisis, he is reprimanded to find his seat now. Feeling less than a man, he hand writes a personal note of apology offering to replace the blouse, or have it cleaned. But much more than that, he would love to take her to dinner once they return from Paris if that's at all possible. He ends the note with his email address. While they are waiting for their baggage in Paris, he slips the note into her carry on and hopes that she will respond.

Meanwhile, Coco, her daughter finds that she has retrieved the wrong duffel bag when they arrive at their apartment in Paris filled with a man's rumpled jeans, shirts and a well worn copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau. What she soon realizes that someone else has her duffel bag filled with not only her clothes but also her worst underwear in it. Her mom advised her to pack her worst and they would buy new lingerie when they got to Paris and could throw the old stuff away.

Webb realizes that he has the wrong duffel bag when he opens his to find nicely organized and packed women's clothes and bras and underwear that certainly don't belong to him. When he locates a luggage tag with an email address attached, he finds an internet cafe in Madrid and sets off to locate the person who's bag he has. Lucky for him, she responds quickly enough via email and they soon set off on a series of unexpected, cute and witty email messages while their parents attend to their jobs. What they both soon realize is that they have a lot in common and agree to meet somehow and exchange bags if only they can escape their parents.

I received In The Bag by Kate Klise compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and LOVED it! It's like You Got Mail while traveling! This is such a cute love story that deal with two couples, Andrew and Daisy, and Coco and Webb, who soon realize that their ideas of romance and falling in love are much different that what they could ever hope to imagine. For Coco and Webb, they are part of the younger generation who text and email, while Andrew and Daisy come from a pre-digital generation of letter writers and simpler times. You can't help but smile after reading this novel told from four different points of view through the week they are traveling! A definite must read for the summer and one I highly recommend! This one is a 5 out of 5 stars!!

For more information on In The Bag, Kate Klise, and where to pick up a copy of this wonderful book today, please click on the links below:

In The Bag by Kate Klise

You can also find Kate Klise on Facebook by clicking here.

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels A Love Story

When Ree Drummond thought of her perfect life, she never imagined it would be the complete opposite of everything she would do and be. Living the life of a city girl in a home that bordered the golf course, her days consisted of country clubs, dancing, and socializing with her girls friends over shopping trips until the day she looked across the bar and saw the cowboy.

The complete opposite of all the previous men she had dated in the past and just at the time she was considering a move to Chicago and terminating a long standing relationship, she met Marlboro Man. He was a handsome cowboy wearing cowboy boots, Wranglers and salt and peppered hair. She found herself captivated in so many ways and when she walked over to talk to him, her life would change forever.

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond is her personal story of the love story between her and her husband that she affectionately calls Marlboro Man. For those of you who have never heard of The Pioneer Woman, then you need to read this heart warming love story of life on a cattle ranch and all the horror stories that went hand in hand with winning over her heart.

Before I read this book, I knew Ree Drummond from her successful blog, The Pioneer Woman wear one will find anything from home schooling tips, to photographs of her life on the ranch, to the most mouth watering recipes anywhere in the world. But a world of caution, once you begin your journey, Ree will become your new best friend. She is a mix between Ethel Merman, Lucille Ball and a little spice from the South all mixed together for a perfect blend of fun loving lady underneath it all. As you read through her latest novel, you feel like your sitting with your friend over cinnamon rolls and coffee on her porch overlooking her cattle ranch as she tells it like it is, no holds barred, and that's what you will love. The same as her readers and fans from all over. She's a real down to earth lady with a heart of gold.

I received The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and just know that every woman that reads this will find a connection with Ree. The best part is that the book contains some of her infamous recipes that you can enjoy and fall in love with. This one rates 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion and for those of you that love a good romance with a whole lot of laughs along the way, then this is perfect for you.

For more information on this book, the author and where you can purchase this book today, please click on the links below:

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story by Ree Drummond

You can also find her on her Facebook Page by clicking here.

Check out her website and blog by clicking here

More Than Words Can Say

Once in a blue moon you come across an exceptional book that leaves you in awe of just how great the story is and how emotionally connected to it you are. I have found such a treasure in the latest book from Robert Barclay, More Than Words Can Say, and to say if you haven't read it, you'll want to pick this one up and completely set aside some time to get lost in the characters and the story.

The premise of the story takes place at a lakeside cottage tucked away in the Adirondack mountains where Chelsea Bartlett has been left with her grandmother, Brooke's lakeside cottage and the contents of the home in her grandmother's will. The stipulations of the will state that Chelsea can do whatever she wants with the cottage after she visits there and locates the contents of a small tin, her grandmother has hidden beneath the floorboards of the guest bedroom.

Chelsea takes her grandmother's advice and heads to the cottage sure she will sell it once she sees it, but once she arrives, she feels a sense of peaceful tranquility that can't be explained. No one has lived in the cottage for 60 years and is has been carefully looked after by a French couple who were hired by her grandmother's attorney.

Chelsea finds her grandmother's journal and some old photographs hidden in a tin box that will take her back to a summer of 1942, that her grandmother spent at the cottage shortly after the war began and just recently married to Bill. The time at the cottage for Chelsea and reading the contents of the journal will change her life forever in profound and never expected ways as she finds herself transported back to a simpler time during one summer in 1942.

I received More Than Words Can Say compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and was so sad to reach the end of the book. I could perfectly imagine myself sitting on the porch overlooking the lake, hearing the waves lap upon the shore and the smell of pine trees blowing in on the summer breeze as Chelsea spends time with her grandmother in a very special and unique way that will bond them together in a life changing way. If you're a fan of Nicholas Sparks, then meeting Robert Barclay's characters and writing style will be a literature lottery of sorts. An exceptional read and one you WON'T want to miss. I am HIGHLY RECOMMENDING this one and awarding it 10 out of 10 stars! Trust me, once you read this one, you'll want more!

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book, please click on the link below:

More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay

Wishes and Stitches

Naomi Fontaine's biggest dream was to live in a small town overlooking the beach. The kind where you can stop in the diner in the morning and have breakfast. Stopping at a table that is reserved just for you as you wave hi to everyone in town that's there for breakfast too.

And that's the very reason why she has settled down in the small, beachside town on Cypress Hollow, to begin a new life for herself, to open up a small health clinic like her dad used to have and be the resident doctor. Living on an idyllic street reminiscent of any perfect neighborhood, Naomi Fontaine has found true happiness. A thriving practice with the local doctor as his partner who is retiring in a few short months. Not knowing if she'll have enough money to buy out his part of the practice, she can only hope the replacement doctor is someone she can work well with.

The only problem with Naomi's dream life in Cypress Hollow is she can't bring herself to talk to anyone. Not even all those town residents she passes by on her way into Tillie's diner for breakfast. Nope instead she heads to the farthest table in the back where she tortures herself with the conversations she wished she was having with the people but instead only dreams of those conversations in her head. Why Oh why can't she find it within herself to just talk to people? Even the knitting she is struggling with, she can't manage to wander her way into the local yarn shop and ask for help. Nope, she resolves to stay in her little world until something changes.

And it does in fact change when Rig Keller walks into the diner one morning. Not quite sure if he is indeed the same person she fell for at a medical convention in Portland, she cringes when she realizes that it is. She wishes she could just crawl into a hole and pull the rock in after her, but when his great rugged looks, and that to die for smile come walking her way, Naomi realizes her life is about to change.

I received Wishes and Stitches by Rachael Herron compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. This is such a great love story with so much extra thrown in, the reader is entertained from beginning to end at just what Naomi will do to finally make her dreams come true. Sometimes she gets in her own way instead of just being the bold doctor she was in Portland. Only the trust that was lost so long ago, will make Naomi realize she's been lost and hiding for far too long and it's time to really start living her life. This one rates a 4 out of 5 stars. There is some sexual content that may offend some readers, so be warned. All in all, a great story!

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book, please click on the links below:

Wishes and Stitches by Rachael Herron

Hometown Girl - Giveaway and Review

Brooke Madison Bowers needs a fresh start on her life, not just on her professional life but also in her love life as well. Being a widow for over two years now since her husband was killed in Iraq, she faces the challenges of learning to let go of her fears and embrace the opportunities that will come her way in the small town of St. Dennis, Maryland.

Living with her brother Clay and her young son, Logan on the family farm, Brooke is already begin to take on new challenges. She is a wonderful and talented baker whose cupcakes are becoming a town must have and favorite craving. Uniting with some of her friends, Steffie, the owner of One Scoop or Two, the local ice cream shop, she begins to offer her cupcakes for sale. If all goes well, she hopes to open her own shop, called simply enough, Cupcakes!

Now if she can just get her love life in order and eliminate the fear of just dating the local men one time. Once she dates them the first time, it also becomes the last. Seems like old memories of her husband keep her from moving forward and finding true love once again. Lucky for her, her brother sees what is happening and when her lawyer, Jesse Enright, begins to show interest, Clay teaches him what it will take to win his sisters heart. If only Jesse will have the patience to win her heart and love by waiting for Brooke to make the first move.

Set in the fall in a small ocean side town of St. Dennis, Hometown Girl by Mariah Stewart, takes the reader into a cozy and quaint town where small town gathering, warm friendships and weddings are in the future. If you have ever dreamed of living in a small town where friendship and community abound, then this is a delightful book for you to savor and enjoy the fall and winter months ahead sitting beside a crackling fire!

I received Hometown Girl compliments of TLC Book Tours for my honest review and have read every single book in The Chesapeake Diaries series, this being book number 4! This entire series is wonderfully written from a classic seaside romance perspective in which there is such love and warmth by all the colorful characters that Mariah in introduces the reader to, from the quirky and spunky old lady, Grace who runs the local paper, to the fun-loving and creative Steffie, who runs Scoop the local ice cream shop and is always dreaming up the most incredible flavors of ice cream. I highly recommend this series to anyone from young adult and up. The material contains nothing objectionable and is truly one of the best romance series I've read! This is why, I award this book a 5 out of 5 stars. It's a perfect stand alone for readers just picking this one up, but after you read it, you'll want the rest! This book is available in paperback and ebook formats at your local retailer!

For more information on this book, the author, read an excerpt, and where to pick up your copy today, please click on the links below:

Hometown Girl by Mariah Stewart

You can also follow Mariah on Facebook by clicking here.

Thanks to the generous folks at TLC Book Tours, they are providing a giveaway copy to one lucky reader of this blog. Here are your guidelines for entering:

1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. Like my Facebook page, Reviews From The Heart by clicking here.

3. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes.

4. I need an email address to contact you if you're the lucky winner, so please be sure to include one with your comment. You can use the words (at) or (dot) instead of the symbols. Leave me a comment and tell me why you'd be interested in this giveaway.

The giveaway will end on Oct 13th and I will notify the winner by email at that time.

If you're looking for more reviews on this amazing book, click here and follow the tour!

The Illusion of Certainty

Uncertainty is the only certainty there is - John Allen Paulos

Most of us try to carefully monitor and control the events of our lives. It has never seemed easier. Or so we think. We have so many electronic tools to coordinate our schedules, instantly stay in touch, book restaurant reservations, buy movie tickets, buy books, buy furniture, buy clothes, pay bills, do banking and stay on top of the pieces of our daily existence.

It makes us feel like we are in control. It makes us think we know what our children, co-workers, spouses, and friends are doing. Then something happens that we do not expect.

There is a serious illness or a death. There is the loss of a job or an economic downturn. People and events behave in ways we did not expect. Suddenly we think there is uncertainty introduced into our well-ordered world.

But what we fail to recognize is that the uncertainty has been there all the time. (Prologue).

Two sets of lives will meet at a cross roads that will intersect the participants and adversely affected their lives forever. In the novel, The Illusion of Certainty by Greg Messel, the reader is in for quite a treat. Not since such great classic romance stories like Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail, has there been such a great writer who can create romance and inspiration out of the characters he pulls the reader into the lives of.

The novel opens with Marc Wilson, a resident of Portland, Oregon, a successful businessman, happily married and on the verge of seeing his oldest son off to UCLA and his daughter to follow to the University of Oregon a few years later. However Marc has been noticing some changes in his wife Aimee. Besides working late nights at the hospital, she hasn't been the same all summer. She's distant, distracted, and avoiding Marc for some odd reasons. She chalks off his questions to just being so tired with her job, but Marc feels there is something more.

Seeking the advice of his best friend since college, John Robertson, a successful doctor, married to Tina along with their two daughters, they spend a Sunday afternoon golfing where Marc unloads his concerns to John. He advises that they all take a trip, just the four adults to their beach house in Cannon Beach, without the kids to help Aimee get away from work and get back in touch with Marc.

It all seems like it works after a long weekend, until late one night while picking up his car, he sees Aimee heading into an underground parking garage at a local hotel, while she's supposed to be working late. What he finds there, will change his life and the path it's on forever.

Next we meet, Alexandra Mattson, a successful attorney in Portland who finally meets the man of her dreams, Sean, while saving the life of an neighbor's daughter. Sean is the police officer who responds in more ways than one. After making sure Alex is well enough to return home, he asks her out and finds out that she has saved more than one life that day. She just saved her own as she begins to fall hard for Sean.

I received this book compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours and Greg Messel for my honest review and once again we have a grand slam, out of the park, home run with this romantic fiction. Set in various locations around Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, London, England, and even Paris, France, the reader will be captivated in a perfect story you will not want to put down until you finish the last word on the page. The only thing wrong with it, is that it's over too soon, but the reader leaves with a sigh and a smile in their hearts. A MUST READ for any fan of romantic stories of love, hope and faith. This one wins a perfect 5 out of 5 stars in my book and thank you Greg for adding another book to a permanent home in my personal library.

For more information on this book, the author and where to purchase a copy of this book, please check out the links below:

The Illusion of Certainty by Greg Messel

You can also find Greg on Facebook by clicking here.

Almost Home - Giveaway and Review

Who hasn't imagined falling in love with the man you've dreamed about since you were young. Hoping for the perfect day for him to realize that you are his dream girl and falls head over heels in love with you?

Steffie Wyler, owner of One Scoop or Two, the best place for ice cream in the tourist town of St. Dennis, imagines that with every encounter she has had with Wade MacGregor. Only when she invited him as her prom date, his excuse was simply he respected his best friend, her oldest brother, too much to take advantage of little Steffie.

Now that she is grown and is attending a wedding, she hopes with just the right dress she finally get her wish.

It isn't that Wade isn't interested in Steffie, but the timing has been all wrong. When the prom came around, she was simply too young and there are laws that protect younger people from going out with someone as young as Steffie was at 17! Only when he sees her at the wedding, all grown up, he believes he too will finally get his chance. She looks amazing!!

Only one phone call will alter both of their lives forever that night. Their happily ever after is about to be changed in ways neither of them would ever imagine. Will true love stand the test of time? Or will love spells be in order to win the heart of Wade MacGregor once and for all?

In the next sequel from the Chesapeake Diaries by Mariah Stewart, Almost Home takes us into the lives of the MacGregor family once more. Here we recapture fading love for Steffie Wyler among all her friends and family of St. Dennis. With some long discovered journals from an attic, they are about to discover what some of the residents have been hiding in this quaint sea-side tourist town just waiting to be uncovered at long last.

I received Almost Home by Mariah Stewart compliments of TLC Book Tours and having read each one of this books in a series, it was a welcome home for me as well. Being familiar with the people of St. Dennis is an inviting time for me to see the youngest, Steffie Wyler who has run the town's most popular ice cream shop complete with the most delightful creative flavors ever, dream about the man of her life coming to sweep her off her feet. This is a must read for the summer as you escape in the romance of truly having your dreams come true in the most unusual way possible. This one scores a 5 out of 5 stars for me. I can only hope that there is one more in this series! She has captivated my heart and truly left me wanting more. You can read this as a stand alone or pick up the whole set and start at the beginning and be whisked away!

For even more amazing information about the book, the author or where to purchase a copy of this book, check out the link below:

Almost Home by Mariah Stewart

Thanks to the wonderful folks at TLC Book Tours, they are offering a giveaway copy to one lucky follower of this blog. Here are your guidelines:

1. You must be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. You must be a resident of the US or Canada. No P.O. Boxes please.

3. I must have a way to contact you, so please include your email address with your comment. You can use the words (at) or (dot) instead of the symbols.

4. Leave a comment and let me know why you'd love to win a copy. What is your most idea of romance. The giveaway will end on May 16th and I will notify the winner by email.

Dangerous Desires - Giveaway and Review

As the extractions expert for A-Tac, an elite CIA black ops unit masquerading as faculty at an Ivy League college, Drake Flynn knows how to survive behind enemy lines. But he's about to meet one adversary he can't subdue ...or resist.

A Race For Survival

Stranded in the Colombian jungle after a mission goes bad, Drake has only one objective: evade the mercenaries hot on his trail and deliver "the package" to U.S. officials. But "the package" has a mind of her own, and she has no intention of trading one set of captors for another. Madeline Reynard is beautiful, headstrong, and hell-bent on escape after years as a crime lord's pawn. She'll risk everything for freedom, even if it means deceiving the dark, handsome operative who now holds her life in his hands.

Drake has been burned too many times to let a woman manipulate him, especially a secretive one like Madeline. Even so, they cannot deny the attraction between them. Now as the enemy forces close in, Drake and Madeline must trust each other with their lives - or face certain death. (excerpt back cover).

My Review:

Drake's assignment was to rescue Madeline Reynard and return her to US officials. She was being held by a Columbian drug Lord. Unfortunately, his plan went awry. Madeline had been held prisoner for years and did not trust Drake to keep her safe. She was not going back, no matter what. Drake did not trust women and was determined not to let Madeline get under his skin, let alone steal his heart.

The attraction continues to grow between them. They realize they must work together as a team and they must trust each other.

Madeline shares her story with Drake. Her sister was a drug addict and she had been trying to help her when she was captured. Drake shares the story of his brother's death. Madeline believes she has seen Drakes brother.

Dangerous Desires by Dee Davis is filled with romance and action. The plot will leave the reader panting for more. The author transports readers to the jungles of Columbia. I felt as though I was part of the plot. I stayed up all night to finish this one.

I received this book compliments of Hachette Book Groups for my honest review and have to say it's captured a 5 out of 5 stars. For more information on this book, the author and even a peek at the first chapter, click on the title below:

Dangerous Desires by Dee Davis

Thanks to the generous folks at Hachette Book Groups, they are offering three giveaway copies to the followers of this blog. Here are your guidelines:

1. You must be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. Be a resident of the US or Canada and No P.O. Boxes please.

3. I need a way to contact you if you are one of the lucky winners, so make sure to include your email address along with your comment. You can use the words (at) or (dot) instead of the symbols.

4. Leave me a comment and let me know why you would love to win a copy. The giveaway will end on December 11th, and I will notify the winners at that time by email.