Carol Moncado

That’s “sicko” like actually sick. Not like… well, Criminal Minds sick.

Have been headache-y all week and today my neck is also feeling it and I’m running a slight fever. 🙁

I did hit my regular NaNo goal yesterday but not my elevated one. Or close enough anyway.

Day 1: 1663

That’s 4 shy of the daily goal. Not too shabby with my head the way it is.

It’s one of those headaches that when you bend over to get something out of the bottom cabinet and then stand back up and the whole head throbs.

Yuck.

I don’t feel TOO horrid. Not like I did when I had strep or when I have bronchitis or whatever. But enough to slow me down some. I’ve fought hard for a bit over 1K words today. I do plan to get another 1K or so before bedtime. Early bedtime.

Plus I talked to Pepper today and she helped me figure out some plot stuff for a different manuscript – the one from Speedbo in March. I won’t say too much about it because it’s going contesting – and there’s always the chance that someone judging could see this. But hey – that’s THREE – count ’em THREE days this week that I got to talk to Pepper!!

On a completely different note…

I do teach political science – or American Government. How it works [or is supposed to anyway]. But I am sick to death of political ads.

Because the way to get me to vote for you [whoever you is] is to bash your opponent for bashing you.

Yeah.

That’ll change my mind.

/roll eyes/

Thank God for DVRs.

But then I saw this commercial. I could watch it all day long.

I would so vote for this dude just for this commercial.

Except I don’t live in Massachusetts.

Seriously. It’s worth your time.

Promise.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alzz11k9yMk]

From Savannah to Montana…
In 1916, Southern belle Alanna Lessing travels to Montana on a mission—to rescue her older sister from the influence of suffragettes and bring her back home to Savannah where she belongs. Alanna fears that her sister, Margaret, has allowed herself to be swept away by these newfangled beliefs.

The Christmas season is drawing near, and sleigh bells are ringing among the snow-covered peaks. The charming town of Missoula begins to grow on Alanna, and so do a few of its inhabitants—particularly neighboring rancher Tanner Jacobs. Alanna takes it upon herself to turn Tanner into a true Southern gentleman. He plays along, in part because he likes being near her, and in part because he’s intrigued by her very different way of life. Will their differences bind their hearts, or forever keep them apart?

Another winner from Janice Hanna [also writes as Janice Thompson – see yesterday’s book review].

I loved both the hero and the heroine. A cowboy from Montana and a Southern Belle from Savannah, Georgia. What’s not to love?

Both are very set on their ideas about the role of men and women – and they’re not entirely at odds with each other as they are with other’s in their lives, particularly their sisters, who are active in the women’s suffrage movement.

Alanna does her level best to turn Tanner into a true Southern gentleman. Tanner, for his part, does his best to become one as well as to turn Alanna into a sturdy Montana woman. Their interactions are fabulous as they struggle to learn each other’s culture. Though both Americans, they may as well have been from different countries given the differences in their lives and lifestyles.

The Suffrage Movement is front and center in Sleigh Belles, offering insight into some of the women behind the movement and into their motivations.

As always, Janice left me wanting more. And as always, I’ll be impatiently waiting for her next book.

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Thanks to Janice for a copy of the book in exchange for my review.

For the next week or so, I’m planning two blog posts a day – one book review/COTT [those are already scheduled through next Friday] and then a NaNoWriMo update [because I’m also doing NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month – and you can’t count prescheduled blogs for that]. I have one other book review scheduled for the end of the month as well.

So NaNo…

I’ve had a story in mind for about two months that I planned to write for NaNo. But now I have two others jumping at me. /sigh/

One is something completely different and I won’t start it today at all.

But the other is book 2 [at least in my head] of the same series. There’s three siblings, you see, and the oldest sister was supposed to get book 1 and I was supposed to write it this month. But the middle child, a brother, was supposed to have book 2 and is demanding his story be written now. But so is his sister from book 1. /sigh/

The good thing is it would be easy to make either one of them book 1 and the other book 2. The only thing dependent on book 1 would be the mentions etc of the relationship status of the characters from the first book.

So I guess I’ll just see which way I end up going when I sit down an hour or so from now. See what words flow out of the fingertips.

But…

I’m setting a SUPER AMBITIOUS goal for myself [and will be adjusting the counters appropriately in a minute].

100K

This month.

Finish one manuscript [the rough draft, geared toward Love Inspired which has a word count of 55-60K so a 50K rough draft is about right for me] and start another [which one, TBD]. And finish that rough draft.

Is it doable? Yes. Is it insane? Also yes. Will it happen? We’ll see… 😉

Will they both need TONS of editing? Absolutely. But they would have anyway :D.

When pampered Jacqueline Abington secretly elopes with the family gardener, she asks another woman to take her place on the much anticipated maiden voyage of the Titanic. Tessa Bowen hails from a poor corner of London but has been granted the opportunity of a lifetime—a ticket to sail to America aboard a famed vessel. But there’s a catch: she must assume Jacqueline’s identity. For the first time in her life, Tessa stays in luxurious quarters, dresses in elegant gowns, and dines with prestigious people. Then a wealthy American man takes an interest in her, and Tessa struggles to keep up the ruse as she begins falling for him. When tragedy strikes, the game is up, and two women’s lives are forever changed.

Janice is a favorite of mine so it should come as no shock to anyone that I’m reviewing one of her books today and another tomorrow [or that I’m absolutely itching to get my hands on her new contemp, Picture Perfect, coming /cry/ February 1! So long to wait!].

I’m a bit conflicted about this book. Though a wonderful read, part of me was hoping for more of a Titanic-the-movie type book. More on the Titanic rather than as much off before the sailing. I understand why – groundwork needed to be set to explain why Tessa was on board and Jacquie wasn’t. And to give the background for Nathan, his mother and his mother’s friend – but I wished for more both on the ship and afterward.

Something Janice managed to do was a bit different than most Titanic novels. Mostly she followed those who survived. This won’t come as a great shock to those who read it as the people she follows – and we become well-acquainted with – are the hero, the heroine and the lady’s maid to the heroine. That’s not to say all of the characters survive [or don’t] but that we don’t spend time with other characters. They’re met and become ‘real people’, but mostly we’re with fictional characters or lesser known real people. The Astors are mentioned as are the Strausses etc, but we don’t get to know them.

I would also have liked more after the sinking. Because I *always* want to know more about what happened afterwards in a good book. I’m sure the hero/heroine go on to have their Happily Ever After but what form does that take. Children? What kind of husband/father is the hero and how does he help the heroine overcome her childhood trauma? What happens with Jacquie and the gardener? Not just in the few days after Titanic sinks but what is the long-term consequences? And I would have loved to see a bit more of what was going on in the gardener’s head.

All of that may make it sound like I didn’t enjoy it but that’s most assuredly not the case. It’s a case when I wish the book was twice as long [though I’m sure Janice is glad it wasn’t ;)] because I want more!

Overall rating: 8.25 out of 10

Thanks to Janice for a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

**Guest post by Michelle Massaro

For most of us around the country, Fall is in the air. In Southern California we’re still seeing temps in the 90s, but hey–I say Autumn is a state of mind. And I’m ready for comfy sofas, hot cider, and a great new book to curl up with. Oh, and chocolate! Maybe a cat purring nearby. George Winston playing in the background. But the main thing I need is the book.

So, I’ve been searching through the titles released last month, including a long list that YOU guys recommended to me through our survey (thank you very much), and I’ve come up with a list of FIVE. Now I want to hear from you. Which of these most appeals to you? Which will be highest on your to-be-read pile this month? Take a look at the cover and the summary, then cast your vote. Polls will remain through Wednesday, closing on Halloween night (oooeeeooo) at midnight PST. (Yep, when I’m the hostess you get a few extra hours to vote because, well, once in a while it only seems fair to go by West Coast time. Right?)

All of the books below captured my attention for one reason or another. I’m sure they’ll capture you as well. After voting, I invite you to click over to Amazon and purchase one or more of these puppies!

p.s. Are you an aspiring author of Christian Fiction? This is the last week to enter Clash of the Titles’ annual contest for unpublished authors, the Olympia. Hurry! Submissions close Friday, November 2nd. 

Celia Anderson doesn’t have a husband on her Christmas wish list. But when a traveling carpenter finds lodging at her boardinghouse, she admits that she might remarry if she found the right man–the kind of man who would bring her roses for Christmas. It would take a miracle, though, to find roses during a harsh Wyoming winter.

But Christmas, after all, is the time for miracles . . .

At 172 pages, this is a short, hardcover book, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. A quick, easy read, the characters are no less deep than one would expect from Ms. Cabot. Celia is determined she’s not going to marry again – despite the best efforts of the local women to marry her off to one of the eligible bachelors in the area.

In walks Mark. A carpenter looking for his long-lost father needs a place to stay and Celia’s boarding house is just the place.

Together, they begin to forge a family without really realizing it. He helps care for her little girl and the boy she babysits. She helps him look for his father and deal with the information he finds.

I’m looking forward to Ms. Cabot’s next book, Waiting for Spring, arriving in January.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Only one pair of boots—and the cowboy wearing them—can get Annie out of the mess she’s in.

Annie Wilkerson is Moose Creek’s premiere horse trainer and equine columnist for Montana Living. Money is tight as she tries to put her kid-sister through college and provide for her young nephew. When Annie’s column is cancelled, she’s given first shot at a new lovelorn column—and she can’t afford to turn it down. Only problem is . . . Annie’s never been in love.

Always resourceful, she reluctantly strikes a deal with the town’s smooth-talking ladies’ man Dylan Taylor: She’ll work with his ailing horse, Braveheart, if he’ll help her answer the reader letters.

Working closely with Dylan is harder than Annie imagined, and she quickly realizes she may have misjudged him. But her unwavering conviction that cowboys are nothing but trouble has kept her heart safe for years. And she can’t risk getting hurt now.

The more Annie tries to control things, the more they fall apart. Her feelings are spinning out of control, and her sister’s antics are making life increasingly more difficult. Annie knows she needs to turn the reins over to God, but surrender has never come easily.

When Dylan reveals his feelings for her, Annie doesn’t know what to trust—her head or her heart. The trouble with this cowboy is that he might just be exactly what she needs.

As always, Denise Hunter writes a great book*. I love books with cowboys – historicals and contemps. So it’s really no surprise that I enjoyed this one.

I felt for Annie as she did her best to keep things together in the face of mounting difficulties. I admired the way she turned to Dylan for help when it was the last thing she really wanted to do. She didn’t always take his advice, but she knew she couldn’t do it on her own.

Annie’s grown up faster than she would have liked in large part because of her little sister – and her little sister’s little boy. She’s done her best to help her sister – but her sister seems to find new ways to screw it up, leaving Annie to fend for all of them.

As for Dylan, he’s a cowboy. What more needs to be said? 😉

As always, I’m left wanting more from Denise. I’m saddened that this is the last book in the series, but I’m looking forward to whatever she has next.

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

*I’m notoriously stingy with my stars. I think I’ve given three over 9 this year. Anywhere between an 8-9 means I really, really enjoyed the book.

One Woman. Two Men.
One stirs her pulse and the other her faith.
But who will win her heart?

Marceline Murphy is a gentle beauty with a well-founded aversion to rogues. But when two of Boston’s most notorious pursue her, she encounters a tug-of-war of the heart she isn’t expecting. Sam O’Rourke is the childhood hero she’s pined for, the brother of her best friend and a member of the large, boisterous family to which she longs to be a part. So when his best friend Patrick O’Connor joins in pursuit of her affections, the choice seems all too clear. Sam is from a family of faith and Patrick is not, two rogues whose wild ways clash head-on with Marcy’s—both in her faith and in her heart. 

While overseeing the Christmas play fundraiser for the St. Mary’s parish soup kitchen—A Light in the Window—Marcy not only wrestles with her attraction to both men, but with her concern for their spiritual welfare. The play is based on the Irish custom of placing a candle in the window on Christmas Eve to welcome the Holy Family, and for Marcy, its message becomes deeply personal. Her grandmother Mima cautions her to guard her heart for the type of man who will respond to the “light in the window,” meaning the message of Christ in her heart. But when disaster strikes during the play, Marcy is destined to discover the truth of the play’s message first-hand when it becomes clear that although two men have professed their undying love, only one has truly responded to “the light in the window.”

Well, the last review I did was also for Julie Lessman so it won’t be any shock that I enjoyed this one as well. I thought I’d heard [read] Julie or someone mention that it’s a novella – but only for Julie ;). For anyone else, it would likely be a short-ish novel [like Love Inspired length maybe].

Anyone who’s read Julie’s books is familiar with Patrick and Marcy – the patriarch and matriarch of the O’Connor clan. You would know that Patrick had a relationship that was contentious at best with his father. You would know that Marcy wasn’t real crazy about Patrick at first.

And so on.

But this story puts flesh on the bones of their history. It’s a foregone conclusion [as with any romance novel] that the two will get together, but still Julie keeps the pages turning [or at least the ‘next page’ button being pushed as it’s currently available as an ebook only – I’m unaware of any plans to release in a paperback book].

It’s a bit of a departure from her usual books. Much shorter, of course, but also because there’s far fewer point-of-view characters than she often has. Patrick and Marcy take up most of the time [normal, as it is their love story after all], but there’s only a couple other characters who get POV scenes – and very few scenes at that.

I mentioned in my last review that A Love Surrendered reminded me of a quote from Max Lucado:

And even more so here. Patrick and his best friend, Sam, are competing for Marcy’s affections. But Marcy won’t be swayed by a handsome face or pretty words. She’ll only be swayed by a man with a true heart for God.

The smoochies Julie’s also known for are dialed back a bit here. Not so much that Julie’s fans will be disappointed, but something I noticed a bit of. I’d imagine part of that is the lack of “extra” POV characters who are already married.

It was while reading Julie’s first book, A Passion Most Pure, about two years ago that I coined the term “literary voyeur”. Well, someone else may have coined it before me, but if so I didn’t know about it. I always want to know more about characters I’ve come to love and Julie’s A Light in the Window does just that.

Amazon says this:

“At last, the prequel I’ve been longing for …”
— Mary Connealy, bestselling author of the Kincaid Bride Series

And I couldn’t agree more!

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Thanks to Julie for an early review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Orphaned in Iowa, Annie Kennedy moves to Boston to stay with her spinster aunt. She longs for romance to fill the void left by her parents’ death. But when she falls hard for Steven O’Connor, the man who broke an engagement to her sister, Annie is worried.

Will he break her heart too when he discovers who she really is?

With heart-pounding romance, intense family drama, and emotional twists and turns, A Love Surrendered is everything Julie Lessman’s many fans have been waiting for.

Everybody I know knows I adore Julie Lessman. She’s a wonderful woman with such an amazing heart for people and for God. The coming of this book is bittersweet. It marks the end of the O’Connors [except for her ebook coming in about a month – a prequel with Marcy and Patrick’s story – A Light in the Window]. But really, the end of the O’Connors – unless she can write another series about the cousins… hm…. 😉

This one is also extra special because I got to name a character! She’s a bit character, with just a couple of lines and maybe five minutes of ‘screen time’, but still. On page 235 you can find Josephine Moncad0 – my husband’s great-grandmother. I asked Julie what she was going to do with an Italian in her Irish family saga. Turns out Josephine [and her sister, Carol!!! and her friends] are coming out of an Italian speakeasy where Steven is headed as a prohibition agent.

This book is no exception to the Lessman genre. Big Irish family. Drama. Passion. Mostly between married couples but also simmering between the hero and the heroine who struggle to keep that where it belongs – and that’s in the future.

As always, the characters are real. Flawed. Human. Moreso than in many other novels. Not that other books don’t have real/flawed characters, but somehow Julie’s are more real than most others. Maybe it’s because of the length of her books which give her more time to flesh out those characters than some other books.

It’s hard to put into words what I love most about Julie’s books and saying “just take my word for it” doesn’t quite work either. But at the same time, what I want to go on and on about and gush over the most would be spoilers and so I can’t.

So take my word for it and snatch up any Julie books you don’t already have. They’re more than worth it.

And if you’re a writer looking for lessons on how to ramp up romantic tension…

No one does it better than Julie!

If I can channel my inner Julie just a bit, I’m well on my way ;).

Overall rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Addendum:

We had a serious thunderstorm this morning and I laid awake staring at the ceiling, thinking about this…

I seriously love Gabe. The little girl Marcy and Patrick have taken in. If Julie has no plans to give her her own story someday, then I’m gonna have to do a little stalkin’ and find out what happens to that girl ;).

Steven and Annie are great characters. Like most of Julie’s heroes, Steven is a reformed [or reforming] bad boy. She knows how I feel about that. I’m hoping one of these days we’ll get a Lessman hero who never went the bad boy route, but I understand why she writes what she does. The redemption factor. Annie is a young, innocent girl. She turns eighteen during the book. They fall for each other – and hard. But the course to true love never did run smooth [yeah, I butchered that quote, whatever it is ;)]. Obstacles from old girlfriends to their own desires get in the way of their relationship.

As always, Julie keeps an eye on the prize – the relationship with Christ. I’ve seen a quote around Facebook that reminds me of one of Julie’s main points in A Love Surrendered.

I think it’s a Max Lucado quote but I’m not 100% sure on that as I’ve seen it attributed to a couple different people. But I love that. And it so perfectly encapsulates Julie’s message in this book. It’s something I think most of us can still work on.

The opposite is true, too, of course. That a man’s heart should be so hidden in God that a woman has to seek Him to find him. And it’s a great message for all of us to remember.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. And to Julie for naming a character after Josephine and sending me a copy ;).

They know everything about each other–except their real names.

Lt. Mellie Blake is looking forward to beginning her training as a flight nurse. She is not looking forward to writing a letter to a man she’s never met–even if it is anonymous and part of a morale-building program. Lt. Tom MacGilliver, an officer stationed in North Africa, welcomes the idea of an anonymous correspondence–he’s been trying to escape his infamous name for years.

As their letters crisscross the Atlantic, Tom and Mellie develop a unique friendship despite not knowing the other’s true identity. When both are transferred to Algeria, the two are poised to meet face-to-face for the first time. Will they overcome their fears and reveal who they are, or will their future be held hostage by their pasts?

Combining a flair for romance with excellent research and attention to detail, Sarah Sundin vividly brings to life the perilous challenges of WWII aviation, nursing–and true love. 

Many moons ago [or earlier this year], Sarah Sundin sent out a call for influencers. I was lucky enough to pick up a slot for this WWII novel. I find WWII fascinating but hadn’t read a book with a pilot and nurse for the protagonists.

I truly, truly enjoyed the book. I identified with Mellie on several levels and loved how their letters allowed them to be fully open with each other about everything but their names. And I loved how they finally discovered each other.

Sundin set up the time period and locations perfectly. I know enough about WWII to appreciate it.

The one thing that bugged me a bit was the end, when they finally meet as themselves. It wasn’t BAD, don’t think that, but I wasn’t crazy about it.

That said, it didn’t distract much from my overall enjoyment and I’m eagerly anticipating Sundin’s next release [yep, already on that list too ;)].

Overall Rating: 8.75 out of 10

Thanks to the publisher for a free influencer copy in exchange for my review.