Debut Book Battle 2010

The books that have been chosen to move on to the 4th round have been announced and I will be helping the judge......(drum roll please).......in no particular order:

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Brief Description:  According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance.  Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie - she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.











The Season by Sarah Maclean

Brief Description:  Seventeen year old Lady Alexandra is strong-willed and sharp-tongued - in a house full of older brothers and their friends, she had to learn to hold her own.  Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London.  yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe, respectable, and wealthy.  But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet.

When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth.  But will Alex's heart be stolen in the process?  In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possibly have time to worry about finding a husband?  Romance abounds as this year's season begins!



We seem to have a battle of the Sarah's on our hands!  Just from the descriptions, I have a suspicion of which one I will like the best, but I can't give any hints away until Alyssa over at The Shady Glade gives us the OK...which will be after the winner of this round is decided.

To see which books moved forward in other brackets, stop on by The Shady Glade and check out Alyssa's posts there!!

Weekly Finds 6/24/110

Twenty Boy SummerDark Deceptions by Dee Davis

From the back of the book:  Covert operations expert Nash Brennon has spent the last eight years trying to forget Annie Gallagher, his former field partner and the only woman he ever loved.  Annie betrayed him when he needed her most, then vanished without a trace.  Now suddenly she's back in the game - this time as a suspected traitor and threat to national security.

Annie's son has been kidnapped by political terrorists.  The price for his life?  Assassinate a UN ambassador.  When Nash and his group find her, the smoldering passion between Annie and the man she swore she'd never contact again blazes out of control.  Their enemy's endgame is personal, and one false move could cost them their lives.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

From the electronic description:  The first volume in the critically acclaimed Temeraire series.

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain's defense by taking to the skies atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.  When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweep Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future and an unexpected kinship with an extraordinary creature.  Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as a master of the dragon Temmeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle.  For as France's own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte's boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism by fire.

Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo by Heather Wardell
From the electronic description:  When Candice's in-laws died in a car accident eight months ago, she lost her husband Ian too.  After only two years of marriage their guilt and pain haven left them living together but apart.  During Ian's month-long trip overseas, Candice places to decide if her marriage can be saved, but when the first man she ever loved is the new client at work, she wonders what she truly wants from life and love.

The Season by Sarah MacLean

From the electronic description:  Seventeen year old Lady Alexandra is strong-willed and sharp-tongued - in a house full of older brothers and their friends, she had to learn to hold her own.  Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London.  Yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe respectable, and wealthy.  But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet.

When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, to uncover the truth.  But will Alex's heart be stolen in the process?  In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possible have time to worry about finding a husband?  Romance abounds as this year's season begins!


Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

From the electronic description:  According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meed one boy every day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance.  Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie - she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

Vacation

I have not been around to post many reviews over the past couple weeks.  I have 5 or 6 that I need get up here.  I've most of them written and will write the rest in the car on the way to go camping this weekend.  I should have them up over Monday - Tuesday.

Weekly Finds: 6/19/10

The Clouds Beneath the Sun: A Novel by Mackenzie Ford - received from librarything early review program.

From the back of the book:  Kenya, 1961.  As a small plane carrying Natalie Nelson lands at a remote airstrip in the Seregeti, Natalie knows she's run just about as far as she can from home.  Trained as an archaeologist, she has accepted an invitation to be part of  a famous excavating team, her first opportunity to escape England and the painful memories of her past.

But before she can get her bearings, the dig is surrounded by controversy involving the Masai people - and murder.  Compounding the tension, Eleanor Deacon, friend of the Masai, who is leading the excavating mission, watches a rift grow between her two handsome sons, Christopher and Jack.  Natalie's growing attraction to Jack soon becomes a passionate affair that turns dangerous when she must give evidence in a trial that could spark even more violence and turmoil.

The startling beauty of the Kenya setting, the tension of looming social upheaval, and the dizzying highs and the crushing lows of a tragic love affair are all captured brilliantly on every page of the extraordinary and unforgettable novel.

Siren of the Waters by Michael Genelin - Barnes and Noble free Fridays.

From the electronic description: Commander Jana Matinova, Slovakian policewoman, pursues a master criminal.






The Glades by Clifton Campbell

From the electronic description:  Jim Longworth is an attractive and brilliant Chicago homicide detective with a reputation for being difficult.  When his captain wrongfully accuses him of sleeping with his wife and shoots him, he is exiled and forced to relocate.  He lands in the sleepy, middle-of-nowhere town of Palm Glade, outside of Florida's Everglades, where sunshine and golf are plentiful and crime is seemingly at a minimum.  But Longworth soon finds out this town isn't quite as idyllic as he originally thought, when murders keep piling up.  Each case pulls Longworth off the golf courses and reluctantly into his element as one of the sharpest homicide detectives to wear a badge.

Love Remains (The Matchmakers) by Kate Dacus

From the electronic description:  Zarah's and Bobby's grandmothers see a chance to bring together high school sweethearts and beat their senior friends in a matrimony challenge.

Book Review: Karma Bites by Stacy Kramer

Karma Bites by Stacy Kramer

As Franny gets ready for the first day of school, she is convinced that her life sucks. She's managed to dye her hair orange, her parents are getting divorced, her two best friends aren't talking to each other, and to top it all off, her crazy grandmother has moved in. Grandma happens to have a few tricks up her sleeves to try and help Franny, but they are only to be used when there are no other options left.


Franny gets her hands on Grandma's trick, a magic box that provides recipes to fix things for you. Franny dives right in and attempts to fix all the things she thinks are wrong with her life, only making things worse. Franny needs to put things back quick, but will she be able to?

This book was just about perfect. The only thing that I really disliked was the way some of the sentences were presented. The characters, especially grandmother, are priceless and unforgettable. The story shows us that sometimes things that seem to be wrong are really what's best in the long run. A great read for teenagers.

3.5/5

Giveaway Link: Pretty Little Liars

The next giveaway over on Teens Read and Write is for a Pretty Little Liars book and tote bag.  The show based on the books just premiered on ABC Family. 

If you want to enter click HERE for more information.

Giveaway Link: The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens

The folks over at Teens Read and Write are hosting several wonderful giveaways this week.  In this one we're given the option of signing up to wind The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens or The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Volume One.  I signed up to win the book.

If you'd like to enter for one or just find out more click HERE .

Book Review: The Raven Saint by Marylu Tyndall

The Raven Saint (Charles Towne Belles) by Marylu Tyndall

The youngest Westcott daughter, Grace, is about to find out a lot about life. She is betrayed and kidnapped by Captain Rafe Dubois, bound to be given to a Spanish don as vengeance for something her father, the Admiral did. Grace instantly turns to prayer and places her life in God's hands only to have him seem to do nothing.

I disliked Grace in a major way at the beginning of this book. She was everything I disliked about preachy Christians that think they are better than everyone else. Thankfully, Rafe was there to somehow show her the error of her ways.

This was quite a complex plot line, with many spins and twists to keep the action going. Rafe comes from a dubious past that is catching up to him, threatening not only him, but Grace, whom he has learned to hold dear. With all these interesting people roaming the pages, I found my favorite to be the little ship cat, Spyglass.

3/5

Book Review: The Blue Enchantress by Marylu Tyndall

The Blue Enchantress (Charles Towne Belles) by Marylu Tyndall

We return to the coast of Charles Towne shortly after Faith is pardoned for piracy and wed to her Captain Waite only to discover that the middle Westcott sister, Hope, has stowed away on a boat for England to be with her lover, Lord Falkland. To her surprise the Lord Falkland has a Mrs. Falkland and Hope is set off at the next port to be sold on the auction block into slavery. An acquaintance from home, Mr. Mason, comes to her rescue, giving half of what he owns to buy her and take her back to her home.

This sets the stage for a trip through a hurricane, a ship wreck, and pirates with quite an odd moral code. While I found Hope to be a spoiled flirtatious brat, there was something endearing and vulnerable about her. Mr. Mason on the other hand is a self-righteous snot, and I didn't particularly care for him until Hope somehow worked her magic.

Once again, Tyndall has introduced not only memorable main characters, but a group of side characters that I fell in love with as well. The story was engaging and entertaining - a great follow up to The Red Siren. The story is once again a Christian tale, but avoids being overly preachy and just becomes another aspect of the story.

4/5

Book Review: The Red Siren by Marylu Tyndall

The Red Siren: Charles Towne Belle Series, Book 1 (Truly Yours Romance Series #29) by Marylu Tyndall

What would you do if you were a girl in colonial America faced with a tough choice? The choice between allowing your father to give you away in marriage to horrible men, or find a way to support yourself. Today that choice would be easy, but in Faith Westcott's time, her options seemed limited. She had to find a way to save not only herself, but her two sisters from what she saw as the horrible fate of marriages that they had no say in. Her choice to try and raise money is an interesting one. She turns to piracy...with the stable hand as her first mate and loud mouth parrot along for the ride.

Few people believe the tales of the fiery red haired captain, the temptress that lures ships to their doom, know only as the Red Siren. But Lt. Dajon Waite has had a run in with her in the past, where she took everything from him, and now he eagerly looks forward to laying his trap to capture her.

Faith beats Dajon at every turn. On the sea and on the land, she leads him in a merry chase that somehow ends up turning into a romance. But what will happen if he ever finds out that she slips to the seas at night to steal from the heavy merchant ships as they come into port?


3.5/5