BLOG TOUR AND GIVEAWAY: Summer At Little Beach Street Bakery (Little Beach Street Bakery #2) by Jenny Colgan

Win a Print Copy of

SUMMER AT LITTLE BEACH STREET BAKERY

SUMMER AT LITTLE BEACH STREET BAKERY

Little Beach Street Bakery #2

Jenny Colgan

Releasing March 22nd, 2016

William Morrow

The New York Times-bestselling author of Little Beach Street Bakery and Christmas at the Cupcake Café returns with a delightful new novel--with recipes!--that is already an international bestseller and is perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Meg Donohue, and Sophie Kinsella.

For fans of Jojo Moyes and Elin Hilderbrand, an irresistible novel—moving and funny, soulful and sweet—about happiness, heartache, and hope. And recipes.

A thriving bakery. A lighthouse to call home. A handsome beekeeper. A pet puffin. These are the things that Polly Waterford can call her own. This is the beautiful life she leads on a tiny island off the southern coast of England.

But clouds are gathering on the horizon. A stranger threatens to ruin Polly’s business. Her beloved boyfriend seems to be leading a secret life. And the arrival of a newcomer—a bereft widow desperately searching for a fresh start—forces Polly to reconsider the choices she’s made, even as she tries to help her new friend through grief.

Unpredictable and unforgettable, this delightful novel will make you laugh, cry, and long for a lighthouse of your own. Recipes included.

Review: I've read several books by this author, and I have to say this is my favorite so far. Mount Polbearne is such a wonderful community, with (mostly) wonderful people living there. Polly Waterford has found real happiness there--until her entire world gets turned upside down. What she has to go through to bring her life back to "normal" is the main focus of this story.

This is a fun, easy read that would be perfect for enjoying on the beach this summer. There is drama, intrigue, romance and danger, and a cast of characters that anyone who has ever lived in a small town will recognize immediately.  I love the relationship between Polly and Huckle, and can't wait to see how it progresses in future books.  And Neil the puffin makes for great comic relief!!

Although this is the second book in the series, it is easily read as a standalone without feeling lost and confused.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.**

Rating: Four stars

BUY NOW

Amazon | B & N | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jenny Colgan is the New York Times-bestselling author of numerous novels, including Christmas at the Cupcake Café, Little Beach Street Bakery, and Meet Me at the Cupcake Café, all international bestsellers. Jenny is married with three children and lives in London and Scotland.

Website | Facebook  | Twitter | GoodReads 

BLOG TOUR AND GIVEAWAY: Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War

Enter to Win a 

Print Copy of FALL OF POPPIES

Fall of Poppies

Stories of Love and the Great War

Contributions by: 

Hazel Gaynor, Beatriz Williams, Jennifer Robson, 

Jessica Brockmole, Kate Kerrigan, Evangeline Holland, 

Lauren Willig, Marci Jefferson, edited by Heather Webb

Releasing March 1st, 2016 

William Morrow

Top voices in historical fiction deliver an intensely moving collection of short stories about loss, longing, and hope in the aftermath of World War I—featuring bestselling authors such as Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig and edited by Heather Webb.

A squadron commander searches for meaning in the tattered photo of a girl he’s never met…

A Belgian rebel hides from the world, only to find herself nursing the enemy…

A young airman marries a stranger to save her honor—and prays to survive long enough to love her…The peace treaty signed on November 11, 1918, may herald the end of the Great War but for its survivors, the smoke is only beginning to clear. Picking up the pieces of shattered lives will take courage, resilience, and trust.

Within crumbled city walls and scarred souls, war’s echoes linger. But when the fighting ceases, renewal begins…and hope takes root in a fall of poppies.

BUY NOW

Amazon | B & N | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo

 

This is an anthology of short stories which will stir your emotions from beginning to end.  I have to admit that I am not a big reader of romances, so I am unfamiliar with the work of these authors, but the subject matter of this anthology drew me in, and I was glad that I took the chance.

Each of the nine authors included in this collection did a marvelous job in telling a story which revolves around the Armistice. There is joy and celebration, but there is also uncertainty, and even some sadness. There is love, loss and moving on. 

We get a look at different aspects of the war's aftermath in Belgium, France, and Britain. I learned about masks made for disfigured soldiers, which was something I had been unaware of prior to reading this collection. I felt an emotional connection to several of the female characters, which is a tribute to the wonderful writing.

I would be hard-pressed to choose any favorites from among the nine stories, as each one is so unique. If you enjoy historical fiction, or historical romance, I would highly recommend picking up your own copy of this anthology and giving it a read. You will NOT be disappointed.

Rating: Four stars

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jessica Brockmole is the author of the internationally bestselling Letters from Skye, an epistolary love story spanning an ocean and two wars. Named one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2013, Letters From Skye has been published in seventeen countries.

Website  | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Hazel Gaynor is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home and A Memory of Violets. She writes regularly for the national press, magazines and websites in Ireland and the UK.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

 Evangeline Holland is the founder and editor of Edwardian Promenade, the number one blog for lovers of World War I, the Gilded Age, and Belle Époque France with nearly forty thousand unique viewers a month. In addition, she blogs at Modern Belles of History. Her fiction includes An Ideal Duchess and its sequel, crafted in the tradition of Edith Warton.

 Website | Twitter | GoodReads

Marci Jefferson is the author of Girl on the Golden Coin: A Novel of Frances Stuart, which Publisher’s Weekly called “intoxicating.” Her second novel, The Enchantress of Paris, will release in Spring 2015 from Thomas Dunne Books.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Kate Kerrigan is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ellis Island trilogy. In addition she has written for the Irish Tatler, a Dublin-based newspaper, as well as The Irish Mail and a RTE radio show, Sunday Miscellany.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Jennifer Robson is the USA Today and international bestselling author of Somewhere in France and After the War is Over. She holds a doctorate in Modern History from the University of Oxford, where she was a Commonwealth Scholar and SSHRC Doctoral Fellow. Jennifer lives in Toronto with her husband and young children.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Heather Webb is an author, freelance editor, and blogger at award-winning writing sites WriterUnboxed.com and RomanceUniversity.org. Heather is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and she may also be found teaching craft-based courses at a local college

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Beatriz Williams is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of The Secret Life of Violet Grant and A Hundred Summers. A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia, Beatriz spent several years in New York and London hiding her early attempts at fiction, first on company laptops as a corporate and communications strategy consultant, and then as an at-home producer of small persons. She now lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry. William Morrow will publish her forthcoming hardcover, A Certain Age, in the summer of 2016. 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Lauren Willig is the New York Times bestselling author of eleven works of historical fiction. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages, awarded the RITA, Booksellers Best and Golden Leaf awards, and chosen for the American Library Association’s annual list of the best genre fiction. She lives in New York City, where she now writes full time.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

RELEASE DAY BLAST: Fooling Around With Cinderella (Storybook Valley #1) by Stacy Juba

Enter to Win a 

Custom Pink-Beaded Cinderella Charm Bracelet

FOOLING AROUND WITH CINDERELLA

Storybook Valley #1

Stacy Juba

Released November 9th, 2015

Self Published

What happens when the glass slippers pinch Cinderella's toes?

When Jaine Andersen proposes a new marketing role to the local amusement park, general manager Dylan Callahan charms her into filling Cinderella’s glass slippers for the summer. Her reign transforms Jaine’s ordinary life into chaos that would bewilder a fairy godmother. Secretly dating her bad boy boss, running wedding errands for her ungrateful sisters, and defending herself from the park’s resident villain means Jaine needs lots more than a comfy pair of shoes to restore order in her kingdom.

First in the Storybook Valley series, a blend of sweet romance, chick lit, and fairy tale fun.

Excerpt

Dylan scrutinized Jaine, arms folded across his royal blue shirt with the Storybook Valley logo stamped over the left in white block letters. “Do you wear contacts?”

“I have plenty of media contacts. Wait. Did you say wear contacts? You mean instead of these?” Jaine fingered the earpiece of her gold-rimmed glasses.

“Right. Contact lenses.”

She gave a nervous chuckle. “I scheduled a consultation in college, but was too squeamish to insert the lens. I was more comfortable in glasses.”

Was she really justifying her vision enhancement choices to her prospective new boss? Maybe he intended to discuss medical benefits. Or did he think she looked nerdy? What was the saying? Guys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses? Not that she wanted him to make a pass even if he was hot.

“How blind are you without glasses?” Dylan persisted.

“You wouldn’t want to drive with me.”

“How about if you’re walking around a building? Are you in danger of hurting yourself?”

This interview had taken the Mad Hatter Freeway from Fairy Tale Land into Wonderland where nothing made a damn bit of sense. Did this guy have a glasses fetish, like those weirdoes with shoe fetishes?

“I should be okay. I take them off for special occasions.” In fact, Jaine’s older sister Bree, who was getting married in August, remarked just last week, “You are losing the glasses for my wedding pictures, right?”

What the hell. She’d be a good sport and hope Dylan would be so grateful to pick the brain of a real, flesh and blood, bespectacled person that he would appoint her marketing director. Jaine removed her glasses and the fine details of her surroundings fuzzed. She nodded toward the framed print hanging on a side wall, the picture a wash of symbols and colors. “I can tell that’s a park map, but the words and images smear together.”

And that was myopia in a nutshell. Jaine adjusted her glasses back into place so she could see his reaction. Dylan examined her with such intensity that a blush stained her cheeks. She patted her blonde French braid, in case stray strands were straggling out.

“Here’s the situation,” Dylan said. “I took over the general manager position a few months ago. I’m evaluating possible changes and researching how other theme parks run. My grandfather and father have worked with a marketing firm for years to create our brochures, billboards, print, and radio ads.”

Jaine’s shoulders caved, imperceptible to him, but it felt as if her whole body was sinking.

No fairy tale job ending for her.

BUY NOW

Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stacy Juba got engaged at Epcot Theme Park and spent part of her honeymoon at Disneyland Paris, where she ate a burger, went on fast rides, and threw up on the train ride to the hotel. In addition to working on her new Storybook Valley chick lit/sweet romance series, Stacy has written books about ice hockey, teen psychics, U.S. flag etiquette for kids, and determined women sleuths. She has had a novel ranked as #5 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. 

When she’s not visiting theme parks with her family, (avoiding rides that spin and exotic hamburgers), or writing about them, Stacy helps authors to strengthen their manuscripts through her Crossroads Editing Service. She is currently writing the next book in the Storybook Valley Series, Prancing Around with Sleeping Beauty.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads