Mailbox Monday and It's Monday...What Are You Reading?

Mailbox Monday
is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.
We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

I was a lucky winner at Ryan's blog Wordsmithsonia a few weeks ago. Below are the ARCs that I won!Hush, Hush- so can't wait to read this one!!
Bees and Mist- I wanted this since the first time I saw the beautiful cover.
The Magicians- Very excited to have won this one!!!
Primitive- new to me author and it looks very suspenseful!!
The Amanda Project - which is missing from the photo because I gave it to an aspiring writer at my middle school. I thought this book was perfect for her!!

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Hosted by Sheila
One Persons Journey Through a World of Books
Weekly meme where we discuss the books you've read
and those you plan to read in the coming week.

Here are the books on deck this week:

Review: Love and War: Finding the Marriage You Dreamed Of

With refreshing openness that will grab readers from the first page, the Eldredges candidly discuss their own marriage and the insights they’ve gained from the challenges they faced. Each talks independently to the reader about what they’ve learned, giving their guidance personal immediacy and a balance between the male and female perspectives that has been absent from all previous books on this topic. They begin LOVE & WAR with an obvious but necessary acknowledgement: Marriage is fabulously hard. They advise that the sooner we get the shame and confusion off our backs, the sooner we'll find our way through.

LOVE & WAR shows couples how to fight for their love and happiness, calling men and women to step into the great adventure God has waiting for them together. Walking alongside John and Stasi Eldredge, every couple can discover how their individual journeys are growing into a story of meaning much greater than anything they could do or be on their own.


Guest Reviewer: Tracy's Thoughts:

I’ve read a few other books by John & Stasi Eldredge and I really enjoy the personal stories that they share, stories of the difficult struggles they have faced individually and as a couple. I appreciate that they put it all out there to help others work through their struggles. However, I was disappointed because so much of the information in Love & War was a repeat from other books I’ve read (Captivating and Wild at Heart). This book is written for couples so it covers both the strength of men and the beauty of women. It is my opinion that you should read this book first.

One of the most profound lessons of Love & War for me was that a couple’s heart is to fight a great battle TOGETHER. So many times we get stuck in a rut and focus on the day to day things that must be done. Our focus should be on what we want to accomplish together. The Eldredge’s point out that if we don’t find a great battle to face together, we will start one with each other.

Love & War also discusses the ways that Satan attacks our marriage by playing on our weaknesses and our past. But as Christians we need to remember that when we become complacent, GOD also sends disruptions. These disruptions are meant to be a wakeup call to refocus our efforts together.

It was just a nice reminder that true love always puts others first. If I spend more time finding ways to love my husband and working on the log in my own eye, I won’t have nearly as much time to focus on all of the things he’s done to “wrong me”.

*** Many thanks to my friend Tracy for reading and reviewing this book for me.

This book was provided for review by the Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

To learn more about or purchase these books at RandomHouse.com:

Six Sentence Saturday

Welcome to Six Sentence Saturday.
Where I try to express my thoughts on recent reads using only 6 sentences!!!!.
At the end of each review I will post a
rating scale of 1-5 using the cute and original (lol) Playing Cards.
Rating scale will be as follows:

5 of Hearts- You must read this book NOW!!
4 of Hearts- A great read, put it on your TBR list.
3 of Hearts- Glad I read but no big deal
2 of Hearts- Why did I finish this?
Joker Card - Don't bother (why did I?)

All Graphic Novel reviews today folks!! The pictures are pages taken from each graphic novel and not their cover.




French Milk - Lucy Knisley
** I've read mixed thoughts on this one and decided that I really needed to read it for myself. I'm glad that I did. I enjoyed reading about Lucy's life and most especially the time she spent in France with her mother. I tend to like to read about the mundane things in life and so reading about what she ate everyday did not bother me but rather made me want to spend six weeks living in Paris without a care! I loved her drawings, writing, and the occasional photo that she included into this graphic novel. It might not be exciting for some, but I enjoyed it quite a bit!



My Rating:









The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam - Ann Marie Fleming
** This graphic novel strikes me more as a scrapbook from days gone by. The author never knew her Great-Grandfather but with the help of relatives, magic museums, and the internet she was able to put a time line to her grandfather's life. One of the reasons that I enjoyed this one so much is the genealogical aspect. I love researching my family heritage and Fleming's background is colorful. Her research took her to Australia, China, Hungary...she was a globe-trotter for sure. I learned a lot about the traveling magic shows and vaudeville back in its heyday and this graphic novel gives you a fascinating look into this time period!
My Rating:







The Color of Earth - Kim Dong Hwa
** If you get the opportunity to read this, I suggest that you go to the back of the book and read the essay entitled, "Painting the Lives of Women with Rain and Flowers." (it helps explain how Korean culture views a girl becoming a young woman-very insightful) This graphic novel is a very detailed look into the life of a young Korean girl coming into her sexuality. I love how various stages of her life are reflected in what kind of flower she likes or a certain boy may give to her. The power of rain and what it symbolizes is very poetic and beautiful too. I never looked at going through puberty as a beautiful ritual but after reading Color of Earth, I've come to appreciate that time in my life a bit more. I have already requested books 2 and 3 because I'm totally captivated by Ehwa's story.
My Rating:

Accomplice Press, LLC, Your Partner in Good Reading

I was approached by Karen from Accomplice Press to see if I would be interested in reading and reviewing any of their books on my blog. I told her that most of the genres that they featured interested me and that I would love to help support a "little" publishing house. I really like that they are out there giving the average writer an opportunity to be published. Here's is my guest post from Karen Jones, Promotions Manager of Accomplice Press. Also, this company is based in MICHIGAN!!!

Curvalicious: A New Endeavor, A New Kind of Heroine ______________________________________________________________________________

Accomplice Press is extremely excited to announce our new specialty line of books called Curvalicious. These novella length romance stories will feature strong, intelligent, sexy, voluptuous women. Our heroines will land the man of their dreams without losing a pound or changing their appearance and they will all get the happily ever after they deserve.

As curvy women and publishers we see that there is an entire group of vivacious females who are not being portrayed in traditional romance series. All one has to do is glance at the cover art to see what most publishers believe a sexy woman looks like. Real women come in every shape and size and we all have allure. This line will spotlight positive, life affirming relationships that we all dream of having. After all, we read romance books because we like a good love story that makes us smile and keeps us warm even on a cold, Michigan winter's night. Our line will have two heat levels because we understand that every reader has a different idea of what true romance should be. There will be Curvalicious Sweet which will have sensual love scenes, but no explicit language or sex and Curvalicious Spicy which is erotic romance containing explicit language and sex scenes.

Curvalicious is DJ Alling's baby, our inspirational Co-Founder, CEO, and Editor sums up why she designed this line in this moving quote: "Society and the media have convinced women that men won't find you attractive if you wear double-digit sizes. This is reinforced by the romance book industry. The leading terms used to describe a heroine are slender, thin, lithe, small, and tiny. Real women read romances, and real women deserve to be able to relate to the heroines. Romance stories are about fantasies, and as a large woman, I personally do not find it satisfying to fantasize about a man touching a body that I can't relate to. I also happen to know that men love women of all sizes. Sexy comes from within. That is why I created Curvalicious."

Accomplice Press is an independent boutique-style press but unlike most, we are a full service publisher. Our specialty is cultivating the rare relationship between author and publisher into a true partnership. We may be the new girls on the block but we have years of combined experience in the industry and always strive for excellence. All of our staff were authors first; this gives us a unique perspective on publishing. We offer print and e-book formats showcasing originality, fully developed characters, deep plots, intelligent voice, and enticing dialogue.



For the staff at Accomplice Press the most exciting part of this project is that we want you the reader to have a chance to become published authors. To kick off this new endeavor we are hosting a writing contest beginning on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2010 and ending on May 14, 2010. The company will be accepting submissions in two different categories, one sweet and one spicy. On May 28, 2010 two winning entries will be chosen, announced on Accomplicepress.com, then contracted and published in eBook format. The top three submissions of each category will also be included in the first Curvalicious print anthology.

Curvalicious submissions must be sent to curvecontest@accomplicepress.com and must be received no later than midnight May 14, 2010 to be considered for the first print release. All the details and guidelines for entries are available at accomplicepress.com Our company is constantly searching for distinctive stories that need to be told but are often overlooked by literary agents and large warehouse style publishers. So at this time we are also holding an "open call" to any author searching for a publisher.

Accomplice Press will be attending Romcon in Denver this July; we would love to see you all there! Please join Accomplice Press Chatter http://accomplicepress.ning.com/ to stay updated on all of our upcoming news.

Happy Reading,

Karen Jones

Promotions Manager, Accomplice Press

Review: Tainted by Brooke Morgan

Holly Barrett first saw Jack Dane early one morning—tall, tan, and so heartbreakingly handsome he took her breath away. He also seemed like the last person to disrupt her quiet, uneventful days with her sensitive daughter, Katy. But the charming, enigmatic Englishman has blown into her small Cape Cod town like a brisk summer wind off the bay.

He sweeps Holly off her feet, and is soon touching the lives of everyone she deeply cares about. But is Jack the considerate, concerned gentleman he appears to be—or is there a very different creature lurking below the surface? Has a monster entered her life . . . and how far will Holly have to go to save the person she loves more than anyone else in the world?

My Thoughts:

I was totally blown away by the fact that this is Brooke Morgan's first book! She has written a real page-turner with Tainted. I knew from reading the synopsis that there was a sinister element within the pages but I wasn't expecting to actually like the person responsible for the menacing under tones. Holly is a character that will capture your heart immediately. She's shy, reserved, and old-fashioned. She's guarded with her heart and when Jack enters her life, she's at first afraid, but with the approval of her grandfather, jumps into this wonderful life promised to her. There are warning signs along the way, but Holly does what anyone who is madly in love does, she makes excuses for the behavior and pushes it out of her mind. This is a story about that adage, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Highly Recommended!!

Thanks again to TLC for asking me to be a part of this wonderful book tour .


Check out other tour stops here.

Library Loot- February 10

Hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at Reading Adventures.
We share what we each picked up at the library during the week.

Dragon Keeper (Rain Wild Chronicles #1) - Robin Hobb
** I've been a fan of Robin Hobb's for years. If you're looking for an excellent fantasy writer look no further!! Start with the Farseer Trilogy. I hope it lives up to my expectations!!!






Look Again - Lisa Scottoline
** Someone had this book on their blog...again I forgot to mark where I read about it, but oh well. It sounds like a gripping read!!
Synopsis: When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a “Have You Seen This Child?” flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again, and her heart stops—the child in the photo is identical to her adopted son, Will. Her every instinct tells her to deny the similarity between the boys, because she knows her adoption was lawful. But she’s a journalist and won’t be able to stop thinking about the photo until she figures out the truth. And she can’t shake the question: if Will rightfully belongs to someone else, should she keep him or give him up?


Secrets of Eden - Chris Bohjalian
** I love this author!! My love affair started with Midwives and I've pretty much read every book he's written with the exception of Skeletons at the Feast. Diane rated this a 4 star book so I know it will be good!!!
Synopsis: “Chris Bohjalian has always known how to keep the pages turning. In his latest novel, a small Vermont hamlet has been racked by a well-established couple's apparent murder-suicide. Bohjalian describes the aftermath of that ruinous night in varied voices, effortlessly slipping into the heads of the shaken local pastor, the no-nonsense deputy state attorney, and the best-selling author whose own past draws her to the scene of the crime. . .[A] study of guilt and grief.

Books Read in 2010 to date: 28
Number of Books Checked out from the library:18

Teaser Tuesdays and It's Tuesday...Where Are You?

It's Tuesday...Where Are You?

I'm trying to get my cousin, Bartleby,and the orphans away from Rock Jaw and back to the forest. We're having a really hard time. Every where we turn someone wants to eat us !!!









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TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

Here's my teaser: A page from this fantastic graphic novel!