Tag: book review

#RT17 Ruminations and the Giant Book Fair! #Giveaway

Read to the bottom of the post for the GIVEAWAY!

This is my second year at the RT Convention and it was interesting to compare my two experiences. This year I did a lot more writing workshops and seminars, so it was a lot more informational, and a little less as a reader. However, I was able to fit in a lot of events and see my favorite authors, as well as meet some new ones!  I noticed a focus on different genres in the reader events and wonder if next year there will be a different focus? BDSM and Erotica authors were highlighted, which isn’t really my interest. On the opposite end of the spectrum it seemed like there were more inspirational authors. The contrast between those two genres made for an interesting crowd! There were plenty of mainstream events and I never found time to relax, except for when sitting in line for the next event.

For me, the highlights were meeting Ilona Andrews and Charlaine Harris. I am a huge fan of almost every series that they both write, and also know that they rarely make these kinds of events, so I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to meet them. I was excited to see Kristen Ashley, although disappointed because she ran out of books at the Giant Book Fair in the first half hour. I enjoyed seeing and speaking to Rebecca Zanetti and Laura Kaye, and in fact, Laura Kaye was one of the speakers in my writing workshop at the beginning of the week. She lectured on how to write an emotional arc, and I learned a lot!

The best thing about this trip is spending time with my sister. She and I share a love for reading, and look forward to this girls trip every year. Next year the event will be held in Reno at the Peppermill Resort and Casino. That part of the country is gorgeous, so if any of you have ever been tempted to go, I really think it will be worth it! Take the entire week and visit Lake Tahoe which is only an hour away!

I ended my week with the Giant Book Fair. There were several books I wanted that I didn’t pick up through the week. I know, shocking, right? (Final count 140!) This was my chance to purchase those books and meet the authors. I was lucky enough to get a chance to spend a bit of time with each of these, except Charlaine Harris, who was sweet but super busy and took some photo’s to share with you all. She also mentioned her series Midnight Texas will be on NBC in July! LOL.

Charlaine Harris -Night Shift.
Amanda Bouchet-author Kingmaker Series
Coolest inscription!!
Victoria Denault’s new Hockey novel. Love that cover!
Amy E. Reichert gets the prize for coolest ring, and she was so sweet!
The amazingly talented and lovely Rebecca Zanetti!
Most beautiful cover art and lovely person Kristin Smith!



GIVEAWAY

I am going to let you in on a big giveaway by Avon that is only good until 5/19/17! There are a total of 16 FREE book downloads! I have a picture of some of these books below. Choose the epub option, the mobi took a day to download to my kindle. ( update 5/14/17- the kindle option works the books showed up the next day!) Have fun reading!


Click HERE

You will be signing up for their newsletter, but you can choose from 16 awesome books! This offer expires 5/19/17!!!!!!

Let me know in the comments below if you get them! Do NOT pass this up!  LOL. It’s not life or death or anything, but I know you guys are just as crazy for books as me.

That’s it about RT17 from me this year, now I need to get back to reading and writing reviews!

I hope you enjoyed my posts!

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads2 Comments

This Chicks #RT17 update (Day 2 and 3)

What a fun week at the RT Convention! My week is winding down and I am exhausted. The RT scene is a lot of waiting in line to get into an event with your favorite authors, chat, play games and just be a part of an old fashioned signing event, but it’s totally worth it. There have been a lot of really fun events like Books! Chocolate! and Authors! with some inspirational romance authors like Tamara Alexander and Sarah London Tomas. These authors also held a breakfast Friday morning and sat at the tables with us and signed books. These were some of the prettiest ladies at the convention, as well as the most beautiful book covers! I will be having an Inspirational book giveaway in the future, which I hope you will enjoy!


I enjoyed last year’s Tattoo’s and ‘Tini’s because it was my chance to fangirl over one of my favorite authors, Kristen Ashley, who was promoting her newest Erotica novel in the Honey series. I have the novel on my kindle, but am slightly wary of reading it. Her stuff was on the border erotica already! Will I like her real erotica book? Meeting her again made me want to pick it up and read it! If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear if you liked it!


I was really excited to run over to the Sourcebooks seminar. I learned some great things about the company, the books that are coming out, and got a surprise cover reveal! You all know I am a HUGE fan of Amanda Bouchet’s Kingmaker series, and have reviewed both books on my blog. That series is one of the best series in 2016. Well, the third book will be out soon, and here is the cover! I can’t wait to read this book.


The Kensington Peaches and Cream event had some great authors signing books, like Mary Ann Marlow who wrote Some Kind of Magic which I gave 5 stars, Rebecca Zanetti promoting her Scorpius and Blood Brothers series (also reviewed on my blog!), and some great historical authors like Joanna Shupe and Ella Quinn. It was packed but I was able to pick up a ton of books!  See below for my Thursday haul of 52 books and swag.


Friday I played Kiss Me, Kill Me with authors Skye Warren, Celia Aaron and others, but really wanted to save my strength for the Entangled Candy & Spoons event. Now, if you’ve ever played this game you’ll know it is cutthroat and ruthless! You have a banquet sized table with up to 10 players and one dealer. The dealer gives each player four cards then deals out one at a time and you try to catch and realease one card to the players on your left and right until one person in the group gets four of a kind. When you do, you grab that spoon and everyone else drops there cards ato get the other spoons. Blood was drawn, spoons were stolen out of people’s hands. It’s such fun! It probably wasn’t the smartest game for me to play two and a half weeks after wrist surgery, but my inner evil came out and I won the prize at our table! It was a stack of twelve YA novels! ( In my excitement I forgot to take the picture, sorry.)

To recover, I decided to head over to the SMP Pics and Pies, where I got to mingle with some authors and pick up a book and swag- and eat pie, lol.. The book I chose was The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi. I was so excited to get her to sign it in person. Isn’t she the loveliest lady ever? She complimented me on my hair, and I thought she was crazy, I mean, she was gorgeous!


The big event of the day was the Avon Presents Spectacle of Lights. The crowds for this event was nuts, but they had some VERY big names that were going to make this worth the lines! Jennifer L. Armentrout! Laura Kaye! Beverly Jenkins! Julia Quinn and lots of others, but the pair I was most excited to see were Ilona Andrews! They never come out to events and they signed copies of their next novel White Hot in their Hidden Legacy series. Here are some photos from this kind of crazy, jam packed event.

The Swag Bag!

 
The Lines!
 



This year I also went to the RT Reviewers Awards Show and learned that Marrying Winterbourne by Lisa Kleypas (reviewed on my blog) received the coveted book of the year award! Do you think those two days were packed or what? It was a blast! I have the Giant Book Fair to look forward to tomorrow, and I hope to stalk Kristen Ashley- I mean see what books she’s selling, as well as see if I can pick up autographed copies of the first two Amanda Bouchet books in the Kingmaker series. 

I’ll let you know how it goes!

I’ll leave you with my Friday book haul photo. I didn’t include all the swag, because I was, well, exhausted. But there was some great stuff!


I believe my total book count for Tu-Fri is around 130! Do you think I’ve added enough to my TBR list? Lol. I will be doing some future giveaways to share some of my loot with you all so please keep an eye out.

Was there anything you liked hearing about the best? Authors that I should include on my stalk through the book fair tomorrow? Let me know!

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

A Quicky from #RT17….

Hi guys!  I have been totally remiss in sending you some photos and happenings from the RT Convention in Atlanta. I’m so sorry!  This year I have signed up as an aspiring Author and spent my first two days receiving some great,writing tips from authors like Tere Michaels, Laura Kaye, Madeline Hunter, Damon Suede and also editors, agents, etc.  Whew!  I was exhausted before this party even got started!

Once again the lobby of each convention level is covered in posters, artwork, etc. of all of your favorite authors. Bare chests galore! It’s almost too much of a good thing, really. 😉


Below are some photos from the Petticoats and Pistols social event. I’m sure it’s a rewarding business being a successful writer, but I’m not sure I’d like to be in costume while everyone else is wondering around in leggings and t-shirts! LOL. The decorations were to die for!

Joanna Shupe author of The Knickerbocker series
The dresses are made out of paper!!
Really!… Paper!

We met some really nice people, both Readers, writers and COVER MODELS!


I had to get the With kilts and w/out!  LOL.  Yes, honey, this was business!  LOL.

And my loot from last night is 26 books and a ton of swag!


I’ll send out another post tomorrow!

Deborah

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads3 Comments

This Chick Read: Devil in Spring (The Ravenals #3) by Lisa Kleypas

I had recently rediscovered the fabulous Lisa Kleypas when I read her last novel Marrying Winterborne, which I had reviewed on my blog. I read a few historical romances a year, and what I had loved about the last book, her skill at writing about intriguing characters, who weren’t the usual romantic leads in a novel, is true again in Devil in Spring. Pandora Ravenal, who we had met briefly before, is an unusual lady. She has an active mind, isn’t interested in ballrooms and a future husband. Continue reading “This Chick Read: Devil in Spring (The Ravenals #3) by Lisa Kleypas” →

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick is off to the #RT17 Convention in Atlanta! #Sundayblogshare


I can’t believe a year has passed since the RT Convention in Vegas last year! Wow, the time has flown! Today, my bags are packed and I’m heading off to Atlanta, to join Readers, Writers and Bloggers meet, mingle, learn and have fun with some of my favorite authors. This year I’ve signed up as a writer and am participating in a Writers Workshop on Monday and Tuesday, where hopefully I will be given some great advice on how to fine tune my novel, meet an agent and get published.

My sister and a few friends are driving in on Tuesday night and we’ll get the fan girl party started! Last year, I met so many wonderful people! Authors, readers, bloggers, everyone was just so nice! I Geeked out over meeting Kristen Ashley, Laura Kaye and Jill Shalvis, but also took home an amazing number of books and became fans of a whole new set of authors. Yes, I still plan on freaking when I see Kristen Ashley again, but this year, I can spread the love out a little more. LOL.

I will be updating you all from the convention with pictures and book counts. I hope to bring home some swag so I can do some giveaways  so I can share a little of the RT magic with you all!

Here are some pictures from last year’s convention, so you’ll know what fun I have in front of me!

 

Viva La Historical Social Event
Tons of larger than life posters everywhere!
Kristen Ashley!! (On right)
Laura Kaye (on left)
Jill Shalvis! (On right)
Swag, swag and more swag! This was one days!
And then there are cover models…..

Catch up with you from Atlanta!

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads5 Comments

This Chick Read: The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

The Garden of Small Beginnings was about your every woman.  Lilian Givran has faced life’s difficulties and has soldiered through finding light raising her two small girls, and unexpectedly also finds passion while gardening. I couldn’t believe this was Abbi Waxman’s debut novel. Lili’s voice was solid, funny, exasperating, sad and sarcastic. I laughed out loud multiple times and also cried softly as Lili struggled to find her way after the loss of her husband in a tragic accident. The fact that Lili finds that path while taking a gardening class is a great analogy for how each moment in life starts with a seed.

The cast of characters in this book added to the comedic highlights. The two daughters who say everything that comes into their heads, distracted, in a good way, from some of Lili’s more serious moments. Lili’s sister, Rachel, avoids serious relationships (sleeps around) because she wants to be available if Lili needs her. Her alcoholic mother who is narcissistic and says inappropriate things that embarrass her daughters. The class full of gardener wanna be’s who don’t have anything in common but end up being great friends with each other. Then there’s the teacher who makes her think there may be a little life left in her. This was a dream ensemble cast with a ton of personality.

Each chapter started off with a note about how to grow a vegetable. You could hear Lili’s voice speaking sardonically about why strawberries or carrots, I can’t remember, should not be planted in a bed after you’ve grown dill. These charming and funny intro’s set the stage for a really enjoyable, uplifting, love your family and keep your friends close kind of story. I don’t know if I’ve done a very good job of portraying why the book was so good, or even what the plot was like, but if you are a fan of women’s fiction, like humor, and like chick flicks, then put this on your TBR. Read it.

I received an Arc of this book, through NetGalley, for my honest review, and it was honest. 

 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️


Buy it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo!

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe A Chick Who Reads All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads2 Comments

This Chick Read: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Strange the Dreamer is about a Lost City named Weep, a young Librarian named Lazlo Strange, and a journey of self discovery. Lazlo Strange is the first hero that Is normal. He doesn’t have any super powers, he just has big dreams. Dreams that he wants to make a reality. He has that chance when citizens of a lost city, now named Weep, search for people who can help them, and they arrive in the city where Lazlo resides. Lazlo almost doesn’t go on this journey, as he is not seen as important enough by his own people, to have anything to offer. However, Lazlo has been dreaming of, and researching this city for years, and he speaks up offering his services as an apprentice or secretary and they accept.

Lazlo’s journey begins when he arrives in the land of Weep. The story of each character unfolds and through Lazlo, we find understanding of what has come to pass. Through Lazlo, we dream, we love, and we find heartbreak. Las LI finds within himself the strength to dream a little bigger. 

This book took a little while to get into. Lazlo was just so ordinary. I am so used to reading magical realism fantasy novels where the hero or heroine has a power of some sort that I kind of set myself up to expect the same from this book. Strange the Dreamer is not a fantasy novel, it is a fairy tale of the Grimm variety. The monsters revealed in this book are Gods, and these Gods did horrible things to this city and its inhabitants. As the story unfolds more conflict is revealed and my expectations of Lazlo became so great, I impatiently turned the pages hoping for a solution to be revealed, for him to become my hero with a capital H.

This was such a good story, but so hard to read! Laini Taylor did an amazing job of creating a world that was alien to the reader and also the characters in this book. I think at times I was confused at what I was reading. It’s a good thing Lazlo was there to provide a solidity and strength to carry me through to its conclusion. ❤️❤️❤️❤️


Buy it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo!

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe A Chick Who Reads All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read : Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy #1) by Ilona Andrews

I recently re-read this book because the second book in the series, White Hot, will be released in the next couple months and I loved loved loved this book, but read it a long time ago. Burn for Me is set in our contemporary world, but there are some slight differences. Hierarchy is created by how much psychic and magical power you hold. The levels of power are ranked, the highest being a Prime.  These Prime families have bred to increase their Continue reading “This Chick Read : Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy #1) by Ilona Andrews” →

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Marked in Flesh (Others #4) by Anne Bishop

Marked in Flesh continues the story of shifter and leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, Simon Wolfgard, and cassandra sangue Meg Corbyn. The terre indigene have rescued the cassandra sangue, and in doing so have given the HFL (Humans First and Last) Movement ammunition to further human prejudice against the terre indigene. In this novel, that anger comes to a head and are acted on, providing impetus for the terre indigene to act, protecting their land and people. Marked in Flesh may be urban fantasy, but it’s storyline is a metaphor for our world today. Unfortunately for us, we don’t have an indigent species to save ourselves and our planet from our own greed, corruption and inhumanity.

Meg is still liaison to the Lakeside Courtyard, but even more, through her prophecies she is providing insight into how their future world will be re-made. With the help of her friends, or female pack as the residents of  Lakeside call her group of female human friends. Meg is also providing a service for the other rescued cassandra sangue. It is up to her, the pathfinder, to figure out how to make the world a comfortable, safe place for her kind to live. I like how this sub plot has given Meg more of a purpose than to provide the only humor in these books. Although I did miss the humor.

Simon is also given a bigger purpose. Because of his involvement with Meg, the Elders are watching the terre indigene closely, and his group most especially. Simon is aware of how his reactions and actions with humans will affect their future. We get to know a lot more people outside our Lakeside group, since the HFL movement has spread to the whole world. I’ll admit, that even though I like the growth my favorite characters have made, I miss the smaller storyline of Simon and Meg’s budding relationship. It’s still there, but the book is more politically focused, and the romance is put on the back burner.

This fourth installment in the series is very powerful, driving us towards a conclusion that could possibly end the majority of the human race. I can’t wait to find out what human qualities they decide to keep around!  ❤❤❤❤


Buy it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo!

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe A Chick Who Reads All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads3 Comments

This Chicks Sunday Commentary: Blogger Stats Book Tag #Sundayblogshare

Yesterday I was catching up on my reading and saw this tag on Always Trust In Books blog. Her answers were really interesting.  I thought it would be fun to share my own answers to those questions.

The last three books you read?

  
Kind of an odd group of books, right? I like to mix things up a bit. The Garden of Small Beginnings is a debut novel by Abbi Waxman and had that perfect blend of humor, warmth, and growth. Loved it! I have just discovered Aimee Easterling this year and Half Wolf is my second novel by her. It was good, but I was a little disappointed by the characters. Sin With Me, is the third novel in J. T. Geissinger’s Bad Habit series. A rocker romance – I just love those broody self hating rockers! It was not a disappointment.

Spoilers or spoiler free?

I guess it depends upon if the review can be told succinctly without giving away the plot. I prefer no spoilers and I think if I am giving anything pertinent away, I always give fair warning!

How long have you been book blogging?

I have only been book blogging for about a year and a half. I am still learning how to attract followers, so if you all have any suggestions, pls feel free to chime in!  I have been mixing things up on my blog this year, trying to keep it interesting and fun.

  A book you read in one sitting?

Boy, it’s been awhile since I’ve done that! I think it was One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews. Their books are amazing and I always get wrapped up in the story.


Your favourite genre?

Fantasy, definitely! I like it even more if there is a hint of romance. I have read a TON of YA this year because I was writing a YA novel and it was great research. I got hooked into several series, and leaned towards YA fantasy within that genre. So, yeah, fantasy!  Lol.

Preferred book size? (novella, tome…etc)

Just a normal sized novel? 275-375 pages? I did read a 900 pager this year and it was fabulous, but it would take a fabulous book to keep me reading for 900 pages. (That was Robert Thier’s Storm and Silence if you’re interested, it was great!) I have read some novellas, but I feel that most of them are too quick and the characters aren’t fully developed and so I’m usually disappointed.

Amount of books on your TBR?

Oh, God, really? This is kind of embarrassing to admit.  I have 371 on my to read on Goodreads. I also have a stack of about 75 that aren’t on Goodreads that I’d also like to read. It seems to grow continuously!

 A book you have DNF’d?

Shadow’s Messenger: An Aileen Travers novel by T. A. White. I loved a couple of her other books, but this YA I just couldn’t get into, believe me, I tried! If anyone read this book, please tell me it finally got interesting!


Recent awards or milestones?

I finished my ya fantasy novel at the end of last year. I’m exploring how to go about getting it published, and have several ideas for other books I’d like to write.

Best interaction with an author you enjoy?

There are quite a few actually! I met Laura Carter last year at the RT Convention in Las Vegas and we had the funniest conversation about how to write a sexy scene! We were sharing a bench trying to find 10 minutes to gobble down some sandwiches and just hit it off. I’ve read and reviewed her books, she writes contemporary romances. It’s been fun to see her writing style grow by leaps and bounds! Her most recent book, Scarred by You was her best yet! She has also been kind enough to give me some brief advice on some books to read about how to get my novel published.


Average number of books you read per month?

On average I read three to four books a week, so I’d say 15-20? I feel like that’s a lot, but like a lot of you, I have slow weeks, where I get stuck in a book that seems to take days to finish. In fact, I’m having one right now!  Lol. Only two books read this week.

Top three publishers?

Kensington, Berkeley and Avon.  I also like Bookoutre and St. Martin’s Press. Once you get on NetGalley, you learn pretty quickly who are your go to publishers.

Social media sites your blog uses?

Twitter, Facebook, Bloglovin, Tumblr, Instagram, Goodreads, Google+,  Pinterest…. Follow me by clicking on any of those links!

Average amount of time you spend networking?

My New Year’s resolution is to be better at networking than last year. I try to spend at least an hour a day. When I first started I didn’t understand the whole blogging thing. I’m finally catching on!  Lol.

Most comfortable blogging position?

See that chair? Picture me in it, laptop or IPAD on my lap, feet on the coffee table. Not as often as I would like!


Music or quiet when writing reviews?

TV on because my husband is always camped on the couch in the room with me. Sports, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars. Anything without a plot, I can write to, once we turn on a sitcom or drama, my eyes are glued to the tv and I’m not writing.

Can you sum up your blogging style in 5 words?

Honest, Relatable, Insightful, Funny (at times), Grammatically Correct! Shoot, that’s six!

A blog you looked up to starting out?

There are definitely a few! Cleopatra Loves Books, Cafe Book Bean, Orang-utan Librarian, The Fiction Vixen.  I still follow these, but they were among my first. Check them out they’re awesome!

The best book you have reviewed so far?

This is a tough one to answer because I have read so many good books.  I would have to say Amanda Bouchet’s Promise of Fire. Romantic fantasy at its absolute best. The second novel in this series was pretty dang good too.

Best piece of blogging advice?

Blog because you love it. Don’t lose sight of the reason you started. In my case I love to read and  I love bookish discussions.


I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me! I would love to hear your thoughts and how YOU would answer these questions!

Until next Sunday!

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads3 Comments