Posts Tagged ‘romance’

Author Interview – Megan Weiand

Posted: March 2, 2013 in Author Interviews
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Debra: Hi Megan, great to see you!  Whose this you brought with you?

Megan: Well you know how you sent me that list of questions to prepare before we did this interview?

Debra: Of course…<staring at Megan’s guest>meganweiand

Megan: Well one of them was about which one of my characters would I invite to a dinner party and since you and I are too busy to have a dinner party anytime soon, I thought I’d bring the answer to our interview session.  This is Mr. Zane Ellison!  The first reason I have for picking him is because um, hello, he’s HOT!

Debra: Wow, what a great surprise today and yes he is hot!  So since he is your character, can you just have him stand over there and look sexy while we try to focus here….that’s good, just out of my peripheral vision so I can attempt to read my notes.  Thanks!  Alright, so tell us a little more about Zane would you?

Megan: Sure, he’s a singer and if we were having a dinner party, I would have him serenading me all throughout dinner so I could imagine I am Hazel in this book.  Zane is the perfect guy for me and if I’m completely honest what guy isn’t irresistible with a guitar?  Teach a nerd how to play guitar and sing and people will no longer view him as the nerd.  It’s just how our minds work.

Debra: I couldn’t agree more!  Wow, ok, look back down at the notes, Deb, ah, here we go, next question…

ENJOY THE FULL INTERVIEW BY CLICKING HERE TO GO TO THE DEDICATED PAGE

Drop me a line at mrsdlhartmann@gmail.com to request your own author interview and a book review – could be fun!

Book Review – “Down a Tuscan Alley” by Laura Graham 5 Stars and a “Must Read” Shout Out!

Posted: February 28, 2013 in book reviews, Recommended Reading
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Down_a_Tuscan_Alley_cover_laura grahamI actually chose this book to read based on the reviews that are already on Amazon.  This is a pleasant and enjoyable read even if its not your normal genre or style, which for me it isn’t.  At first I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy it because I don’t even  know where Tuscany is and I have never been out of the United States so I was unsure if I could follow along.  I am pleased to say that none of that mattered because this author very skillfully painted such wonderful images with her writing style and descriptive efforts; I fee like I have visited Italy and walked up and down that alley many times now and without the expensive airfare!

I can’t help but use many of the same words already used to describe this book, creative, humorous, engaging, thought provoking, all very much true of this beautiful creation.  I truly felt like I was watching these wonderful characters and laughing with them, Laura has a great sense of humour!  I was sad to reach the end only because I could not continue to be part of their lives any longer.  I hope Ms. Graham intends a sequel to this book as it would certainly be well received and readers could reunite with the beloved cast of this story.  It was like taking a vacation to Italy but not seeing the tourist side of things and instead experiencing the reality of every day life there which is by far much more interesting!

I had the opportunity to interview Laura Graham a couple of days ago and learned that this book is actually a memoire and these characters and adventures are part of her own personal history.  It was very exciting to learn more about her after reading the book and seeing how truly amazing she is in person!  The way she portrayed her main character, Lorri and allowed us to follow her as she put heartbreak, financial loss and the resulting language difference from the move to Italy behind her was inspiring and truly demonstrated courage on her part.  Through the tale she weaves in her exceptional prose, we watch her grow and become stronger and happier while she adapts and adjusts and makes new friends, ultimately becoming a completely different person for all of the experiences.  Thank you for sharing this personal journey with all of us!

5 stars out of 5

Reviewed by Debra L Hartmann, Published Author, Professional Editor and Daily Blogger

Link to Laura’s Amazon sales page: http://www.amazon.com/Down-Tuscan-Alley-Laura-Graham/dp/1463698526/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361985348&sr=1-1&keywords=down+a+tuscan+alley

About the Author on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Graham/e/B007A0CQ6O/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Laura’s website: http://www.lauragraham.co.uk/

My favorite because it has pictures of Tuscany, this is Laura’s blog site: http://www.lauragraham.co.uk/blog/   and here is a link to that interview I mentioned: Author Interview – Laura Graham

Drop a line to mrsdlhartmann@gmail.com to get your book on the review list and be sure to ask about the Author Interviews on my Radio Talk Show with NO Radio…you have to read an Author Interview on my blog to understand!PENTAX Image

Book Review – Out of the Blue by Mary H Collins – 3.5 Stars and a “Snuggle up by the Fire and read this Romance Novel” Shout Out!

Posted: February 21, 2013 in book reviews
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This very pleasant romantic novel by Mary H Collins makes for a very comfortable and pleasant reading. The story revolves around Erika Thomson, recently divorced and living her life alone for the first time, taking the reader on her journey that centres on her love for Kevin, a relationship that gets off to a bad start when her younger sister unfortunately gets him first. Broken hearted, she starts over again and finds comfort in getting closer to her daughter and becoming friends with her ex-husband and his new wife while they face huge problems after a serious accident.

All the ups and downs of her life are described here as Erika boldly struggles on, always making sacrifices for others but never for herself. It reminded me of an old novel “The Thorn Birds”, with its inherent drama though maybe not quite as dramatic and certainly lacking the romantic geographical setting. Overall, I highly recommend this book if you like romance novels. My only criticism would be that the characters in the book were not developed enough for my tastes. They were always too busy doing things in the book but I never felt that I understood what made them do these things or why they did them. For example, I never felt satisfied with why Kevin, the love of Erika’s life, ended up with her younger sister at the beginning of the story. But perhaps this was a deliberate ploy to get the story moving along and that is not a negative attribute but in this case did make for a good reading experience overall.

Reviewed by Roger Gerald Scott, Award Winning Published Author and Debra L Hartmann, Published Author, Professional Editor and daily Blogger

Link to Mary H Collins website, stop by and check out all of the other books she has published as well!  http://www.maryhcollins.weebly.com

This review is also being published on http://rogerrgeraldscott.blogspot.no/

Drop a line to mrsdlhartmann@gmail.com to get your book on the review list and be sure to ask about the Author Interviews on my Radio Talk Show with NO Radio…you have to read an Author Interview on my blog to understand!

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