So I was kind of sad that we only had two entries in this contest. But it is what it is and I was happy to have SOME entries. So here is the winner. Congrats!
Book Review: The Pickpocket Countess by Bronwyn Scott
TO BED A THIEF!
It’s Brandon Wycroft’s duty as the Earl of Stockport to catch the “Cat.” a notorious thief who is stealing from rich local homes to feed the poor. Discovering that the Cat is a woman, he changes his plan of action — to a game of seduction!
Mysterious and tempting, she teases him. And, as the net closes around the Cat, Brandon realizes he wants to protect her as well as bed her. But the only way to catch her is to spring the parson’s mousetrap — and make her his countess!
Okay, this book was a fast read and it was pretty fun overall. Really it does have some good solid characters that are enjoyable. But overall it was also predictable. You knew what was going to happen before it happened. And while that doesn’t matter sometimes and is a small issue, with this book for me it was a slightly big issue.
But, over all it was not a horrible book. And if someone doesn’t mind something slightly predicable I would recommend it. “The Cat” is a fun character a bold heroine who has fun being the Robin Hood of her area. She steals from the greedy rich men and feeds poor families with her bounty. The Earl of Stockport takes a little bit to warm up to. He’s cocky, to full of himself and won’t even admit when he’s been robbed. Or at least that the woman broke into his house while he was in it.
But eventually you warm up to him. You learn to see his point of view and have to respect how he feels about things. He’s torn between caring for the thief and wanting to see justice done. By the end of this book he did get my respect. And over the entire book was an okay read.
Friday Finds: #7
Okay so I was watching The Today Show, and Heard about this book. I promptly went out and added it to all of my Wish lists! So my Friday Find Is:
“Sometimes I lock myself in the bathroom.”
“I put an educational DVD on so I could have sex. It wasn’t with my husband.”
Romi Lassally provides a judgment-free zone where women can reveal their mommy misdemeanors. From not feeling like cleaning up vomit in the middle of the night, to barking something completely inappropriate to the children, to wanting to be pawed by hands that aren’t covered in jelly, the confessions pour in daily.
Heartfelt and hilarious, naughty and nasty, frank and outrageous, the confessions culled together for this book represent the best—or the worst?—of those humbling hidden secrets of motherhood in all its glorious messiness as improvisation and triage. They dare to suggest that it’s okay for moms to make mistakes, to have unkind thoughts, to publicly or privately embarrass themselves—and above all to be human.
About the Author
Romi Lassally is the co-creator of the popular website and the founding editor of the Lifestyles section of The Huffington Post.
Booking Through Thursday: Windfall
Today Booking through Thursday asks:
Yesterday, April 15th, was Tax Day here in the U.S., which means lots of lucky people will get refunds of over-paid taxes.
Whether you’re one of them or not, what would you spend an unexpected windfall on? Say … $50? How about $500?
(And, this is a reading meme, so by rights the answer should be book-related, but hey, feel free to go wild and splurge on anything you like.)
Well as a book person if I was given a windfall of $50 I would simply take myself out to a nice meal, and some books. However if I got $500 I can think of other things to pay off. The first thing I would do is pay some bills ahead of time. It’s always a nice feeling to know your bills are already taken care of. Now after I did that, I would probably invest in some new book shelves. I would also get a few more books for those shelves. For me books are a stress relief so that is a good thing to get when you have some money. I would also just put some away for when it was needed.
Aw Our First Award-Lets Be Friends Award
Well we got this in a round about sort of way but its still an award. http://subjectivebeauty.blogspot.com/2009/04/lets-be-friends-award.htmlwho blessedly did out make over and will be doing others gave this Award to all of her followers. She is so sweet, and I love her work. I think would make blogs just to have her design them for me! Honest. So here is the beautiful award. And, I have to pass it on so my picks will be below.
“The Let’s be Friends Awards stands for this: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers.”
1)Anah@ Coming out of the Dark We fight, we spat. But we are sisters. And I wish she would be writting again on her blog because I think it would help her.
2) Everyone @ CBA they are GREAT! I get my TWI fix without having to write it myself.Thanks you guys!
3) Purplgrl @ So Many Books, So little time. You always are kind enough to post my contests on your blog. Thank you hun!
4) Mom Jen @ Cheaper Than Therapy On my Blog Birth of a Notion I play her ThousandWord Thursday game. And its FUN doing so. I also love reading her posts.
5) The TwiCrack Addict need I say more? Twi TWI TWI..incase you didnt noticeby my own hosting of Major Whitlock I love TWILIGHT haha..and the Twicrack addict is a great, fun blogger.
6) Molly @ My Cozy Book Nook she does great reviews, and Author interviews. One of these days I am going to get around to asking how one gets an Author Interview.
7) Tena @ Crazy Book Slut. I don’t remmber how I found Tena’s blog (brain fart) But I am so glad I did!I love reading her reviews, and all other book things.But I also enjoy her work on her Punky Monkey’s site. And if it werent for my following her blog, I wouldn’t have found Sara at Subjective Beauty. How is that for 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon? I love her blog name so much I thought about buying the domain name and giving it to her as a gift!
8) Melissa @ SHH I’m reading. I love this blog. I am not sure she knows I am there. But I am following following. And Loving it.
New Meme: Wicked Wednesday # 1
I decided since I do so many weekly Meme’s I would start one of my own. It is going to be somewhat Similar to Friday Finds, but really who wants to recommend books just one time a week. So we have Wicked Wednesday.
Wicked Wednesday a place to be wicked to other book readers and make them get those TBR piles growing. The concept is simple. Pick a book or two and tell s about them. If its one you read tell us what you liked. If its one you found tell us about that to. Than leave a comment to let us know where to find your Wicked Wednesday titles. Make sure to link back in your posts for other people to follow Wicked Wednesday.
And my pick for the very First Wicked Wens IS…
Hearts and Bones by Margaret Lawrence. It is on my April book List to read and promises to be good. Its a 1777 murder mystery! So I get my fav history and some mistery as well. So tell me what did you find?
Book Review: The Naked Marquis by Sally Mackenzie
The Man is Practical
As marriage proposals go, Charles Draysmith’s suit is as romantic as the moors in December. Emma Peterson might be only a vicar’s daughter, and the new Marquis of Knightsdale, and perhaps he would rather marry her than endure the marriage mart. But when he suggests how much he’ll enjoy securing an heir, well, a lady can only endure so much.
But the Lady is Passionate
There’s something about a woman throwing pottery at a man that piques his interest. Perhaps his proposal lacks grace, Charles thinks. But it does seem a perfect solution. He acquires a wife; his young charges have the mother they so desperately need, and Emma gains security and position. You see? Simple. Practical. Sensible– oh no, not the ceramic dog…
He will have to confess the truth to calm her down. And the truth is, he’s madly in love…
The Naked Marquis is the second book in Sally Mackenzie’s “Naked” series. And I have to say I enjoyed it. While it was not as outgoing and stomp on you as hard as The Naked Duke it was still very good. Mackenzie so far is showing her tune in taking older “on the shelf” ladies or picks maybe not as usual as heroines for her men. And I like it. Miss Emma Peterson is the daughter of the town Vicar, and Charles Draysmith Marquis of Kensdale is a second son who comes reluctantly into the title when his brother dies suddenly in an accident. Or was it?
Not only do we meet a new cast of loveable characters, we also meet again with our Duke of Alvord James and his wife who is now expecting their first child, and Robbie the Earl of Westbroke. It is positively wonderful to see them again and even more so to follow the Marquis as he tries to win his ladies hand.
While Emma followed Charles around when he was a kid (along with Robbie and James) she is determined not to do so now. It was so bad when she was a child that the other boys nicknamed her Shadow. The story is fun, and also there are some hidden twists and turns. While the villain is again obvious exactly what he is up to is not obvious until much later in the story.
Laughable and just a wonderful bit of fun I guarantee you will find yourself laughing out loud. When the Marquis first asks for Emma’s hand in marriage she throws a ceramic dog at his head. It’s nice to see a lady who fights with her feelings, and really wants nothing more than love. She doesn’t want a title; she doesn’t want to just be any mans broodmare. So come and follow the granddaughter of an Earl the daughter of a Vicar as she is chased by the handsome Naked Marquis I promise you will enjoy it.
Teaser Tuesday: 8
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to: Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!Please avoid spoilers!
He wanted to watch her grow round and heavy with his babes.He wanted to watch them nurse a her breast. ~ Page 239 The Naked Gentleman by Sally Mackenzie
Book Giveaway: Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Skyes
Plum Sykes burst on to the literary scene in 2004 with her beguiling debut novel introducing readers to the glamorous world of PAPs (Park Avenue Princesses) and her loveable heroine, Moi, a “champagne bubble of a girl” who became an instant hit with readers from coast to coast.
So here is how to Win this book. The first thing you need to do. And this is required to particpate. Is to create a post on your blog advertising the contest and linking back to us here at Fire & Ice for the contest. make sure you post the link to your post in the comments. This give away will be open til the 20th of April.
And some other ways to get entries:
Follow this blog (1 entry)
Put our Button on your blog (1 entry)
Put is in your blog roll (1 entry)
Join the feeder service (1 entry)
Follow me on facebook (1 entry follow the FB link on the sidebar)
Follow me on Twitter (1 entry Follow twitter link on sidebar)
Musing Mondays: #7
How do you respond to the comments on your blog? Do you try to email individually or comment on post yourself answering the comments above? What do you think is the best way to respond to comments and do you respond to all of them? Do you feel slighted if you don’t receive a response back from the blog owner? (question courtesy of Jenn)
I am trying to decide exactly what my comment etiquette will be. I think I will move it on to replying to each person by email once I get a new email sorted in my new domain. But right now I tend to reply on the thread of comments. I will also if it’s a MEME pay a visit to the blog of the commenter and return the favor of commenting on their blog.
