Friday, September 30, 2011

2011 Historical Challege Winner of "The Aviary Gate"


"The Aviary Gate"
Author: Katie Hickman
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 339
Author's Website: http://www.katiehickman.com
Source: I purchased
Published: September 1, 2011

Goodreads Blurb:
“[This] magical, engrossing…novel of intrigue and forbidden love manages to be both cerebral and entertaining. With all the intricate detail of historical nonfiction and all the pace of romantic drama, this is beautifully written stuff.”—Glamour (UK)
In Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Elizabeth Staveley has found a fragment of ancient paper that may hold the key to a story hidden for four centuries: a British sea captain’s daughter held captive in the sultan’s harem.
Constantinople, 1599. In the sultan’s palace, the chief eunuch has been poisoned by a beautiful ship made of spun sugar, and a rebellion is rising within the palace’s most private quarters. A British merchant, Paul Pindar, brings a precious gift to the sultan and discovers that the woman he once loved, Celia, may be alive, hidden among the ranks of slaves in the sultan’s harem. Can this really be his shipwrecked Celia? And if it is, can they be reunited?
Steeped in mystery and sexual intrigue, The Aviary Gate transports readers to exotic sixteenth-century Constantinople, offering the rarest glimpse into the forbidden confines of the sultan’s harem.

And now to the good stuff announcing the winner for September is..............................





   Gina @ Hott Books

Congratulaions Gina! I will be emailing you for you mailing address. If I don't hear back from you within 48 hours I'll have to pick another winner. Happy Reading!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

2011 Historical Romance Challenge - September

REMINDER
This is just a reminder to all the participants of my Historical Romance Challenge that there are only 4 days left to link your review for September. As you know, I will be drawing the winner of this month's giveaway on Oct. 1st and we only have 4 reviews posted as of now. So, don't forget to link your review before Saturday to have a chance of winning this month's prize.  
Here is the link to the post with the Mister Linky.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

In My Mailbox



Weekly meme from The Story Siren. The idea is to post the books you got this week,whether you bought them, got them as a gift, from the library, or received them to review.

All the books I received this week:

I Bought:





I won:


I won "Darkness Descending" from Tynga @ Tynga's Reviews. Thanks Tynga!

RAK:
A big thank you to Alexa @ Pages of Forbidden Love.




What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Friday, September 23, 2011

Halloween Spooktacular

Hello Everyone, 
As you all know one of my favorite holidays is just around the corner. To celebrate my partner, Donna @ Book Lover's Hideaway and I have put together a Halloween Spooktacular. There's going to be lots of fun and giveaways throughout the whole month of October with a grand prize at the very end. So, don't forget to stop by both of our blogs starting October 1st to see what we have in store for you.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Winner of 18 & Over Giveaway Hop

First I want to thank Laurie and Crystal for hosting this event it was lots of fun. I also want to thank all my followers that entered. Now to the good stuff, the winner.


The winner will receive:
And the winner is......         JoAnna B


Congratulations to JoAnna! I will be emailing you to get your mailing address. If I don't hear back from you within 48 hours I will have to draw another winner.

Hottie of the Week

I picked our hottie of the week and I hope you all enjoy.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

In My Mailbox



Weekly meme from The Story Siren. The idea is to post the books you got this week,whether you bought them, got them as a gift, from the library, or received them to review.

All the books I received this week:

I Bought:


  For Review from Sourcebooks:





I won:



I won "My Dangerous Pleasure" and "Sinful Sensations" (not pictured) from the wonderful Good Choice Reading. Thank you ladies!


What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

18 & Over Book Bloggers Giveaway Hop Sept. 15th - 18th

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Welcome everyone! I am so excited to be participating in this giveaway hop. First, lets say thank you to Laurie @ Bitten by Paranormal Romance and Crystal @ Reading Between the Wines for hosting this giveaway hop. I have something truly naughty up for grabs today. Please stay awhile to check out my blog maybe follow if you like what you see. Also, don't forget to enter my giveaways (Look for the links at the top of my home page).  The giveaway hop is going to be 4 days of fun and prizes starting on the 15th and ending on the 18th at midnight. Now to the good stuff. What am I giving away? Wait no longer.


I'm giving away a three book package including some awesome swag (not pictured):

How to win:
1. This giveaway is US only due to shipping costs.
2. You MUST be at least 18 years old.
3. You are not required to be a follower to enter but it is appreciated.
4. Fill out this simple FORM:


Thursday, September 8, 2011

September Monthly Book Giveaway

This month for my monthly book giveaway I am giving away "Passion" (Fallen #3) by Lauren Kate. A brand new hardback copy.



Luce would die for Daniel.
And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .
Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.
Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.
Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.
Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

1. This giveaway is open to US only due to shipping costs. Sorry :(
2. I will be drawing the winner using random.org
3. All you have to do to enter is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment with your follower name and email address. 
4. If you post my monthly giveaway button in your sidebar you will get 2 extra points. Please leave your blog address in your comment so I can check.
5. Spreading the word is not required but I would appreciate it.

Thank you and Good Luck!!!

2011 Historical Romance Challenge - September

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Hello Everyone,
It's time for the 9th month of our Historical Romance Reading Challenge. Each month I will post what the giveaway prize will be for that month and also attach a Mister Linky so you can post your reviews for everyone to see. I do check them all (btw). If you don't attach a review post of a book that you read in September, you will not be entered into the giveaway. Also, you need 12 reviews to be entered into the Grand Prize at the end. If you are unsure how many books you have entered just email me and I'll let you know. (romancbookjunkiesdanielle@yahoo.com) You can post more than one review for the month but you only get one entry into the giveaway. So, yes, you can catch up. 


Prizes: (US ONLY)

The Aviary Gate (Hardcover)

by: Katie Hickman

Goodreads Blurb:

“[This] magical, engrossing…novel of intrigue and forbidden love manages to be both cerebral and entertaining. With all the intricate detail of historical nonfiction and all the pace of romantic drama, this is beautifully written stuff.”—Glamour (UK) In Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Elizabeth Staveley has found a fragment of ancient paper that may hold the key to a story hidden for four centuries: a British sea captain’s daughter held captive in the sultan’s harem.
Constantinople, 1599. I n the sultan’s palace, the chief eunuch has been poisoned by a beautiful ship made of spun sugar, and a rebellion is rising within the palace’s most private quarters. A British merchant, Paul Pindar, brings a precious gift to the sultan and discovers that the woman he once loved, Celia, may be alive, hidden among the ranks of slaves in the sultan’s harem. Can this really be his shipwrecked Celia? And if it is, can they be reunited?
Steeped in mystery and sexual intrigue, The Aviary Gate transports readers to exotic sixteenth-century Constantinople, offering the rarest glimpse into the forbidden confines of the sultan’s harem.




You can also win a beautiful bookmark by Miss Bohemia 



Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Excerpt - Michelle Franklin

The author of "Tales of Frewyn" is here to share a excerpt of her book with us on her Blog Tour today. I recently reviewed her other book "The Commander and the Den Asaan Rautu", and enjoyed it.

Excerpt:

The Party Straw
                While the chief of the keep was in raptures over their new prince, Kai Linaa was searching for a manner in which to express her artist prowess in the way of a celebration commemorating the birth of a new Brennin. She was sensible of Alasdair’s moderate taste with regard to ceremony and would therefore contrive to keep any commemoration on his family’s account a small one, but in her questioning Martje on the use of the large kitchen, she had discovered that this very day was Shayne’s birthday.
                “Aye, I’m doin’ well by my man,” Martje proudly professed. “Makin’ him a cake and a nice dinner and all.”
                A birthday party was a prospect Kai Linaa could not look upon with ill-favour, for there was everything to be enjoyed in celebrating a birthday: gifts must be procured and wrapped in fine paper, a theme must be chosen for the celebration itself, accoutrements and ornaments must be made, and there was everything to give Kai Linaa delight in the business. Employing her abilities to titivate the kitchen and make it a haven for festivity became her first object.
                She  requested that she be permitted to make the celebration on both a accounts a joint one, and Martje enjoying the office of baker wherever she had opportunity to do so thought the scheme more than advisable. She set to work on creating something for everyone to eat while Kai Linaa fluttered away in search of gold paper and fasteners. Party hats must be constructed, decorations must be strewn, and while everyone was otherwise engaged with cooing over the newborn child, she became busy with putting her craftsmanship to use. In a short while, she had made enough curled ribbons and hats for everyone expected at the party, fashioned streamers and animal-shaped garnishings on Dorrin’s account, and brought every item to the kitchen to begin the room’s decoration.
                She had just left the kitchen, however, in quest of string with which to tie up the paper patterns along the windows when the Den Asaan entered the oven room to inspect his cake in the larder. He went to the storeroom, ogled his prize for a moment in rapacious reflection, and was to enter the training yard when the site of a strange article he had never before seen stopped him:  a violet straw fashioned in the shape of a butterfly lay aside on the table. There was a small pile of similar items beside the object, but this one, larger and better made than the rest, seemed to be beckoning his attention. He regarded it with circumspection at first, remarking its pleasant shape and obnoxious colours, and was inclined to leave it alone but something in the craftsmen ship drew him to scrutinize it further. The likeness of the butterfly was well-contrived, the straw did not lose its use from being bent in various directions, and upon the whole there seemed to be great care taken in the item’s creation. He could not wonder at who had made it, as no one else in the world but Kai Linaa would think to make everything adorable and vibrant, but as he examined it, he found himself drawing closer to it quite against his will. It was there on the table mocking his sensibilities with its disgusting shape and offensive colour, lying still as though it were begging to be taken up and coddled for its attractiveness. A hand unconsciously reached out to touch it but was instantly retracted. He must not venture to hold something so charming. A ruthless Den Asaan should never be mistaken as one who is easily charmed, but beauty in any form would have its way and must be admired. It lay there, its colourful and motionless existence paining him; such a well-crafted item going unnoticed but by him. This was not to be endured; attention must be paid. Lift me, it called to him, lift me and caress me.
                And lift it he did.
                “That one was made for you, Den Asaan,” said Kai Linaa as she entered the kitchen from the main hall. She had seen the entire performance of feigning neglect from her place at the doorway and had waited until the giant had succumbed to catch the end of the spectacle.
                Rautu instantly denied all claim to the object. He thought to toss it onto the pile of decorations but soon found himself unable to part with it. He twirled momentarily between his fingers to observe the full shape it made in the bending of the light. It was exceptionally made, and he now considered it a shame to use it and waste its magnificence when it could otherwise remain untouched.
                “I know you like your party straw, Den Asaan,” Kai Linaa giggled into her hands, watching the giant marvel at so small a thing.
                He ignored her laughter and went to the commons to place the artwork in the commons where it should be otherwise safe from others and he would be spared the derision of his admiration when the commander entered the kitchen in time to see the sense of wonderment prevailing Kai Linaa’s countenance.
                “I am aware that many consider him to be a ruthless beast incapable of deep considerations or profound feelings,” the commander said to Kai Linaa, “but any who should accuse him of such could not be more mistaken. He is a great admirer of ability in any form it might take, should it express itself on the battlefield or in the intricacies of a well-made straw. It is all art to him, and he must appreciate it wherever it is to be found.” The commander smiled at her mate’s thoughtful consideration of the item, watching him hold it up to the sunlight and twirling it about as he walked through the yard with a slow gait and mesmerized expression.
                Kai Linaa said nothing of the event but accepted it as the highest compliment accorded: that something she had made to be a trivial travesty of the Den Asaan’s harsh sensibilities should have impressed him so much. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Winner of my Blog Anniversery

Now last but not least we are going to announce the winner of my Blog anniversary which is going to be a special mystery prize.
I want to think all my readers for supporting my blog and I hope I can keep up in the next year. I also wanted to thank all the people that left all the kind comments. So, now lets get to the important stuff of announcing the  winner.................................................

Latisha D.

2011 Historical Romance Challenge Winner

My second winner for the 2011 Historical Romance Challenge for August is..........................

Mandy @ Mandy's Escape
Comgradulations!! I will be emailing you shortly to get your shipping information.

Winner of My Monthly Book Giveaway


Monthly Giveaways at Romance Book Junkies


I'm going to announce the winner of my Monthly Book Giveaway for September first.

The winner of "Passion" by Lauren Kate is..............
Tracy Smith
I will be contacting Tracy via email and get her shipping address. Congratulations!!

And now for the winner of my 2011 Historical Romance Challenge. And the winner is.........
Ginna Hott
Congratulations Ginna! I will be contacting you through email to get your mailing address.
 
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