Love by the Book by Angela Scavone

About the Book

Fairytales don’t always work out the way you plan.

Jenn Taylor has been with her husband, Jack, since they were in college. They had a fairytale life plan. They were going to finish college, get married, and have three perfect children all two and a half years apart.

Before they knew it, the three perfect children become four not-so-perfect children. They find themselves so busy keeping a handle on work and children, they don’t have the time or energy to keep the spark of romance in their marriage.

Jenn complains to her friends, who suggest she should recreate some of the scenes from her much loved romance novels and surprise her husband.

All the while, she is trying to contend with three boys who do not know how to stay out of trouble and an environmentally and socially conscious daughter who is trying to become a vegan.

Is her marriage doomed to stay in a rut forever? Will she finally succeed in bringing the romance back? Or will she end up permanently injuring her husband with all the romantic scene mishaps?

About the Author

This is the first published work for Angela Scavone, who lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, sharing her home with her father and much loved trio of pups. She currently works for the Board of Education behind the scenes, supporting and analyzing student data, however, in her spare time, apart from her avid love of storytelling, she likes to read and spend time with family and friends.

MY REVIEW

I found Love by the Book hilarious. Parts of this book are flat out hysterical and had me laughing out loud! I love the main characters and the way they interact together. I found them incredibly believable and relatable. The storyline held my interest from start to finish and I really enjoyed the author's writing style. 

The writing is very well done- especially for a first time author. In my reviewing experience first time books are often riddled with mistakes and that certainly was not the case with Love by the Book. 

This is an easy to read, all-around fun romance novel that I am happy to recommend!

Thanks so much to Angela Scavone for providing me with a free e-copy of this book to review. 

Love on the Line by Deeanne Gist

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Love on the Line Bethany House (October 1, 2011) by Deeanne Gist

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

After a short career in elementary education, Deeanne Gist retired to raise her four children. Over the course of the next fifteen years, she ran a home accessory and antique business, became a member of the press, wrote freelance journalism for national publications such as People, Parents, Parenting, Family Fun, Houston Chronicle and Orlando Sentinel, and acted as CFO for her husband’s small engineering firm--all from the comforts of home.

Squeezed betwixt-and-between all this, she read romance novels by the truckload and even wrote a couple of her own. While those unpublished manuscripts rested on the shelf, she founded a publishing corporation for the purpose of developing, producing and marketing products that would reinforce family values, teach children responsibility and provide character building activities.

After a few short months of running her publishing company, Gist quickly discovered being a "corporate executive" was not where her gifts and talents lie. In answer to Gist’s fervent prayers, God sent a mainstream publisher to her door who licensed her parenting I Did It!® product line and committed to publish the next generation of her system, thus freeing Gist to return to her writing.

Eight months later, she sold A Bride Most Begrudging to Bethany House Publishers. Since that debut, her very original, very fun romances have rocketed up the bestseller lists and captured readers everywhere. Add to this two consecutive Christy Awards, three RITA nominations, rave reviews, and a growing loyal fan base, and you’ve got one recipe for success.

Her latest releases, Beguiled, Maid To Match, and Love on the Line are now available.

Gist lives in Texas with her husband of twenty-eight years and their border collie. They have four grown children. Click here to find out the most up-to-the-minute news about Dee.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Rural switchboard operator Georgie Gail is proud of her independence in a man's world ... which makes it twice as vexing when the telephone company sends a man to look over her shoulder.

Dashing Luke Palmer is more than he appears though. He's a Texas Ranger working undercover to infiltrate a notorious gang of train robbers. Repairing telephones and tangling with this tempestuous woman is the last thing he wants to do.  But when his stakeout puts Georgie in peril, he realizes more than his job is on the line.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Love on the Line, go HERE.

First Love by Michelle Sutton * Giveaway!! * CLOSED

This giveaway is now CLOSED. Congrats to Barbjan10 for winning.

Information taken from MichelleSutton.net

About the book First Love  (October 1, 2010) $ 5.99

Josiah and Tara had enjoyed acting in their high school plays. They had also been each others first lover... in fact; most of the time they'd spent together had been in Tara's bed. When Josiah became a Christian, he left Tara to go to college and didn't look back.

Four years later, Josiah is back in town when his father has a near-fatal heart attack. When they meet up again they realize how much their separation had hurt each of them. But now Tara is a Christian and is trying to live a life that is pleasing to God.

Josiah wants Tara back, but neither knows how to relate to each other without the physical intimacy they once shared. They are determined to do things right this time, but find it more challenging than they'd anticipated.

MY REVIEW

I have loved all of Michelle's books but for some reason this one just really struck a cord with me... maybe it is because I share a name with the main character Tara, my son has the middle name Josiah and there is even an Autistic boy in the story named Aiden (just like my son!).

But honestly it was more than that. I thought the story seemed very natural and flowed so well. The characters were real and dealt with temptation and sin and God without any sugarcoating. Michelle always writes with vivid truth and I love that about her books. I am rather tired of the typical Christian romance where no one does anything wrong and everyone lives happily ever after and you know the ending right from the start... it gets old after awhile. First Love kept my attention right from the start and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the characters.

First Love is the second book in a series but it could easily be read as a stand-alone novel. If you like a good romance than you will enjoy this fabulous book!


And because Michelle is just so awesome she is offering up a free copy of First Love for one of my readers!


WOULD YOU LIKE TO WIN THIS BOOK?

Just tell me if you have read any of Michelle Sutton's books yet! That's it!

* BONUS ENTRIES*

For additional entries you can do any of the following- be sure to LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each thing that you do!

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11. publicize this giveaway in any way on any site and let me know that you did (ex. adding it to a Mr. Linky on a giveaway site etc.) 

This giveaway is open to readers in Canada and the USA. I will choose a winner on November 15, 2010.

Winner will be chosen with random.org and notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to reply to my email or I will choose a new winner.