Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Winner of the BooK: Young and in Love, Challenging the Unnecessary Delay of Marriage by Ted Cunningham

To "maryf" for winning the book "Young and in Love, Challenging the Unnecessary Delay of Marriage", by Ted Cunningham!!

If she has a Blog, I will post it at a later time as I don't have the address right now.
CONGRATULATIONS MARYF!!!!

Monday, August 29, 2011

"Yours to Keep" by Shannon Stacey This was a HOOT!

“Yours to Keep” by Shannon Stacey

I LOVED this book!  It was GREAT and at times just crazy hilarious!  Why?  From the lies these characters try to keep from Grandma!  From the moment I picked it this book up, the story just grabbed my attention right away and made it very difficult to put down.  This is truly a book to whisk you away from your life and into the lives of these characters while forgetting your own life completely.  This book is a thorough enjoyment.
This book is about a single woman, Emma Shaw, who has a Grandmother who recently moved to Florida, and is returning home to visit her Granddaughter to make sure she is happy with her life, and once she knows Emma is happy, Grandma can then return to Florida with all her new friends and not worry about her Granddaughter’s happiness any longer.  Grandma will have a clear conscious.
Emma, worried her Grandmother will move back and live with her there in the house in New Hampshire, after all, it is Grandma’s house, gets an idea to recruit a friend of hers to pose as her fiancé.  This way her Grandmother will know Emma is happy and has future plans to marry, will be happy, and live happily ever after.  This way Grandma will return back to Florida to her new home with her new friends, and enjoy her own life without worrying about her Granddaughter.
Emma concocts a plan to make Grandma happy.  Emma has a friend.  His name is Sean Kowalski.  He literally just got out of the Army after being in for 12 years.  Emma decides Sean is the man to have pose as her fiancé as he is the perfect guy to be able to do this for her.  Currently he has no place to live, no job and no immediate plans.  This will work out great while her Grandmother is here visiting.  Sean just so happens to be super hot!  From being in the Army for so long, his body is in perfect shape.  This only happens to be a plus as it was not planned this way.  Emma does feel an attraction to Sean, and she tries very hard to hide it.  Emma is in very good shape herself, as well, as she works as a Lawn and Garden Design Specialist, thus starts an attraction between the two of them, but Emma is in denial of it.  This is temporary . . .  Only temporary.  As soon as Grandma is gone, so is Sean.  This makes for very amusing reading, to say the least.
Sean agrees to the idea Emma idea Emma has concocted, as what is a month?  Sean is used to being able to make a home anywhere since he was in the Army for so long and had done this so many times already.  He is very adaptable to living quarters.  He quickly moves in with Emma, and they start to try to learn everything they can about each other before Grandma arrives.
Although, from the second Sean moves in with Emma, you can just feel the physical attraction at it’s finest between the two of them as you are reading.  Emma keeps denying it, while Sean is having fun with this and taunts her continuously with it.
Emma and Sean get to work out learning the details about each others’ lives, right down to grocery shopping together, their likes and dislikes, etcetera.  They work out the sleeping arrangements, such as Sean will get the bed as he is a little taller than she is, and she will sleep on the couch in her own bedroom, which she is not so thrilled about, while the whole time they will be posing as if they are sleeping in the same bed.  
Grandma comes home and they meet her at the airport.  They both find out very quickly this scheme is going to be harder to pull off than they both originally thought as their answers to Grandma’s questions already flubbed them up a few times.
As time goes by, they keep at it, and they are doing a great job of fooling Grandma, or at least they think they are doing pretty good at pulling this off.
After some time goes by, the two of them continue to hold back from their strong attraction to each other.  Through the sleeping arrangements, Emma does find herself staring at Sean a lot, trying not to get caught, and vice versa.  She sees him in a towel, in his underwear, and other forms of dress, and complains to him.  He comes back at her and asks her just how are they supposed to share a bedroom and shower together and ‘not’ run into these circumstances?  I loved this part!
As different events come up and they attend them, Emma finds out that Sean and his buddies have a bet on whether or not they will sleep together.  Emma does not get mad at this because she knows it will never happen.  Or will it?  NO!
Emma then finds out that Grandma wants to ‘give’ her the house as a wedding present.  Emma refuses because she feels so guilty for lying to Grandma in the first place.  Emma wants the house, but not on the terms of her lying to her Grandmother about her getting married.  She just can’t accept the house under these terms, and she can’t tell Grandma either.  Grandma can’t figure out why Emma does not want the house.  And then . . .
The next most difficult thing Emma has to face is being put on the spot to set the wedding date.  Grandma wants to know when the wedding date will be.  Now what does Emma do?
All the flub-ups, all the different answers Emma and Sean end up giving to Grandma about different things and more, leaves her a little more worried and frustrated, and a little guilty feeling for lying to Grandma.
I had such a great time reading this book!
This is just a ‘small’ part of this story.  There is so much more to this storyline that if I go into anymore, I will give away spoilers, and I don’t want to do that.  I have not given any away yet!  I want you to enjoy this book as much as I did!  You will be entertained continuously while you read this book.  This is a must-read!  Get it on your “To Be Read” lists right away! 
This story was so much fun in anticipating what will happen next as different events come along that Sean and Emma attend as an engaged couple.  There are the Family get-togethers, picnics, dinners, and more.  It was so much fun.  I have to credit the author, Shannon Stacey, for writing such a creative story and pulling the reading right into it.  It takes a talented author to write a book that the moment you open it and read the first few sentences, you feel like you have known these characters for a lifetime.  Her writing is very refreshing and exciting.  It portrays the heartfelt emotions in the characters and she is able to extend the feelings of her characters to you very well.  You can feel the attraction between Emma and Sean so well.  You end up dying over whether or not these two will or won’t get together.  You can actually feel the tension as you are reading this story.  Shannon Stacey’s writing truly held my interest.  She definitely writes in such a way that keeps you glued to the page.
Want a book that will genuinely take you out of your life into the fun filled and crazy life of Emma’s?  Want a book to take you out of your own life completely and into the lives of another couple working so hard to cover up the truth and pull one over on Grandma?  This is definitely the book for you.  I know you will get as much pleasure out of reading this book as I did.  You have no choice but to enjoy this book!
Personally, I would LOVE to see this book made into a movie!  I think it would be very entertaining, humorous, and very popular.  This is one of those books I can see it very clearly.  Keeping my fingers crossed!
Happy reading!
Laurie
I received this book for “FREE” from Carina Press, through NetGalley, as an Ebook, through their Book Reviewer’s Program in exchange to read this book and write a review about it.  It is NOT required for my review I write to be either positive or negative, but, “of my own opinion.”  I was NOT provided with “ANY” monies to accept this book, “NOR” to read it, NOR were “ANY” monies given to me to write the review for this book.  All that was ‘expected’ of me was to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it.  Again, the opinions expressed for and about this book are ‘of my own opinion’.  I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The Amish Nanny by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould

I loved this book!  I learned so much about the Anabaptist’s move from Switzerland to the United States in this book.  Even though this book is Fiction, the Authors did a great job researching this information.  Ada is the main character.  She is twenty-four years old, not married, and the job she thought she had fell through, which put her in the perfect position to be able to make this huge trip to Switzerland.  Her and several other of her family members had to go to Switzerland because of a land issue, and it had to be the original family members of her direct lineage.  Ada then found out she would be taking a young thirteen year old girl with her, who she would be tutoring and teaching her her schoolwork while on the trip.  This young girl is the daughter of Will, a widow, whom Ada liked very much.  There were problems in that relationship area, which made Ada know she would never have a chance at him.  Then comes the big trip on a ship!  The authors’ description of Switzerland sounded beautiful.  They wove a wonderful story that included the land, the mountains, woods, their waterfall, and more.  Ada is approached by Daniel, a young Mennonite scholar, who she thinks she likes?  He had her whole future planned out for her.  Hmmm?  What if she could still have a sliver of a chance with Will?
I LOVED this book.  It was written very well.  There was not one dull spot in the book at all.  The book kept moving and was a delight to read.  You do learn so much about the history of the Anabaptist movement, of which I had no knowledge of at all.  This was one of my favorite parts of the book.
I give this book a 5 star rating!  Anyone who loves Amish books will LOVE this book!  This book should be required reading for ‘Amish Readers’ as it has their entire history.  So at the end, who does Ada end up with?  YOU have to read it!  
Here is a photo of the back of the book!  We don't get this very often!  Interested in purchasing this book?  Click in the upper right hand corner on the Amazon box and it will take you right there!





I received this book for “FREE” from Harvest House Publishers through NetGalley, through their Book Reviewer’s Program in exchange to read this book and write a review about it.  It is NOT required for my review I write to be either positive or negative, but, “of my own opinion.”  I was NOT provided with “ANY” monies to accept this book, “NOR” to read it, NOR were “ANY” monies given to me to write the review for this book.  All that was ‘expected’ of me was to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it.  Again, the opinions expressed for and about this book are ‘of my own opinion’.  I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Enjoy this book!
Laurie

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Want to win a copy of "Young and in Love" Challenging the Unnecessary Delay of Marriage by Ted Cunningham

        Want to win a copy of this book?

This is how to win a copy of this book!
This is an easy entry!
UNITED STATES RESIDENTS ONLY!!!

Scroll down to the POST BELOW the one TO MY REVIEW!
Leave a comment (NOT HERE - BELOW IN THE REVIEW) 
In your comment please tell me what you think of this book!
LEAVE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS (for the email addy, do it like this:  laurieisreading at gmail dot com)


 It would be nice if you give me a follow!  Not required.
This will be open until August 31st!  "US Residents ONLY."
You MUST BE 16 or OLDER to win.

Now scroll down to the next post, The REVIEW, and leave your comment!

          GOOD LUCK!!!

Monday, August 22, 2011

"Young and in Love" Challenging the Unnecessary Delay of Marriage by Ted Cunningham

Young and In Love” by Ted Cunningham




Finally!  A book that is about something that has always weighed heavily on my heart!  Marrying young, as God has intended!
This is a book about young people who have met, fallen in love, and want to get married.  They do not want to delay their marriage just because they are young.  They want to get married since they have both found that special person they know is right for them as a couple to marry, and are ready to spend the rest of their lives together, growing together as you do in marriage.  They have been blessed by God in finding each other, and want to follow His rules about being together.
The Author, Ted Cunningham, happens to be a Pastor in a church he founded called Woodland Hills Family Church located in Branson Missouri.  He wrote this book based upon his own life, beliefs, and what he practices in his church.  He has a wonderful set of guidelines young people should consider and follow ‘before’ they get married, which I think is wonderful!  (‘Anyone’ at ‘any’ age should consider and follow these guidelines, in my opinion, as this book applies to all people who decide to marry at any age, really.)  This book’s message encourages marriage at a young age and gives terrific advice that should be followed by these young people who are considering and/or are going to marry.
This author/Pastor is for marrying at a young age if you have found the person you love and are mature and responsible.  He feels you should not wait, but to follow God’s plan he has for us, because finding the one we love is a gift from God.  We should take this gift from God and not risk losing it..
Before I even heard about this book, I have always had of the belief that Society, today, is just ‘not’ conducive to young people getting married, and this is the way the author feels.  I have always felt God has marriage in mind for us at an early age because he has given us all these natural feelings we have at an early age, otherwise, they would not be there.  These feelings are there and with us for a reason, which when you read this book, you will understand this even more so.  I don’t want to give everything away in this review as this should be read by many people in hopes that supporting our young people getting married will become accepted more so than what it is currently.  This author/Pastor has a great message to share about the benefits of marrying young.  He does point out there are ‘foxes’ to watch out for, and they are not foxes in the terms of beautiful people.  This you’ll have to read about as well.  This advice he gives is incredible.
Teens and young adults are, in today’s Society, are made to wait and go through all this resistance from people, from the church, from society, from school (generally college) for their choice to marry and not give in to their feelings, as the Bible teaches us.  It seems practically a set-up for failure to not marry young.  You must follow Gods’ ways, and waiting to marry could potentially cause you to lose the gift God has given you; the one you love.  Accept it.  Don’t allow parents, the church, school, or other people and more hold you back.  If you feel you are ready, responsible and mature enough for marriage, then get married.  He continues on with saying waiting to get married for what?  For us to become to set in our ways, to become almost selfishly to absorbed in our own ways and not honestly share our love with another person?  He also says that today, with all this waiting until we have reached this milestone or that milestone in life, has turned us into a sinful world by putting marriage off, and almost last.  We are ending up living together and/or having sex before marriage, all going against the Word of God, and I happen to agree.
The great thing this author/Pastor has is a guideline of rules/considerations that ‘should’ be followed for a healthy and successful marriage, (and actually, this can be applied to anyone at any age for marriage and even ‘during’ our current marriage.)
I have felt God has made us so we can marry young, have children at a fairly young age, and to ‘grow together through marriage’, and this is exactly what this book’s message is about. 
This book covers all this and a lot more.  It discusses a variety of the many different views on young marriage, the church’s views on young marriage, and this Pastor’s own views on young marriage, which are positive and many.  He discusses age, privilege, and responsibility.  Not just anyone can jump into marriage, as you have to be mature enough to take this huge responsibility.  Even marrying at an older age does ‘not’ guarantee that it will work if you don’t have what this Pastor discusses you ‘need’ to have in order to make your marriage a success.
I think this is an excellent book for ALL young people and their parents to read together.  Married people can benefit from this book as well.  I believe this author wrote the perfect book to help end a lot of problems young people face by ‘not’ marrying young.  There is so much more great information in this book, it really should be a must read for all parents and young people, even by society so they can start to understand the benefits of young marriage.
I am ‘very’ glad I got the opportunity to review this book with feeling the way I do about people getting married at a younger age and ‘staying’ married.  When I saw this book was available for review, I HAD to jump at it to review it, as I felt it most likely supported my opinions of marrying young, and it does.
Sure enough, this book is not a disappointment at all, but an encouragement to many young people out there who ‘do’ want to marry and happen to be young.
*I received this book for “FREE” from The B & B Media Group, Inc., through David Cook Publishers, through their Book Reviewer’s Program in exchange to read this book and write a review about it.  It is NOT required for my review I write to be either positive or negative, but, “of my own opinion.”  I was NOT provided with “ANY” monies to accept this book, “NOR” to read it, NOR were “ANY” monies given to me to write the review for this book.  All that was ‘expected’ of me was to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it.  Again, the opinions expressed for and about this book are ‘of my own opinion’.  I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.


When leaving a COMMENT to enter the giveaway of this book, please note it is to U S Residents ONLY due to the high cost of postage.  Thank you.

The FREE Download of "Megan's Way" by Melissa Foster

To those of you who downloaded the FREE version of:
"Megan's Way" by Melissa Foster from Amazon:


Please note:  There 'IS' a formatting error that occurred AT AMAZON and had just been learned of.  Since the first day this book was put onto Amazon AS A FREE VERSION (something about it being 'free' and having to put it on Amazon as a FREE book or something similar to that), until about Thursday, August 18th, the book had a formatting error THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY.  As a matter of fact, the ONLY way the error was found was through a not so great review.  Please do NOT hold the formatting error against the STORY, itself.  Please try to REDOWNLOAD this book from Amazon NOW, and HELP SPREAD THE WORD, PLEASE!



**Please take into mind when or if you do a review on this book, the story is not affected by the formatting error.  Her book could NOT have won ALL the awards it has if the formatting error had been there the entire lifetime of the book.  As a matter of fact, the author, Melissa Foster has asked me to inform everyone that this FORMATTING ERROR HAS BEEN CORRECTED!!!  IF YOU CAN, AGAIN, PLEASE "REDOWNLOAD" THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON.  If you cannot REDOWNLOAD THIS BOOK, THEN RELOAD FOR FREE AT:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/62390
There has NEVER been a formatting issue as Smashwords ever.
Thanks everyone!  Laurie

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

   99 Cents TODAY! 
WEDNESDAY 8-17-11
"Best Seller" for a Day & other books!
Let's help make "Chasing Amanda" by Melissa Foster 'the' BEST SELLER TODAY
at Amazon at this link:

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! 
What?“BEST SELLER FOR A DAY”!
        OTHER 99 CENT BOOKS:  

CHASING AMANDA, Recipient of THREE Readers Favorite Awards,  by Melissa Foster
IN LEAH'S WAKE, Recipient of Coffee Time Reviewer Recommend Award, by Terri Guiliano Long
SOPHIE & CARTER, by Chelsea Fine
THE TRUST, by Sean Keefer
BELLA, by Steve Piacente
Let's help bring these books to #1!

Remember, today ONLY!  Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 at Amazon ONLY!
I will import ALL the photos of ALL the books right here!  You will have to SCROLL DOWN to see ALL of them!

ENJOY YOUR READING!  I WILL BE!

In Leah's Wake by Terri Giuliano Lon






Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine












Trust by Sean Keefer














Bella by Steve Piacente












***Disclaimer:  Make sure you check that ALL books ARE the KINDLE 99 cents books!!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Gordon's Review! "The Ridge" by Michael Koryta


Gordon’s Reviews:
Gordon?  Who is Gordon?  My husband!  He reads just about as much as I do, if not more!  The other day I was thinking, after he put yet another book on the coffee table for me to ‘try’ to find room on our bookshelves for, (and I don’t think it’s going to happen!  Not in the living room, anyway!), I thought I should post HIS reviews as well.  He reads a LOT of great books as well, so be prepared to read his reviews, too!  I guess this will be “our” Blog now!  A really cool thing – he loves Kathy Reichs’ books just as much as I do!  For those of you who are not familiar with Kathy Reichs, her books are what FOX TV Network bases their TV show, "Bones" on.  We LOVE "Bones"!  It's our FAVORITE TV show out of ALL of them in that genre!  Of course, the books are completely different than the TV show.  BOTH are AWESOME!  As a matter of fact, Gordon just finished reading "Spider Bones"!  I'll have to ask him what he thought about that book and write a review on it for all you out there that LOVE both as well!  
One more thing!  Recently, I was SO lucky to “WIN” a Giveaway of a box of “6” NEW books by Best Selling Authors from Hachette Books, given away by Mary at Bookhounds!  Thank you, again, Mary!  It was the Father’s Day Giveaway she was running!  I thought “I” was excited, well, when they came, and I got the box open, Gordon was BEYOND excited!!  He dug right into the box like a kid in a candy store!  This book I am Posting a review on is just ‘one’ of the books Gordon read and told me about, so I turned what he told me about the book into ‘his book review’!  Here is what he had to say about this book:
Gordon's Review of:
"The Ridge" by Michael Kortya
This is a good ‘yarn of a read’.  It’s suspenseful and draws you right in.  It read so quickly because the story was so intriguing.  It read to fast in a good way as the story was that good.  For enjoyment reasons, I wanted the story to last longer and had to really force myself to put the book down so I would not devour it all in one sitting.  I would give this book a ‘high’ 4-star rating.

The back of this hardcover book is covered in RAVE reviews by people such as Dennis Lehane, PARADE, Scott Smith, the New York Times, and Ridley Pearson.  The front cover has praise from Dean Koontz, and the inside cover has more praise by James Patterson.  All praise from the best of the BEST!
The general storyline is:  (from the inside cover)
In an isolated stretch of eastern Kentucky, on a hilltop known as Blade Ridge, stands a lighthouse that illuminates nothing but the surrounding woods.  For years, the lighthouse has been considered no more than an eccentric local landmark – until its builder and keeper is found dead at the top of the light, and his belongings reveal a troubling local history. 
For Deputy Sheriff Kevin Kimble, the lighthouse keeper’s death is disturbing and personal.  Years ago, Kimble was shot while on duty.  Somehow the death suggests a connection between the lighthouse and most terrifying moment of his life. 
Audrey Clark is in the midst of moving her big-cat sanctuary onto land adjacent to the lighthouse.   Sixty-seven tigers, lions, leopards, cougars, and one legendary black panther are about to have a new home there.  Her husband, the sanctuary’s founder, died scouting the new property, and Audrey is determined to see his vision through. 
As strange occurrences multiply at the ridge, the animals grow ever more restless, and Kimble and Audrey try to understand what evil forces are moving through this ancient landscape, just past the divide between dark and light.
The Ridge is the new thriller from international bestseller Michael Koryta – further evidence of why Dean Koontz has said, “Michael Koryta’s work resonates into deeper strata than does most of what I read.” And why Michael Connelly has named him “one of the best of the best.”
Other books by Michael Koryta:
The Cypress House
So Cold the River


Thursday, August 11, 2011

"Megan's Way" by Melissa Foster is a FREE Ebook on Amazon NOW!



FREE at Amazon NOW! 
"Megan's Way" by Melissa Foster!
Go get your FREE ebook NOW!!
A celebration of life and love! Excellence in writing!
Limited time only so hurry!
**Watch for my husband's review of the latest book he read tomorrow here on OUR Blog!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

"The Help, a Novel" by Kathryn Stockett


“The Help, a Novel” by Kathryn Stockett

In Kathryn Stockett’s debut novel, “The Help”, which continues to remain number one on the New York Times Best Seller List, writes a compelling story of African American and Caucasian women in the deep south of Jackson, Mississippi, coming together with a passion to correct the wrongs in life for both races, to change things, to make a right.  This happens to take place during the early 1960’s of the Civil Rights Movement when a lot of dangerous things were occurring because of the times especially in that area.
Personally, I think of it as a type of a war between both races against each other at that time which needed to be fought and won to the point of everyone finally treating each other as equals, as it should be and now is, finally.  Through all  of this, these women, the Help, still risked their lives to tell their stories; eventually.
This story is so emotionally engaging it grasped my attention from the first sentence till the very last.  Stockett’s writing is gripping, nail biting.  She even goes so far as to write it in that 'southern twang', which made the book even more realistic.  No, I did not want to put this book down but only for the demands of life.  I spent one night without much sleep as I had to keep reading this book.  The author is highly skilled at portraying the characters emotions, so you feel what they feel as you read along.  You feel the ups and downs of all the characters in this book, and have no problem relating to any one of them.  These women’s stories are intriguing.  You gasp as what some of them have experienced in their own lives, and in their family’s lives.  The ways some of the white women treated these black maids was horrendous, as well as the white men’s treatment to the black men. 
Then here comes Skeeter, home from college, with her Bachelor's Degree, fresh and full of life and energy, wanting to write a book.  An editor with whom she had previously spoken to had given her advice as to what to write, to write her passions.  After several attempts and failures, it took her to really look inside of herself to find the most passionate thing she wanted to write about.  The things that happened to her, for example her maid, Constantine, who raised her, was suddenly gone without explanation, and all she wanted to do was to find her because she loved this woman with all her heart and soul.  She wanted to share her life’s ups and downs with her, but no one would tell Skeeter what happened to this woman, not even the help.  This started eating away at Skeeter, which is what gave her the passion to write the book about The Help. 
Writing this book was no easy task for Skeeter.  The maids were not willing to want to help her.  They were afraid of what could happen with all that had happened to them and their families so far.  One of the maids, Aibileen, was the one who came forward to Skeeter to help her.  
The story had to be told in a special way.  A way in which no one would know who told it.  No one would know where it took place.  No one would be able to guess who the stories in the book belonged to.  They even went so far as to put something extra in this book that if it were to be found out as to who may have participated in the writing of this book or had anything to do with this book that they would not be able to tell.  Exactly what this was is for you to find out when YOU read this book!
This book gives you many different feelings; feelings of rage, anger, disappointment, and helplessness.  Slowly you start to feel better and better to the point of elation because of what the book they all wrote brings attention to;  the ill treatment of the help.  By now you are cheering and laughing.  
Everyone needs to read this book.  It is beyond good.  It is brilliance.
Kathryn Stockett’s book, “The Help, a Novel” deserved to be made into a movie, (which happens to open tomorrow, Wednesday, August 10th, at select theaters, and then Nationwide on Friday, August 12th) unlike any other book I’ve read this year, besides Rachel Simon’s book, “The Story of Beautiful Girl, A Novel”, brings to light the injustices people have done and the needed steps taken to correct the wrongs that people have done in the past and then in realization, turned them around and were made into rights.
Get your copy today through the link I have provided above through Amazon.  I will reread this book again, and possibly a third time.  This is how much I enjoyed this book.  You will want your own copy so you can choose to do that as well.  You will because you will want to.  I cannot sing the praises of this book enough.   
I chose to read this book on my own.  It was not provided to me by anyone; no author, publisher, publicist, or anyone else.  I purchased this book through Amazon on my own.  It was a book I read a lot of wonderful things about and had to read for myself.  The opinions I expressed in this review are of my opinion and of my opinion only.  I have not been influenced by anyone or anything.  
This book is a work of art!  I give it a 5 Star rating!  I HIGHLY recommend reading it!  Also enjoy the movie if you get the opportunity to go and see it.  I am!  I’ve been counting the days to its release!  (I am embarrassed to admit this, but I have not been to a movie theater in over 8 years because of my disability.  Somehow, some way, I am going to do it and ENJOY!)  I honestly feel this is truly a 'can't miss movie'!  There is not a way you could have missed the previews for this movie or not have seen all the advertising for this movie online.  It's everywhere.
(One important thing I noticed about this book.  Make ‘sure’ you purchase the 'original' book with the birds on the front and not the ‘Movie Tie-In book’.  I read the ‘original’ book and that is what this review is based upon.)
Finally, I believe this book will become a classic in it's own time.  It should be.
Laurie Carlson 
copyright 2011
Tuesday, August 09, 2011.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Book Box | A Book Lover's Dream

Book Box | A Book Lover's Dream has a GREAT Giveaway! Go to http://www.abookloversdream.com and enter to win a box of 10 books! Only today till 11:59pm! This is from the Summer Giveaway Hop! Good luck!
Laurie

Saturday, August 6, 2011

**SATURDAY & SUNDAY LAST DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS**



                     HAPPY WEEKEND!


TODAY AND TOMORROW ARE THE LAST DAYS TO ENTER FOR THE SUMMER GIVEAWAY HOP

THE LAST DAY TO ENTER FOR ALTAMONT AUGIE  
& THE LAST DAY TO ENTER FOR CHASING AMANDA GIVEAWAYS!

Make sure to get here to enter before it's to late!
You have till 11:59pm Sunday night before it's ALL GONE!
I want EVERYONE to have the chance to ENTER!
Happy Weekend!
Laurie

Thursday, August 4, 2011

lauriehere: "Chasing Amanda" by Melissa Foster

lauriehere: "Chasing Amanda" by Melissa Foster:"BLOG TOUR “Chasing Amanda ”by Melissa Foster It is now eight years ago since Molly witnessed the abduction of a little girl in a Walmart parking l..."

lauriehere: GIVEAWAY *ALTAMONT AUGIE* & "AUTHOR POST" by RICHA...

lauriehere: GIVEAWAY *ALTAMONT AUGIE* & "AUTHOR POST" by RICHA...: "*NEW*! AUTHOR GUEST POST! Richard Barager, author of 'Altamont Augie' BLOG TOUR 'Richard Barager' is back with us again about his book, 'Altamon..."

Monday, August 1, 2011

SUMMER GIVEAWAY BLOG HOP!!

                            It's here!!  
            The SUMMER GIVEAWAY BLOG HOP!




I want to take this time to thank I Am A Reader and Not a Writer and Bookhounds for sponsoring this AWESOME Blog Hop! THANK YOU!

Please CLICK on the ***GIVEAWAYS*** & SUMMER BLOG HOP tab to see what I am giving away AND ALL the other Blogs that are participating in this Blog Hop!

MY "HUGE" GIVEAWAY!!! YES!! IT'S "ALL" OF THIS:


                           $15 Amazon Gift Card
                                   
                             PLUS


       A Copy of the book: "The Silent Girl" by Tess Gerritsen
       Scroll down to read this review!

                             PLUS



A Copy of the book: Life is Not a Candy Store, It's the Way to the Candy Store, by Tal Yanai   Scroll down to read this review!

                              PLUS


   AND A Copy of the book: Buddy's Tail by K. Anne Russell
   Scroll down to read this review!


               OTHER GIVEAWAYS ARE:





                             A COPY OF THIS "ARC"!

             Read this review from the Archives on May 11th, 2011
  On the GIVEAWAYS PAGE, there is a Guest Post by the author, Richard Barager!

                     NEXT GIVEAWAY:


One Ebook Copy from the Author, Melissa Foster, of "Chasing Amanda"!  Scroll down to read this review!


"ALL THESE GIVEAWAYS ARE "ALL" GOING ON AT THE SAME TIME!!  KEEP SCROLLING DOWN AFTER THE BLOGS THAT ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE SUMMER GIVEAWAY HOP AND ENTER THESE GIVEAWAYS AS WELL!


  "WOW"!!!  IT COULDN'T BE ANY BETTER!

"Chasing Amanda" by Melissa Foster


“Chasing Amanda”by Melissa Foster

It is now eight years ago since Molly witnessed the abduction of a little girl in a Walmart parking lot.  Molly has had the hardest time getting over this traumatic situation, as she felt she could have done more to help this little girl.  Molly, her husband Cole, and her son, Erik, decided to move away from Philadelphia, the town where this occurred eight years ago, to a new town, called Boyd, for a fresh start for Molly.  Here they are making a new life with new people, a new home, and new surroundings.  Molly wasn’t running away from what happened, but it was a part of her and of the families healing, as it had affected them, as well, with Molly’s distress.
A local Pastor, Pastor Lett, has also helped Molly work through the traumatic situation Molly witnessed.  Pastor Lett called Molly’s recovery process, ‘cleansing the chaos from her mind’.  Molly could live with that, and her visits were getting less and less with her.  Molly was making progress.  However, Molly still had visions.  Molly called them “The Knowing”.  These visions Molly had were not happening very often at the moment, thankfully
Every morning Molly goes for a run through the woods.  This one morning she had a vision of a little girl named Tracey being abducted.  When Molly returned from her run, she found out it was true, and “The Knowing” was back.  The visions were back.
This book takes us through all of the search efforts to find Tracey.  No one could find her, and Molly continued having “The Knowing” haunting her.  She kept getting visions of Tracey over and over as to what was happening to her, but couldn’t quite make the details out clear enough.  Molly was being hard on herself about seeing the abduction back in Philadelphia again, and made a pact with herself this time she was going to try to help more with this abduction of Tracey.  This time she was not going to keep so quiet about what she saw and knew.
The visions kept coming to her.  She couldn’t make them out clear enough yet to be able to tell exactly what and where Tracey might be.
Molly did eventually go to the police and told them a little bit of what her capabilities were.  She was laughed at by some, but taken more seriously by one of the Officers.
This story twists and turns and goes in every different direction than what you might expect it to go through.  I thought I knew who the abductor was, and how the entire story plays out.  I was completely fooled and shocked as the story unfolded and all the answers came out.
Melissa Foster’s masterful writing talent weaves a story that pulls you in and keeps you reading right to the end.  You can’t ‘just’ put her books down because you want to know how everything unfolds.  This book ‘IS’ a “Can’t Miss” read!
Melissa Foster’s other book she has written, “Megan’s Way” is being made into a movie at this moment.  I can’t see why this book has not been chosen to be made into a movie as well.  Melissa Foster is an author to watch.  Her masterful writing abilities result in amazing stories.  I look forward to reading more of what she writes.  I can’t wait to read her next book
I received this book for “FREE” from the Author, Melissa Foster, in exchange to read this book and write a review about it.  It is NOT required for my review I write to be either positive or negative, but, “of my own opinion.”  I was NOT provided with “ANY” monies to accept this book, “NOR” to read it, NOR were “ANY” monies given to me to write the review for this book.  All that was ‘expected’ of me was to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it.  Again, the opinions expressed for and about this book are ‘of my own opinion’.  I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Get your ebook today!
Click on the Amazon Link Above, the one next to my review and purchase your copy today of "Chasing Amanda" at ONLY $2.99! 
(Purchasing this book from my site will help to support more GIVEAWAYS on this Blog!)
OR, to enter the GIVEAWAY of this book, GO HERE: http://lauriehere.blogspot.com/p/mothers-day-contest-enter-here.html  and scroll all the way to the bottom, and I mean THE "BOTTOM" OF THE PAGE to "FILL OUT THE FORM" TO "ENTER" THE GIVEAWAY!

GREAT NEWS!! Melissa Foster is also the author of Award Winning "Megan's Way"!  This book is being made into a movie and she would like as many people as possible to be able to read this book 'before' the movie comes out!  She is offering this ebook for FREE from this  link:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/62390
Click on the Link and feel FREE to download this book for FREE!  Thank you, Melissa!!!







Book Tour Info:
On Melissa's website, http://www.melissafoster.com she has a COMPLETE LISTING OF "ALL" the BLOG TOUR STOPS for BOTH books!  Please check there for ALL the Up-to-Date Blog Tour Stops!  There is other information there, like possibly winning a KINDLE, too!!!  You will want to check out her website for ALL this exciting information!  You can also Follow Melissa Foster on Twitter with this name:  @TheWomensNest

MY BLOG TOUR STOP FOR "CHASING AMANDA" IS TODAY, AUGUST 4th to August 7th till 11:59 pm to ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR 1 EBOOK COPY OF "Chasing Amanda" by Melissa Foster!!!! Make sure to enter!!!!
Thanks to EVERYONE who always comes by and enters my Giveaways!! I notice your names on the entry forms as I do the drawings, while verifying that you 'do' follow me and also if you want to be subscribed to my email list!!! YOU ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE
!!!! A 'HUGE' THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!!!!! IT'S VERY APPRECIATED!!!!
  
ALSO, a "HUGE THANK YOU" TO ALL THE 'NEW' PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME BY FOR THIS BLOG TOUR!!!  I WELCOME YOU!!!  Please feel free to look around and have fun!




Melissa Foster is ALSO the Founder of the website FOR WOMEN ONLY CALLED:  http://www.thewomensnest.com I HIGHLY encourage you to become a member there!  It's a wonderful website by women FOR WOMEN!


This is Melissa Foster!  
*NEW information!!!
 "MEGAN'S WAY" and "CHASING AMANDA" have won 5 new Finalist awards from Readers Favorite! Go to:  http://bit.ly/qMYeXl and check it out!