Book Him Danno!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

CD Review - Come Alive - Mercy River - 5 stars - beautiful sounds from 3 beautiful women of faith- Contest at the bottom of post-

Review: Great inspirational, uplifting music. My teenage daughter loves this group as they seem to sing songs to inspire the youth of today. I loved listening to this CD, the music was beautiful sounding and the words made me really think about life and changes I need to make to live a full true to my value life - not a bad thing to do here and there to be sure you are on the page you want to be on at each stage of life.

I think anyone would enjoy this CD - play it at a party to fill in the background and watch those who actually hear the words and are uplifted by them. Go get it today.

5 stars-

On the heels of their hit album Higher, Mercy River is back with mesmerizing harmonies and upbeat vocal arrangements. Their new album features inspirational favorites and original songs that highlight the talents of this singing sisterhood.
Sing It Out
Speak Life
How Deep the Father's Love For Us
Walk You Through the Night
Who I Am
Holy Ground
Restless Reason
For the World
Walking On Sunshine

Tour Schedule

About Mercy River With 13 children between them, it’s amazing that Whitney Permann, Brooke Stone, and Soni Muller have time for anything other than runny noses, sock hunts, and prying suckers off the van floor. But music has been a part of each of their lives since childhood, and is now a strong presence in their homes. The three friends met while singing in the Jenny Phillips Choir and there found a common love for tight harmonies and sharing the gospel through song. Over the past five years, Mercy River has traveled all over the United States and Canada as a highly sought after ensemble, performing for thousands of people while testifying of the Savior. Each member of the group brings several years of experience performing, writing, and directing hundreds of firesides and concerts—as well as recording on dozens of inspirational albums. Their self-titled debut album was released in May 2008. “Beautiful Dawn,” was released in March of 2010. Their third album, “Higher” was released with rave reviews in February 2012. Mercy River is back with mesmerizing harmonies and upbeat vocal arrangements in “Come Alive”.

Website * Facebook * Twitter

Tour Giveaway $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 1/26/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, January 6, 2014

Released tomorrow - Delivering Death - Repost - go out and get this book today!!!!!

Title: Delivering Death

Author: Julie Kramer

Review: Loved it!!! When I opened the mail and this book was there I screamed…yeah sometimes it really pays off to be a book reviewer, because I get this book months before the rest of the world…that said I loved this book. I did guess what was going to happen at the end, but it had me doing a happy dance.

I do not want to give the plot away, but Riley gets herself tangled up with a criminal and danger lurks all around her…like usual. But, the dialogue is quick, the writing is fast paced and I couldn’t put it down once I started reading. I read these books to fast when only 1 comes out a year or less with this one being a few months overdue.

Riley’s parents always make me laugh and the mention of my hometown (quite a few times…BTW I love all those interstate exits-that is how we get around town) this is a funny mystery/thriller that you will love. Comedy, Drama mixed with Mystery and a few murders along the way… what’s not to love?

If you have read her other books you need to get this one January 7^th and if not then go get any of them…I would suggest the first…I always like to start at the beginning, but you could start anywhere and still enjoy Riley and her cast of misfits….I especially love Nick. Julie thanks for the ending….loved it!!!!

Publisher: Expected publication: January 7th 2014 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books
ISBN: 9781439102459

Copyright: 2014
Pages: 336
Quick Review: 5 stars out of 5
Why I Read It: Enjoyed her other book
Where I Obtained the Book: Sent by the publisher for review.

Synopsis: From the author of Stalking Susan comes the latest installment in the “compulsively readable” (WCCO-TV) bestselling Riley Spartz thriller series, featuring a smart, sassy, and always entertaining TV reporter as she matches wits with a media-savvy killer.

The most appealing mystery heroine since Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, TV reporter Riley Spartz is a star investigative journalist for Channel 3—and no stranger to the seedier side of her hometown. But when she receives a package of smelly human teeth in the mail at work, she’s quickly embroiled in a homicide investigation that spirals into one of the odder cases the Minneapolis police force has ever seen. Though the cops try to keep certain grisly details quiet, this murder has a strange twist—it seems that the killer wants the crime publicized.

Is it a revenge killing, or something more? Riley’s investigation takes her inside a lucrative identity theft ring that links low-life crooks like now-dead Leon Akume to white-collar opportunists like once-wealthy Jack Clemens. Despite a prime motive for murder, Jack also has the ultimate alibi: he's behind bars. While Riley pushes to keep the homicide in the news, her boss is convinced that coverage of the Mall of America’s unique version of a royal wedding is key to the station winning ratings. As the stakes continue to rise for her job and her life, Riley must outwit the killer in a trap that could leave yet another person dead...

An irresistible suspense novel that will keep readers turning pages until the stunning conclusion, Delivering Death brings the humor, intrigue, and twists and turns Julie Kramer’s fans have been waiting for.

Author Biography: Julie Kramer is has moved from journalist to novelist. She writes a mystery series set in the desperate world of television news—a world she knows well from her career working as a freelance news producer for NBC and CBS, as well as running the acclaimed WCCO-TV I-Team in Minneapolis.

Her thrillers, STALKING SUSAN, MISSING MARK, SILENCING SAM, KILLING KATE and soon to come - SHUNNING SARAH (Aug. 7) - take readers inside how newsrooms make decisions amid chaos. She's won the Minnesota Book Award and the RT Book Review's Best First Mystery. She has also been a finalist for the Anthony, Barry, Shamus, Mary Higgins Clark, Daphne du Maurier, and RT Best Amateur Sleuth Awards.

Julie grew up along the Minnesota-Iowa state line, fourth generation of a family who raised cattle and farmed corn for more than 130 years. Her favorite childhood days were spent waiting for the bookmobile to bring her another Phyllis A. Whitney novel. An avid reader, she tired of fictional TV reporters always being portrayed as obnoxious secondary characters who could be killed off whenever the plot started dragging, so her series features reporter Riley Spartz as heroine.

Julie lives with her family in White Bear Lake, MN.

Other Reviews:

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Guest Post - Patricia Bracewell Shadow n the Crown - Great Book

Link to my review of this book

Truth or Lies?

Readers are often curious about the relationship between fact and fiction in a historical novel. Here’s how I like to describe it: history is like a tree with a sturdy trunk and many branches; the historical novelist pins leaves on the branches, filling in every blank space with characters, relationships, motivation and plot lines drawn from the history of the period – fiction sprouting from fact.

In the case of Emma of Normandy, the central character in Shadow on the Crown, the tree of historical facts was pretty scrawny and the branches mere twigs. Eleventh century chroniclers didn’t have much to say about women, even Emma, who was a queen for thirty-two years and the mother of two kings. They did, however, make note of one pivotal historical fact: Emma was married to two very different Kings of England who also happened to be mortal enemies.

When I first learned that, all kinds of questions sprang into my mind. What were the events that led up to her marriages? What expectations did Emma have going into them? How much control, if any, did she have over her destiny? In writing Shadow on the Crown I set out to answer those questions and to fill in a multitude of gaps on Emma’s historical tree, always with an eye to provoking conflict in the novel, because conflict is the engine that drives a story. Here are some examples of how I molded facts – or lack of them – into fiction.

How old was Emma when she married that first English king? This is conjecture because her birth date is not on any historical record. She may have been anywhere from 12 years old to 20. I chose to make her 15 – the most likely age historically and the age I that found most compelling as a writer.

What language did Emma speak? Norman French, for sure; probably Latin. Her mother was born in Denmark, so she may have learned Danish at her mother’s knee; at some point she must have learned English. I decided to make her a polyglot from the start, a skill that would give her an advantage at the English court.

Where, historically, did Emma live in Normandy? Emma’s family was associated especially with the capital, Rouen, and with the northern coastal town of Fecamp. Because Fecamp was the favored residence of Emma’s father, I placed the first scene of my novel there. That allowed me to complicate Emma’s life by having a Viking fleet drop anchor in the harbor. Rule of thumb: If you want drama and conflict, toss in a shipload of large men armed with swords.

Emma’s marriage to Æthelred was part of a treaty, and apparently it was the English who suggested the alliance. That much is fact, but it raised a long list of questions that needed answers. Who made the decision to agree to the marriage on the Norman side? Did anyone argue against it, and how was that resolved? Why was the younger Emma sent to marry the English king instead of her older sister, and how did the older sister feel about that decision? I would answer these questions and many more like them by digging into the history of the period, by drawing on my own understanding of family politics, and by addressing my story’s need for dramatic tension.

Of course, every relationship in the novel had to be imagined because no one at the time recorded how any of these people felt toward one another. No letters have survived, although rumors did sift down through the years to appear in histories written generations later. I have used those rumors whenever they suited my dramatic purpose, but no one can say now if they reflected real truth or merely some later historian’s political agenda.

Shadow on the Crown is a work of fiction, but I tried very hard to make it faithful to the world that Emma would have known, to the people in it, and to the events that she lived through. I tried to write a book that would meet the demands of good storytelling and at the same time shed light on a most remarkable woman and queen. It’s the first book of a trilogy about Emma of Normandy. There is a great deal more to come.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Book Review - New Release on Tuesday - Delivering Death - Julie Kramer - 5 stars - Loved it!!!!