Contests and blog hops

Randi Alexander has a wonderfully appropriate title out...Cowboy Jackpot:  St. Patrick's Day.  She has a contest on her blog to celebrate the new release at this link.

The Romance Reviews is still celebrating its 2nd Anniversary party at this link.

Shirley Hailstock has a nice blog tour to promote her book White Diamonds at this  link
I am reluctant to share it because I figure I would have a much better shot at the $20 GC, lol but it looks like she could use some love

Skhye Moncrief has a blog hop at this link.


Secret Cravings has a Just Desserts blog hop at this link.


Don't forget the regular contests at:

Night Owl Romance at this link.

Coffee Time Romance (a very long list, scroll down the page) at this link.

Writerspace contests at this link.

Fresh Fiction contests at this link.

(and don't forget to set your clocks forward if you live in a place that practices Daylight Savings)

Meanwhile, I am working on reviews for:

Julie Miller's fascinating romantic suspense, Always Faithful
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's wonderful science fiction addition to their Liaden Universe, Necessity's Child
Jayne Krentz's  paranormal tale (sorry, no dust bunnies) Dream Eyes
Rob Thurman's urban fantasy Slashback
Sandra Leesmith's women's fiction tale about cycling The Price of Victory
Pamela Clare's American Historical romance Ride the Fire 
(as usual, I am reading them faster than I can write them up...but I 'm working on it!)

               





 

Dragon Ship, Reminders about giveaways and other details

Dragon Ship       
by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller is part of the space opera saga about youngster Theo Waitley and is set in the Liaden Universe that features wonderful science fiction romances.  I am always fascinated by the interesting elements that these authors include in their stories, including the Tree which is at the heart of Clan Korval which is oddly sentient and has a propensity for gifting seed pods at unexpected intervals.  There are also the ponderously wise norbears who calm those around them, an opinionated ship, and my favorite scene was a remarkably compact package which starts out as the contents of Theo's room but folds itself up at the touch of a button.

This particular portion of the series centers around a girl who was raised in a matrilinear society with a famous and well-respected mother but whose father seemed content to remain in the background until one day he disappears.  Slowly, his family discovers that he has an entirely separate life that they knew nothing about and the results are far-reaching and cause reverberations to the framework of their lives.  Theo is thrust into a bewildering network of machinations which eventually result in her becoming in possession of an ancient ship which is capable of training her and wants her to bond with it.  My Amazon review is at this link.

           




Giveaways and upcoming posts:

Don't forget there is a giveaway for the paranormal title Just Breathe, enter by leaving a comment at this link BEFORE February 7, 2013.  Please remember to leave a valid e-mail address along with your comment.

There are also two great authors (Randi Alexander, author of the Cowboy Jackpot series and TJ Shaw, author of Caller of Light) visiting over the next couple of weeks...and both are offering e-books for giveaway prizes.  Stay tuned!

Mouse & Dragon and learning new things

 
Mouse & Dragon by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller is part of the Liaden Universe series.  I love this universe but it is disconcerting to wait for the new volumes in this series because the frame of reference shifts between generations and I was a little disturbed to realize that I had forgotten reading this one last year!  The current story arc centers on Theo Waitley and started with Fledgling but that one did not immediately remind the reader of the complexities of the venerable Korval clan so I am afraid that I am going to have to look for Saltation (the second in the series) and re-read it in light of the subsequent volumes because I probably underrated it at the time because I was so frustrated.  I have renewed my acquaintance with the series because I have just read Ghost Ship and realize that I am going to have to make time to start the entire series over again so that I can orient myself!  Perhaps I will take my time so that the next volume in the series is about to be published by then because it is so frustrating to wait for what happens next!

I attended a seminar on affiliate marketing and have taken the plunge to add the Amazon widget to the blog.  It's like learning an entire new language to expand past just writing the blog, scary to wade through all of the arcane code and figure out exactly what is being offered.  Now, if only I could figure out how to customize this to feature the book(s) that I am actually talking about!  Hopefully everyone will have patience while I work my way through the process.