Showing posts with label Heidi Ashworth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heidi Ashworth. Show all posts

Sunday, February 14, 2016

A Midwinter Ball by Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon and Michele Paige Holmes

A Midwinter Ball
(Timeless Regency Collection)
by Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon and Michele Paige

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website: Heidi Ashworth
Website: Annette Lyon
Website: Michele Paige Holmes

Published: December 2015
Publisher: Mirror Press
Genre: Historical, Romance, Short Stories
eBook
Rating: 4

Other Timeless Regency Collections:
Autumn Masquerade (on sale now)
Spring in Hyde Park (Coming March 2016)
Summer House Party (Coming June 2016)
A Country Christmas (Coming October 2016)

MUCH ADO ABOUT DANCING by Heidi Ashworth. Two years have passed since Lord Northrup declared his intentions for Miss Analisa Lloyd-Jones and forbade any other man to court her. Angry at the neglect, Analisa stopped reading his letters, never even breaking the seals. Tired of waiting, Analisa joins the house party at Mrs. Smith’s famous country home, determined to find a beau. When Lord Northrup unexpectedly joins the party, Analisa discovers she is no longer repulsed by the man who first laid claim to her hand.

SWEETER THAN ANY DREAM by Annette Lyon. Olivia Wallington is firmly established as a spinster, but that doesn’t stop her from dreaming about the perfect man. Ever since her father’s death, Olivia has been forced into seclusion by her mother. When her brother and his wife come for a visit, they discover the extent to which she lives under their mother’s thumb. With their help, Olivia sneaks out to attend a local ball, where she meets Edward Blakemoore. For a few divine moments, all of her dreams seem possible. But even someone like Mr. Blakemoore would be hard pressed to get past Mrs. Wallington’s fortress of protection—or past Olivia’s pride.

AN INVITATION TO DANCE by Michele Paige Holmes. Lady Ella has been isolated on her father’s estate since her mother’s death as her father travels the world. When Alex Darling arrives with a letter from her long-dead fiancĂ©, and a demand that she travel to London for a series of engagements, Ella thinks her father instigated the strange demands and agrees. In London, she discovers the truth behind her fiancĂ©’s death, and that new love might be possible in the arms of the most unexpected man.


My two-bits: for collection

This read is a wonderful way to escape from the cold days of winter as it warms the heart.

The three stories in this collection do well in presenting the magical romance setting that come about from ballroom parties and dancing of the past. Some of the etiquette and conversations whilst dancing are described which always interest me.

Plenty of light banter between the couples who are paired that make them irresistibly likable. Also light drama surrounds the heroine that each must contend with in regards to family members.

Fun to see matchmaking from a Father's perspective.

Loved how letters play such an important role in this world. They could be driving forces that could cause both good and not-so-good things to occur as well as interesting twists.

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* review copy courtesy of eBooks for Review -get free ebooks for honest review (here)

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Stacking the Shelves - 12.19.15

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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For Review:

Storming
by K.M. Weiland
A Dieselpunk Adventure
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads -giveaway, expires Dec 21

Postcards from the Sky: Adventures of an Aviatrix
by Erin Seidemann
-Memoir, Travel
courtesy of BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge 2015 @booksparks #FRC2015 -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

Twelve Days in December
(A Hearthfire Romance)
by Michele Paige Holmes
courtesy of eBooks for Review -get free ebooks to review (here) -Thanks!
-Historical, Romance
Amazon | Goodreads

A Midwinter Ball
(Timeless Regency Collection)
by Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, Michele Paige Holmes
courtesy of eBooks for Review -get free ebooks to review (here) -Thanks!
-Historical, Romance, Short Stories
Amazon | Goodreads

That Girl, Darcy:
A Pride and Prejudice Story

by James Ramos
courtesy of eBooks for Review -get free ebooks to review (here) -Thanks!
-Jane Austen, Romance, YA
Amazon | Goodreads

From Library: audio

Wishin' and Hopin"
A Christmas Story
by Wally Lamb
-Holiday, Humor
Amazon | Goodreads | my rating: 5

Wally Lamb, the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much Is True, and She’s Come Undone, delivers a holiday treat with Wishin’ and Hopin’—an unforgettable novella that captures the warmth and joy of the holiday season. Poignant and hilarious, in a vein similar to Jean Shepherd’s A Christmas Story and David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries, Lamb’s Christmas tale focuses on a feisty parochial school fifth grader named Felix Funicello—a distant cousin of the iconic Annette!

=====> A treat to listen to for the holiday season with scenes from the 60's and hilarious school Christmas show episode.

UNBOXING:

From Uppercase package (details & signup):
A hand-selected young adult book & fun bookish item, delivered monthly #UppercaseBox


NOVEMBER Box includes:
- Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
- Signed bookplate from Eric Lindstrom
- Wood Cherry Blossom Bookmark from Mitercraft
- 2016 YA Quotes Calendar (Uppercase exclusive)

Not If I See You First
by Eric Lindstrom
-Disability, Romance, YA
Amazon | Goodreads

The Rules:

Don't deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public.

Don't help me unless I ask. Otherwise you're just getting in my way or bothering me.

Don't be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I'm just like you only smarter.

Parker Grant doesn't need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That's why she created the Rules: Don't treat her any differently just because she's blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there's only one way to react-shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that's right, her eyes don't work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn't cried since her dad's death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened--both with Scott, and her dad--the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken.

Combining a fiercely engaging voice with true heart, debut author Eric Lindstrom's Not If I See You First illuminates those blind spots that we all have in life, whether visually impaired or not.


Won from contest:

Various Quirk-ish swag
from Quirk Books - Thanks!

=====> Especially love the tote bag - book themed ones are so cute AND come in so handy these days.

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

Joined this...

Clean Slate Read-A-Thon
January 10-18, 2016
sponsored by Latte Nights Reviews, Novel Ink & Lost in Lit
Details & signup (here)

=====> Looking forward to catching up.

AND listened: online - podcast

Serial
Season 2, Dustwun
-nonfiction | website

In the middle of the night, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl grabs a notebook, snacks, water, some cash. Then he quietly slips off a remote U.S. Army outpost in eastern Afghanistan and into the dark, open desert. About 20 minutes later, it occurs to him: he’s in over his head.

=====> SO excited that this podcast has started up again. Episodes one and two are available to download.

AND watched: on DVD

Dark Places (2015)
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Screenplay by: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Based on book by: Gillian Flynn
Starring: Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks
-Drama, Mystery, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 4

Libby Day was only eight years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Almost thirty years later, she agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night.

=====> Followed the book pretty well.

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Writers: Kay Cannon, Mickey Rapkin
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld
-Comedy, Music | imdb | my rating: 4.5

After a humiliating command performance at The Kennedy Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.

=====> Just as entertaining as the first one with more glitz.

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers

Friday, December 18, 2015

National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day

National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day (details)

PUT on your ugly sweater and snuggle with your honey (or good novel) next to a warm fire. Egg nog on the side table is optional ;-)


SOME honeys dressed in sweaters...

Ewan McGregor -love the ugly

Joel Kinnaman -love the chunky kind

Benedict Cumberbatch -love the classic look

Brad Pitt -love the turtleneck


SOME holiday reads...

Gratitude
by Oliver Sacks
-Essays, Memoir
Amazon | Goodreads

Gateway to Fourline
by Pam Brondos
-Fantasy, Magic, YA
Amazon | Goodreads

Twelve Days in December
(A Hearthfire Romance)
by Michele Paige Holmes
-Historical, Romance
Amazon | Goodreads

A Midwinter Ball
(Timeless Regency Collection)
by Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, Michele Paige Holmes
-Historical, Romance, Short Stories
Amazon | Goodreads


HOW about knitting an ugly sweater for your current read from Quirk books (directions here).

All you need...


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* image source: Ewan McGregor, Joel Kinnaman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt

 
Imagination Designs
Images from: Lovelytocu