The Chesapeake Bride Giveaway and Review

I love great series of books that don't stop at the traditional 3 book trilogy that most do. It's like you get so involved in these characters, the small town of St. Dennis and the many people who live, work and fall in love there, all have their own stories created in their own novels. If you have never picked up any of the now eleven novels in the series, and love romances that are built on that small town feel along a beautiful and enchanting seaside community, you will want to pick up all of the books in the Chesapeake Diary series from Mariah Stewart.

In the Chesapeake Bride, the eleventh in the series, Cass Logan is an architect with a big vision of restoring the small community of Cannonball Island that has spent the last 200 plus years raising families, burying their loved ones and in most cases left behind as the ocean claimed more and more of the smaller islands. Now in disrepair and barely standing Cass' father, owner of Deiter Construction has purchased all 22 lots with the idea of building a new community. But with Cass' imagination and information she has gleaned from the oldest of residents who lived and loved those who made the island a home, she wants to restore as much of the original home as possible using the reclaimed materials and keep the original look and feel of the homes that were once built there.

With each encounter of a new person she meets from St. Dennis, her ideas and creativity are manifesting them in ways that has her winning the support of the surrounding town and even potential buyers before the homes have even broke ground. The only thing that she is certain about is that she isn't about to fall for local boy Owen Parker, whom she perceives as a player and heart breaker. When she runs into a potential huge delay in her project, a sunken vessel at the mouth of the river which would mean not being able to build docks for the homes she had originally designed, she has to rely on Owen whose been hired to salvage and determine the nature of the vessel and hopefully open the way up to continued work on the island home renovations. Not only that her father has placed the entire project in her hands and at this stage it seems like all hope might just sink!

I received The Chesapeake Bride by Mariah Stewart compliments of Simon and Schuster Publishers. I have read every single one of this books in the series and really LOVE this one as probably my most favorite. You have a single attractive adrenaline travel junkie, Owen Parker, who is not about to be rejected by any woman, including Cass Logan. Yet the more time they spend together, not doing the traditional date stuff, the more they begin to learn about the true person hiding behind the shell most see on the outside only. But like all good things, it can't just end with a happily ever after ending you'd expect. Nope this one has more debris than what is laying on the ocean floor that seem determined to keep our favorite characters separated. You'll find out how it all ends by picking up this novel, but I must warn you, be prepared for another potential sequel where things might wrap up there instead. Am I giving you a premonition or simply trying to create a desire to pick this one up? Only time will tell. I'd give this one a 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about The Chesapeake Bride, Mariah Stewart or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

The Chesapeake Bride by Mariah Stewart

You can find Mariah Stewart on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on The Chesapeake Bride, please visit Simon and Schuster Publisher's website. 

Thanks to the generosity of Simon and Schuster's Publisher, they are offering a copy of Driftwood Point, the 10th book in the series to one lucky follower of my blog. Here's all you need to do to enter to win.

1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart or "Like" my Facebook page, Reviews From The Heart. 

2. Be a resident of the US or have a US mailing address. No P.O. Boxes please!

3. Leave a comment either below on this blog post or on the Facebook page tell me why you'd love to win a copy of Driftwood Point. Please include your email address below along with your comment. You can use the words (at) or (dot) instead of the symbols. Facebook users, just leave me a comment and if you are chosen as the lucky winner, I will Private Message you for the information required. Blog Followers: No email address, means I have no way of reaching you to let you know if you are the lucky winner.

The giveaway will end on September 21st, so please be sure to enter as many times as you want. For an extra entry, share on your social media pages and I will give you an entry for each link you post and share on either Facebook or this blog post.

Driftwood Point

I am so blessed to have been a part of Mariah Stewart's amazing series, The Chesapeake Diaries from the very beginning and have lovingly enjoyed each of the novels that she introduces. I truly hope it never ends. Driftwood Point is the 10th novel to enter into the world of the residents of St. Dennis, a charming seaside community along the Chesapeake Bay. Once more readers are taken back to that small town sense of community and companionship you dream really exists in the world.

As the art display of Lisbeth Parker is about to make its debut in the small town, everyone is generally excited to have one of their own, now about to become a well-known name in the world of art. Even though she was raised along the Chesapeake Bay in the nearby Cannonball Island, her paintings are that of New York cityscapes and that of Central Park during the changing seasons. People are truly drawn to them in such a way but even her family wonders why someone who spent her whole life living on the Bay isn't drawn to capture the life of the island and its town before it soon is abandoned much like the beach cottages that lie desolate all over the small community.

She returns to spend some time figuring out why she no longer has the inspiration to paint anymore as many of her painting in her New Jersey apartment now sit vacant and unfinished. Perhaps its the change in her own life as she walked away from an engagement to a man she no longer loved. Is the island calling her back? She now is helping her 100-year-old great grandmother Ruby, run the general store on the island and finding some sort of inspiration she has been missing. Maybe it's time to renovate the family's deteriorating cottage along Driftwood Point and start over again. Whatever life is ready to hand her, she is more than ready.

Alec Jansen has had a crush on Lisbeth since the fifth grade and is more than thrilled when she moves back to Cannonball Island with her great-grandmother, but soon finds himself defending his actions to help her renovate a few things in the general store in lieu of payment by restoring an original skipjack that his family had made. She believes that Alec has taking advantage of her great-grandmother because she always believed the boat should stay as part of her family home. Now it just seems like things are changing and Lis can't do anything to stop them. Alec meanwhile has been hired by a land developer to look into the abandoned homes now all over Cannonball Island in the hopes of making a tidy profit off of buying them, demolishing them and rebuilding something more large and extravagant in their place and his eyes are set primarily on the 22 acres of Driftwood Point.

I received Driftwood Point by Mariah Stewart compliments of Simon and Schuster Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of this novel in exchange for my personal and unbiased review. Coming back to St. Dennis has always been huge favorite of mine and this entire series would make for a great summer read. But trust me, while each can stand on its own, you won't know each of the resident's stories until you read them as they have moved or married within the town limits of St. Dennis. This is truly a charming and heart-warming series and one I am so excited to see whenever there is a new addition. By the way this one ends, looks like there is more in store for the residents of St. Dennis in the very near future. For me this one is another 5 out of 5 stars!

For more information about Driftwood Point, Mariah Stewart or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Driftwood Point by Mariah Stewart

You can find Mariah Stewart on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Driftwood Point, please visit Simon and Schuster's website. 

At River's Edge - Giveaway and Review

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Mariah Stewart launches her latest novel in the Chesapeake Diaries series, At River's Edge! If you love romance stories set in a small seaside village, much like Debbie Macomber's Cedar Creek series, you will definitely want to grab these. This is her seventh novel in the series and like most readers who become addicted to their favorite author's series, I am thrilled that Mariah didn't stop at the standard three novels in a series. And before you ask, yes there is going to be an eighth novel which you get a sneak peek at when you get to the end of this one. You can read these as stand alones, but in order to understand who all the characters are that are referenced in these novels, you will want to start at the beginning. I have listed them in order at the conclusion of this review for your reference and buying list.

In At River's Edge, we are introduced to Sophie Enright who is a hard working and successful prosecutor for the DA's office who literally had the world at her fingertips. Great job, Chris, a man who she had fallen in love with, and was in the beginning stages of taking that next step when she found him with someone else in the backseat of his car in the parking ground of the law firm they both work at. Now thrown for a tailspin and having to face him and her every day at the office, she is looking for a change of pace. Perhaps even a change in career and place to live, so she takes some time off of work and heads to visit her brother, Jessie who lives in St. Dennis to spend some time getting a different perspective on what to do next and to spend time with him before his wedding to Brooke.

Jesse tries to convince Sophie to join the family law firm Enright and Enright who have been practicing law in St. Dennis as far back as any of them can remember. With her uncle and grandfather having retired, Jesse has more than enough cases for her to join the firm.Only she's not sure if she wants to continue in law or try something else, like running a diner, if she can find a building she can rent that is affordable, something she has always LOVED doing since she spent her summers working as a short order cook, but Jesse thinks she's crazy to try anything like that.  However when an abandoned piece of property that used to be a former restaurant comes on the market, perhaps Sophie's dreams are just beginning to fall in place after all.

I received At River's Edge by Mariah Stewart compliments of TLC Book Tours and Ballantine Books for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own. It's hard not to rush through this book because you just want redemption of some sort for Sophie after everything she has gone through with Chris, that you are turning pages as fast as you can. Yet at the same time, the story is so good you don't want it to end. Ah power struggle until the next book comes out in the Spring of 2014. There are such a host of secondary characters like the mysterious ghost of Rose, Sophie's grandmother that died twenty years ago that still frequents the house her grandfather lives in alone. Her fragrance of gardenia's is always present when she is near even though no gardenias are present in the house or in the garden, and it provides a sense of lasting romance that carries over from Sophie's grandparents and hoping that she, too can find love that transcends the passage of time like they have. A poignant love story of what all romance is about and just in time for Valentine's Day. I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars. I can't wait for On Sunset Beach in the Spring! A must read for romantics at heart.

For more information about At River's Edge, Mariah Stewart or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

At River's Edge by Mariah Stewart

You can find Mariah Stewart on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on At River's Edge, please visit TLC Book Tour's website. 

Now for the best part, thanks to TLC Book Tours, they are providing a giveaway copy of At River's Edge to one lucky follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Here are your guidelines to enter:

1. "Like" my Facebook page 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 At River's Edge. Don't forget to include your email address. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

I will notify the winner by email when the giveaway ends on February 14th. 

For those of you that want to pick up the novels in the Chesapeake Diaries Series, here they are in order:

#1 - Coming Home
#2 - Home Again
#3 - Almost Home
#4 - Hometown Girl
#5 - Home for the Summer
#6 - Long Way Home
#7 - At River's Edge