giveaway winners: the hope of refuge

ChristyJan is the lucky winner of The Hope of Refuge!

If anyone wants another chance to win, Cindy Woodsmall is giving away a copy each month (there's also a contest for a quilt on the page).

review: under this unbroken sky by shandi mitchell

Bleak. That’s the one word to describe Under This Unbroken Sky. The novel starts with a brief prologue revealing that by the end of the book three people will be dead. That knowledge kept me going; if I hadn’t known that fact, I may have decided the book was simply too depressing to finish. Nearly every possible bad thing happens to the two families who are connected because the father of one and mother of the other are siblings. At first both families are led by women who are essentially single moms. Maria’s husband is in prison and Anna’s prefers the company of a bottle and other women. Despite that, they actually seem to be doing well; Anna was able to acquire land for both families. Unfortunately everything goes downhill once both husbands return. They get into a dispute over the land, there’s a fire that destroys much of the property and food, and so much more tragedy. It became a little too much to take, especially because the characters were not likable. The adults were irresponsible and most of the children were brats. The one bright spot came when young Lesya convinced Maria to include a chick with a deformity similar to Lesya's own in the batch being purchased; she named it Happiness.
3/5
ARC Review

review and tour: rose house by tina ann forkner

I was pleasantly surprised to discover the “tragic accident” mentioned on Rose House’s back cover is actually a murder mystery. Lillian lost her husband and two young children in a car crash four years ago. Lillian’s sister Geena, who was having an affair with Lillian’s husband(!), survived the crash but ran away before answering any questions. The sisters only knowledge of each other comes through the aunt who raised them; then a threatening phone call forces Geena to get in touch. Now Lillian isn’t sure if the man she’s falling for can be trusted.

The beginning of Rose House confused me a bit; it starts right after Lillian has lost her family then jumps to four years later. The first chapters aren’t labeled as a prologue, so I initially wasn’t sure if I had just missed something when the jump occurred. That was the only misstep I experienced though. I appreciated how the details were revealed as well as how it wasn’t clear until the end whether someone really was stalking Lillian.
5/5

Other participating sites include:
Carlybird’s Home
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Daysong Reflections
Genre Reviews
Cindy’s Stamping & Reviews
The Attic Girl
A Book Lover Forever
Woven by Words
On the Write Path
Books and Needle Point
Laura Davis
What’s New in Christian Fiction
Put a Ruffle On It
Creative Madness
Michelle V’s Blog
Canadian Lady Bug Reviews
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Jane Austen, Chai Tea, and Me
Found Not Lost
This That and The Other Thing
Just Another New Blog
Never a Dull Moment
Must Read Faster
Finding Hope in Fiction
Jen’s ScribblesBack Cover Reviews
Another Road to Ramble
Embracing Destiny
Christy’s Book Blog
A Well-Watered Garden
Wrighty’s Reads
Pudgy Penguin Perusals

review and tour: the sweetgum ladies knit for love by beth pattillo

Each Knit Lit member has some sort of problem. Eugenie should be desperately happy now that she's married the man she always loved, but some of his congregation (he's a reverend) are making her life difficult since she was never a regular church-goer. Eugenie also recently became guardian to the youngest member of the group; teenaged Hannah was abandoned by her drunk mother. Hannah also struggles in school--not academically, but with peer relationships. Things were going ok until an old friend returned as the star of the football team. The daughter of another Knit Lit member (Merry) wants the football star for herself and makes Hannah feel less than worthy. Merry has issues of her own related to her husband and children. Then there are two young women who have each recently lost a parent and face new realities. The final Knit Lit member has also suffered a loss; her husband passed away and it turns out the financial situation wasn't what he'd led her to believe.

Though closer in age to Camille and Maria, I felt more of a connection to Hannah. Camille and Maria were both wrapped up in their family situations even though neither really wants to be. Camille definitely wants out of her life, but felt she had to stay to care for her ill mother. Maria hasn't formed relationships with anyone (she's a new invite) because she's busy supporting her family--all of whom are capable adults and should support themselves. I haven't read the first book of the Sweetgum series so perhaps their motivations were better explained then, but here I didn't find a connection. Hannah's troubles were best developed. Perhaps I liked her better because as a teenager, she doesn't have as much control over her life. I felt all the adults either needed to stand up for themselves and/or take more responsibility for their choices. It was nice to see the widow starting to find her own way, so I would be interested in getting more of her story should there be a third Sweetgum novel.
3/5

review and tour: the confidential life of eugenia cooper by kathleen y'barbo

Gennie Cooper wants nothing more than to have a Wild West adventure just like Mae Winslow, the heroine of her favorite dime- novels. Each chapter of The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper starts with a bit of Mae’s story. Now I know dime-novels aren’t supposed to be great writing (even Gennie is embarrassed to be caught reading them), but I think I could’ve done without the excerpts. But for whatever reason, Gennie loves those stories enough to pose as a governess for a girl in Colorado when the sister of Gennie’s maid (the real governess) needs some time off to get married. Gennie lives a privileged east coast city life, so she doesn’t exactly realize she’s going to have to spend more time working than having adventures. Her relationship with the boss, a wealthy mine owner, gets off to a horrific start because Gennie continues to act like the spoiled young woman she is and oversteps her place as an employee. This makes Gennie quite unlikable in the beginning. Surely she knows the proper way for servants to act given that she grew up with servants. Fortunately, Gennie sheds some of her selfishness as she gets to know the child whose care she’s been entrusted with.
4/5

giveaway winners: one scream away

Congratulations to Virginia, Anita, Eleni, etriv, and ChristyJan who each have won a copy of One Scream Away. Please email me your address.

giveaway: dark hunger

As part of the Dark Hunger promotional tour, I have five copies for some lucky readers courtesy of Hachette.

This is my review. Here's the publisher description:
"Reporter Annabelle Armstrong will go to any lengths to deliver a story, even track down Quinton Valtrez, a man she believes is a coldhearted assassin. Yet the truth about the darkly sensual Quinton is even more shocking...and the overwhelming desire he ignites is one she vows to resist.

Quinton has fought his demonic powers since he was a child. Now using his gifts for the good of national security, he can't let himself be distracted by the beautiful, determined Annabelle. But his need for her is sudden, fierce--and could soon cost Annabelle her life. For a wicked enemy is out for vengeance, a demon who wants to draw Quinton into a life of pure evil and is willing to use Annabelle as bait. To save her, Quinton must achieve the near impossible: tame the sinister force that is both his inheritance and his curse before it claims him forever."

The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on September 12. Winners will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winners must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.