All About {n}

Sunday

Giveaway Results: How to Score and Seduce Me

Winners are in! (drumroll please)

How to Score by Robin Wells

Seduce Me by Robyn DeHart

Jessica (BookLover)

Emma (new winner)

made4books

Maureen

Jenny N. (new winner)

Congrats you guys. Winners were chosen using random.org. I will be e-mailing each of you and/or leaving you a comment. You have until Thursday to provide me with your mailing addresses. If I haven't heard from you by Friday, a new winner will be chosen.

If you haven't entered already, I also have giveaways for The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (ends 8/14/09); Ravens by George Dawes Green - audiobook (ends 8/21/09) and The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand - audiobook (ends 8/21/09). More giveways will be posted throughout next week so keep an eye out for those.

Thursday

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre brings us back to that final moment in Pride & Prejudice - it picks up right before Lizzie and Mr. Darcy’s wedding and takes us along with them on their wedding tour. To her surprise they will not be touring the Lake District but instead will be traveling through Europe. Shortly after their nuptials, Lizzie starts seeing some changes in Mr. Darcy’s demeanor - could it possibly be that he is becoming even more aloof then he was when they first met? Her worrying increases when he will not visit the marriage bed - but she still tries to make the best of their trip and makes herself as pleasant as possible while introduced to some of his "old" friends, family and acquaintances.

Ms. Grange does a wonderful job in building tension throughout her novel. Yet through it all she makes it believable enough to where there are no discrepancies between Pride and Prejudice and her sequel. She does a fine job in weaving Mr. Darcy’s "vampiric" attributes with what we already knew about him. As the Darcys travel through Paris, to the Swiss Alps, Venice, and Italy - we are taken from splendid balls, to meeting a mysterious Count who strangely resides in a mirror-less castle, the threat of a mob lynching, to beautiful masquerade balls and eventually to being the guests of a Prince - whose actions might not be so princely. You fear for the innocent Lizzy and hope that their love can overcome Mr. Darcy’s deep, dark secret. Yet Ms. Grange does justice to the Lizzy we know and love - she continues to be the strong, opinionated young woman that stole our hearts.

I loved that the story was riddled with garlic, cross’s, mirrors - or a lack thereof, remote bats and plenty of superstitious townfolk who cross themselves when the Darcys and their acquaintances pass by. All these minor details were interspersed throughout the story and couldn’t help bringing a smile to my face.

Full of plenty of mystery, intrigue and adventure not to mention the scrumptious Mr. Darcy - a vampire! This is Austen fan-fiction at its best and required reading for any lover of Pride and Prejudice.

Wednesday

Benny & Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti

It all started with a few dirty looks over a cemetery bench.

Shrimp is a lonely widow who visits her husband’s grave during her lunch break almost every day. She sits there and contemplates what went wrong with her marriage, her husbands unexpected death and where she plans on heading with her life. Benny is a quiet man, he visits his parents’ gravesite - plants trees, works on keeping everything nice and neat, it’s this whole lavish affair that he performs to his great satisfaction... all while wondering over the sad woman he sees sitting on "his" bench. And then one day they look at one another and they smile - and it was like the sun, moon and stars were in those smiles.

Shrimp’s smile persuades Benny to have a somewhat stalker-ish moment and he decides to follow her back to work one day. He cleverly starts a conversation with her and eventually invites her out to lunch. And thus starts their grand love affair. Although Benny and Shrimp are very different people - for one, Benny is a dairy farmer, he works long and hard days, he is alone and in need of a woman (his mother recently passed away and she was the one who took care of all the household work). Shrimp, on the other hand, likes living in the city, she’s educated, works as a librarian and loves her small colorless apartment. Yet, there’s a reason they say "Opposites Attract". But can their love for one another overcome these differences?

Benny & Shrimp was originally published in Swedish and has (luckily for us) been translated. I found it to be such a sweet and unique story about two average people (don’t get thrown off by the description of a middle-aged couple - they are both in their early thirties) who find each other and really don’t know what to do with each other - yet still make a go of it. I had some mixed emotions over the love that they shared - there were times where I literally laughed out loud and then there were times where I was so sad that I had tears in my eyes. I loved how each chapter switches from Benny to Shrimp - so you get both sides of the story. I really enjoyed this because you would see how they both felt over a certain thing (i.e. how excited she was about taking Benny to her favorite opera; how tired he was from working all day and sleeping through the whole thing). Benny & Shrimp were clumsy, honest, funny and just a treat to read about. Ms. Mazetti’s words were translated beautifully - she’s a very simple writer and I found that I really enjoyed her style. This is a bittersweet tale of an unconventional love that you should definitely consider reading.

Tuesday

Seduce Me by Robyn DeHart

Fielding Gray has been hired by Solomon’s (otherwise known as the Legend Hunters) to help return a missing artifact. This artifact is described as quite dangerous and the sooner it is returned the better... it is the legendary Pandora’s Box . Fielding knows of the tales surrounding the box but he is more concerned with how much money they plan on paying him to go on this mission. He isn’t very fond of Solomon’s or its members - his father was once a member and Fielding always felt that they lured his father away from him with the promises of wealth and notoriety. So needless to say, he is not too happy when contacted by them but upon an agreeable sum, he is off to find Pandora’s Box.

Esme Worthington finds herself in a tough predicament when she finds two men ransacking her study/library and seeking a "key". She has no idea what key they are referring to and since they obviously don’t have time for her nonsense, they bound, gag and carry off with her. She is taken to a cathedral where they eventually find Pandora’s Box. Much to her delight really, since she is a scholar and the focus of her studies has been on none other than ..... you got it, Pandora’s Box.

Fielding finds Esme shackled to a wall, wearing only her nightdress, cold, tired and well, passed out (thanks to a blunt hit to the head). He is able to save her and retrieve the box... but this is where their problems start. For Esme cannot resist the lure of "peeking" into the box and next thing you know she is shackled with a bracelet inscribed with the curse -- LUST. Upon some quick investigating on their part they find that she has until the next lunar eclipse to remove the bracelet... if not she wil DIE. From one adventure to another, they must find a way to remove the bracelet, discover the truth of Fielding's father's death, return the box to its rightful place... all while Esme's feelings for Fielding get rather "lustful". Will they be able to save the day or will they succumb to the curse that is Pandora's Box..

Firstly, I want to say that I loved this! Fielding and Esme were these wonderful characters that complimented one another perfectly. Their interaction was just plain fun to read. I thought the story was well-balanced with both romance and adventure. The story flowed just right where the pages would fly by. It gave you a feel of The Mummy (you know, the one with Brendan Fraser) so it was a different type of adventure for me - but one that I quickly fell in love with. This is Ms. DeHart's first in the Legend Hunters series - I can't wait for the next one.

Full of romance, mystery, likeable characters and plenty of adventure. This is one I highly recommend.

GIVEAWAY: I have 5 copies of SEDUCE ME by Robyn DeHart to giveaway.

As always, leave a comment for one entry. Second entry if you follow, third if you follow on Twitter, and so forth.

Rules: Books will be delivered directly from Publisher so giveaway is only available to residents of the US and Canada. No P.O. Boxes please. Winners will be drawn this Sunday, August 9.

Monday

Giveaway Results: My Forbidden Desire

Winners are in! (drumroll please)

If you haven't entered already, I also have a giveaways for How to Score by Robin Wells (ends 8/07/09); The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (ends 8/14/09); Ravens by George Dawes Green - audiobook (ends 8/21/09) and The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand - audiobook (ends 8/21/09). More giveways will be posted throughout next week so keep an eye out for those.

Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon

What if the story we’ve all come to learn and love about Cinderella were not exactly true? What if our vision of the fairy godmother - all plump and rosy - was not accurate?

The story switches back and forth between present day New York and the days leading up to that fateful night where Lil (the Fairy Godmother) is to have Cinderella appear at the ball and have her prince fall madly in love with her, have plenty of children and live happily ever after. At least, that is what was supposed to happen. Lil had no idea that she would fall in love with the prince herself and usurp Cinderella’s place in the prince’s heart.

Lil is now an elderly woman living in New York, struggling to make ends meet, working at a local bookstore. She has been outcasted by her fairy-kin and has struggled to make a living as a human for years. One day at work she meets Victoria (a cool hairdresser with an old soul) and feels a connection with her. And when her boss, George, tells her that he needs a date for a charity ball that he is attending... Lil finds that these similarities could just be the opportunity that she has been waiting for in order to redeem herself.

Although I did not feel much of a connection with Lil, I felt I could relate much more with Victoria. I became intrigued a couple of chapters in and read this very quickly. Ms. Turgeon does a magnificent job describing Lil’s feelings (from falling in love to the depressive state she lives in while residing in NY). I found myself looking forward to the chapters on Cinderella and was surprised by the turns the story took. I really have to say that the ending took me by surprise and, call me cynical, but it somehow worked for me. It was sad, touching, and truly a unique story.

I picked this up thinking that it would be a light, fluffy read about one of my favorite fairytales. Boy was I mistaken. There was surprisingly nothing light in this tale - but don’t let that deter you from reading this darker (somewhat morbid) version of the classic fairytale.