Visit Svea's blog at The Muse in The Fog Book Review to start linking up your Sunday posts! Suddenly Sunday is a weekly event hosted by Svea whose purpose is to share all the exciting events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.
Mailbox Monday is a meme originally from Marcia's Mailbox and is being hosted by the Amazing Audra @ Unabridged Chick this February.
The What Are You Reading meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read.
Happy February! Happy to see a cold, dreary weather wacky January go away, hope February signals in some Sensational Sunny Spring! (did I just jinx myself?!). Don't forget Valentine's Day is coming up, but before that is Ash Wednesday! What are you giving up for Lent this year? I am giving up beef, and anything with Beef Products. No more greasy McDs or my own yummy tacos. It shall be interesting.
So I had three Email Unsubscribers last week. What's up with that?! Me thinks these were the folks who only subscribed for promised email subscribers exclusive giveaway galore... so buh-bye to them and that means I am NOW having a special Email Subscriber Only Giveaway!
*evil laughter*
Everyone that is getting this email in their inbox right now is eligible.
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is:
1-Forward this post that you received in your email to me at reviewer@BurtonBookReview(DOT)com
2-Comment on this post telling me you are entering.
The prize of the following three books is open to my current USA email subscribers, one lucky winner:
Safe in His Arms by Colleen Coble (ARC) (review coming 2/8/13)
Josiah's Treasure by Nancy Herriman (ARC) (review is way the heck out there, it's for HNR mag)
These have been read by me and therefore are gently used reviewer copies.
And they were all good ones, despite Nancy Herriman's woefully sad cover art!
*bangs head*it's a cryin' shame*
The post should be emailed to you about 10:00AM on Monday morning, so look for it in your box then.
I will contact the winner on Wednesday AM, who will have till Thursday to send me their mailing address so I can mail their prize on Friday afternoon when I get off of work.
This is my Thank You to my loyal followers =) Be sure you sign up for Email updates in order to eligible for my next bundle of books giveaway!
Onwards to what I've been reading:
Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier
Frenchman's Creek, set in 17th-century England, is an absorbing tale of adventure, danger and passion. Lady St. Columb is bored with fashionable life at Court so she sets off for the peace and freedom of her husband's Cornwall estate. Quite unexpectedly, she stumbles on the mooring place of the white-sailed ship belonging to the daring Frenchman who plunders the shores of Cornwall. It is only a question of time before this philosopher-pirate captures the heart of the lovely Lady St. Columb. Satisfying, romantic, swashbuckling action.
This title represents the second book (of 12 required) I've read towards the 2013 TBR Challenge, which means I am keeping the pace and doing well. And so after reading that one, I continued with my bible reading (on to Proverbs now, squeeee!), and then started the new one I received below...
In the Mail:
Received for Review
Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell
A rich tale of power and forbidden love revolving around a young medieval queen
In 1002, fifteen-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son.
Determined to outmaneuver her adversaries, Emma forges alliances with influential men at court and wins the affection of the English people. But her growing love for a man who is not her husband and the imminent threat of a Viking invasion jeopardize both her crown and her life.
Based on real events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Shadow on the Crown introduces readers to a fascinating, overlooked period of history and an unforgettable heroine whose quest to find her place in the world will resonate with modern readers.
Now THIS is a smashingly intriguing looking hardcover that will look good on my shelves, but before it gets there I am actually READING it, imagine that! (You'll believe it when you see it, eh?).. It is very very good, some minor foul language issues however, but still a very good story for me as I have not read of this era before.. I think it will be a good precursor, historically speaking, to another I am going to read soon, The Bastard King (The Norman Series; Volume 1) by Jean Plaidy which starts with William the Conqueror (totally new era for me). I have read many Medieval tales set in the days of Eleanor of Aquitaine, William Marshal and King John, so going backward a bit more is really necessary for me personally =)
Received for Review
The Forbidden Queen by Anne O'Brien (coming in March 2013)
1415. The Battle of Agincourt is over, and the young French princess Katherine de Valois is the prize to be offered to Henry V of England. The innocent Katherine is smitten with Henry, but soon understands that her sole purpose is to produce an heir to unite England and France. Henry will take Katherine, not for her beauty, not for a treaty of peace - but for nothing less than the glittering French crown itself. For Katherine, a pawn in a ruthless political game, England is a lion's den of greed, avarice and mistrust. And when the magnificent King leaves her widowed at twenty-one she is a prize ripe for the taking. Her enemies are circling, her heart is on her sleeve, her hand in marriage is worth a kingdom.
But Katherine is still young and passionate. Many desire her, and her hand in marriage is worth a kingdom. Setting aside those driven by ambition, Katherine falls in love with her servant Owen Tudor, and glimpses the happiness that love can bring. But their enemies are circling, all battling for power and determined to prevent their marriage. Katherine will have to fight to control her own destiny…
In this compelling and beautifully written book, Anne O’Brien tells the story of the innocent young princess, Katherine de Valois, a pawn in a ruthless political game between England and France, and the woman who founded the most famous royal dynasty of all – the Tudors.
Received for Review
What A Mother Knows by Leslie Lehr
An unsettling, emotional and suspenseful novel of the unshakable bonds of motherhood, in which Michelle Mason not only loses her memory after a deadly car crash, but can't find her 16-year-old daughter, the one person who may know what happened that day. But the deeper Michelle digs, the more she questions the innocence of everyone, even herself. A dramatic portrayal of the fragile skin of memory, What a Mother Knows is about finding the truth that can set love free.
I could not resist this one, which comes from a new line of Sourcebooks titles of Women's Fiction.
Since I had devoured a mother/daughter saga type book recently, I felt I should give this one a try also as a sort of guilty pleasure, to break up all the historical reads. And now I must stop accepting books for review!
On the Blog This Week:
I posted a little short in honor of the 200th Anniversary of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and why I can now love my son's out-of-control hairstyle...(same son who is now sick with a fever yet again! I want SPRING!)
Reviewed The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen, another fantastic piece of work from a fabulous historical regency author.
Reviewed that Mother/Daughter Saga title that I referred to above: With All My Love by Patricia Scanlan
What are you reading? Anything amazing this week?
.JPG)