Litfuse Blog Tour and Review: Heiress

 Heiress

by Susan May Warren

Published 2011

Summerside Press

368 Pages

ISBN: 1609362187

Historical fiction

About the book:

They can buy anything they want—fame, power, beauty, even loyalty.

 

But they can’t buy love.

 

The beautiful and wealthy heiress daughters of August Price can buy everything their hearts desire. But what if their desire is to be loved, without an enormous price tag attached? When one sister betrays another for the sake of love, will she find happiness? And what happens when the other sets out across the still untamed frontier to find it—will she discover she’s left it behind in the glamorous world of the New  York gilded society? What price will each woman pay for being an heiress?

 

Set in the opulent world of the Gilded Age, two women discover that being an heiress just might cost them everything they love.

 

 My Review:

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive.”  That quote kept resonating through my mind as I read this book.  In Heiress, Susan May Warren transports the reader into the Gilded Age and a plot that is full of emotion – betrayal, anger, guilt, heartache and redemption.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but it immediately grasped my attention and didn’t let go until the very end.

 

The story of Jinx and Esme is a complex tale that dragged my emotions from chapter to chapter.  This book was hard to put at times, but at a certain point, I’d hit an emotional wall and would be forced to stop reading because I couldn’t handle anymore drama.  The heartache that these characters endure and overcome is what makes this book so great!   Also, I was also fascinated by the time period of this book and the angle that Susan approached it from.  Many historical fictions books in this era focus on the “clean/safe” side of the period – the debutantes, the extravagant balls,  the beautiful gowns, or the courting of a young lady; while Susan looks at the “gritty/dirty” topics – the corruption, the deceit, and the hurt.  Though I did enjoy this book, I was a bit surprised that the faith element really didn’t come into play until the last 1/4 of the book.  It isn’t until the final section of the book, when we see the characters reunite with one another and finally understand their blessings, and that they are loved by God. 

 

Susan May Warren is one of those authors that I would read ANY book from!  She’s incredibly talented and always entertaining from her whimsical and comical stories, to her suspenseful one and now to her dramatic books.  I’m anxious to see what the next book in this series, Baroness, will be like.  Many thanks to Litfuse for allowing me the opportunity to participate in this blog tour!  I received this book  from them in return for my honest review.   Sara’s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

 

About Susan:

Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where she, her four children, and her husband a reactive in their local church.

Susan's larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!  She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com,a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!)  A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at: www.susanmaywarren.com.

Win an opulent Gilded Age Prize Pack fit for an Heiress from Susan May Warren!

Susan May Warren is thrilled to announce the release of her latest historical book, Heiress!

Find out what the reviewers are saying here!

Heiress, a richly complex historical romance, is the first in Susan's three book Daughters of Fortune series. In honor of Heiress’ debut, Susan is hosting a FABULOUS Gilded Age Giveaway and giving away an opulent prize pack fit for an heiress!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A $100 gift certificate to ModCloth.com
• A sleek silver iPod™ Shuffle
• A beautiful strand of Pearls
• Titanic DVD
• Speakeasy Compilation Music CD from Starbucks™
• Heiress by Susan May Warren

Click one of the icons below to enter. But do so soon - this giveaway ends 10/5/11. The winner will be announced Thursday, October 6 on Susan’s blog.

We're Alive! Alive!

Hi there!  This is going to be one of the most random posts ever...but hey, ya gotta do what you gotta do.  Here's what's been happening in the lives of Jeremy, Sara and Diesel over the past few months.

Diesel stole my pajama shorts and ran upstairs with them.

I co-hosted a baby shower and it featured a dessert bar with many pink accents.  Would you expect anything less from me?

We bought Diesel a pool!  It's a lot of fun to play in it with him.

Our friends, Jayla, had a baby!!  Meet our God daughter, Emma.  She's cute, huh?

I saw a bat at work!  Seriously!  Like a real, live (but sleeping) bat!  Ewww.

Our friend, Noel, is in town for the weekend!  Jeremy and him are playing video games, as we speak...and I have a feeling they'll be doing that all weekend.

That, among other stuff, has been occuring in the exciting lives of the Bofferdings.  More too come soon!  I have watermelons, a trash compactor and a vaccum to tell you about. :)

Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows, Part 2

Tomorrow is the BIG day!  Well, tenchinally tonight at midnight is the BIG day.  The 8th and final movie of the Harry Potter franchise is being released and I am BEYOND excited to see this movie.  Though I won't be joining the crowds of crazy fans at midnight tonight, my dad and I will be seeing it on Saturday morning!! Woo hoo!

 Just for fun, let's take a look at the trailers and check out the Harry Potter awesomeness, shall we?  Also, I came across the last video in my search for my the trailers and I just had to include it.  I'm not gonna lie...it made me a little teary eyed.  I know...I'm a TOTAL nerd. :)

Book Review: Wolfsbane + GIVEAWAY

Ladies and gentlemen, I now present you with my book review for my most anticipated book release of 2011.  This book is #3 in the Discarded Heroes series, by Ronie Kendig, and if you recall my review of book #2, Digitalis, you know that there was quite the expectation that this one needed to live up to.  So, let's get on with it, shall we?

Wolfsbane

by Ronie Kendig

Published July 2011

Barbour Publishing, Inc.

320 pages

ISBN: 1602607842

Fiction

From the Publisher:
Embark upon a danger-laden mission within the pages of Ronie Kendig's riveting Wolfsbane. Demolitions expert Danielle Roark thought escaping from a brutal Venezuelan general was a challenge. Now she's charged with espionage and returned to the jungle where a new nightmare begins. Will Dani survive or become just another political pawn destined to be lost forever? Former Green Beret Canyon Metcalfe is disgusted with the suits on Capitol Hill. Still wrestling with the memories of a mission gone bad, he and Nightshade launch a mission to find Dani. Can Canyon rescue Dani, armed with nothing but raw courage?

My Review:
Wow!  That seems to be what I say whenever I finish one of Ronie Kendig's books.  I'm not even sure where to begin this one...but simply put: this book ROCKED my world!  Ronie continues to amaze me with her depth of characters and plot, her heartfelt writing and her ever present message of faith.  She just keeps getting better and better.

In the previous books, Canyon is known as "the quiet and easy-going one", yet there were so many things that caught me by surprise in this book as we get to know him.  My favorite scene is when the Nightshade team has returned from their failed mission.  Canyon is in the hospital and he realizes that Dani isn’t with them.  He’s struggling to overcome his addiction, he’s riddled with guilt and he basically goes crazy.  He starts a fight with Max (never a good idea) and breaks down in tears with the weight of the world on his shoulders.  The emotion in this book was off the charts!  Ronie has a talent for making her heroes SO, SO flawed and SO real, yet in the end, they always realize that God is in control and loves them. 

Ronie possesses the unique skill of capturing the readers attention and provided a vivid background.  I adore how she can transport the reader from a family get-together in the backyard, to being stuck in a Hummer during a mudslide in Venezula, to a secluded hotel room and even to a tense court room hearing.   I really feel like I’m there and apart of the story.  Plus, probably what I loved most about this book is that her characters deal with “real” issues and make “real” mistakes.  This isn’t your typical walk-in-the-park,  boy-meets-girl/they-fall-in-love, Christian Fiction.  This book brings up suicide, sex slavery, addiction and premarital sex.  That's raising the bar, and Ronie nailed it!

After Digitalis, I didn’t think this would happen…but Wolfsbane is my new favorite of the series!  I highly recommend it.  Go out and buy this book now.  Or if you live near me, come over and I’ll let you borrow it!  January 2012 cannot get here quick enough and I can’t even being to imagine how awesome Firethorn is going to be.  Many thanks to Ronie Kendig for providing me with a signed copy of this book (I won a giveaway!  Whoop, whoop!)  Sara’s Rating: 6 out of 5 stars…yea, this one was that good too!

The GIVEAWAY:

I was extremely lucky to win the whole Discarded Heroes series by Ronie Kendig; however, I already owned copies of Nightshade and Digitalis, so....I've decided to give them away!!  I’ll be randomly selecting one lucky reader to win these two fabulous books.  Here's what you need to do!

To enter (main entry) -

Leave a comment telling me why you love Ronie Kendig's books or if you haven't read any yet, why you are looking forward to reading them. Don't forget to include your email address!

For ONE bonus entry - Head over to Twitter and tweet the following statement:

"@saraboff is giving away copies of @roniekendig's Nightshade & Digitalis and I want to win!  http://goo.gl/2Sras”

Then, leave a comment telling me you’ve done so.

For ONE more bonus entry -

Head over to Ronie's website, RonieKendig.com, and leave a comment telling me what your favorite thing about it is!  It could be anything - the blog, the font, her bio - anything.  I personally like the different page titles, but let me know what you think is cool.

Good luck!

**Contest closes for entries July 16, 2011, 11:59pm PST. Winner will be chosen using random.org on July 17 and notified via the email address left in their comment. If I do not hear back from the winner after 48 hours, another name will be drawn....cause if you snooze, you lose!

Saremy's Vacation 2011: Day 7

And now, our last full day of our Vacation-O-Fun…

Day 7 – Walt Disney’s Hollywood Studios

This was my close 2nd favorite of the Disney parks, as Hollywood Studios is like Universal Studios, but with a Disney twist. This was also the most memorable day of our vacation for two reasons.

#1. This was the one day out of our whole trip where it was about 95 degrees with about 95% humidity. I just about died. I can take the heat. In fact, I’m fine with Phoenix in July, but add humidity and I turn into a very, cranky girl. Ask Jeremy. There was one point of the day were I was on the verge of cussing and shoving people. True story.

#2. This was the day that Star Tours was re-opening. We planned to attend this park on this day, for that specific reason. Little did we realize that the hard-core Star Wars fans would come out in droves. Dressed as storm troopers, jedis and other characters. We also didn’t anticipate that the wait for the ride would be 4 hours!

Chewbacca!

Mickey as a Jedi.

Besides those two things, we had a good time here! Good rides/attractions at this park include the back lot tour, The Tower of Terror, the Aerosmith roller coaster, Star Tours (we made it on after only having to wait for an hour), Indian Jones stunt show and Toy Story Mania. They also have a great show here called “Lights, Motors, Action” and you can’t miss the closing show Fantasmic!

 

Indiana Jones!!

Belle & the Beast.

Well, that wraps up Saremy’s Vacation-O-Fun! When we got home, we decided that we needed a vacation from our vacation. Seven days of theme parks takes a lot out of you, but boy, was it fun!

 

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 6

As we approach our last few days of our Vacation-O-Fun...

Day 6 - Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom

 The next Disney park that we stopped at was Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.  I'm suprised and sad to say that this was my least favorite of the Disney parks.  Why?  Because the majority of Magic Kingdom can be found in Disneyland California...and it's better there!  Pirates of the Caribbean - much shorter than the one at Disneyland.  Space Mountain - not as fast or long as Disneyland, I'd even go as far as to call this ride "boring."  Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters - funner and possibly a bit longer at Disneyland.  It's a Small World - HUGE disappointment!  One of the best things about Small World Disneyland is the outside of the building, the clock and the part of the track that starts outside in the water.  Small World Magic Kingdom was short and all inside = lame!!  And also, there is no Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!!  That's just blasphemy!

On the positive side though, there were a few things.  First of all, Magic Kingdom still has the People Mover, which we haven't had for years in California.  Secondly, the outside area around the Haunted Mansion had a lot of fun things to play with.  Finally, at Magic Kingdom, they have the Electrical Parade!!  I remember seeing the Electrical Parade when I was a little kid and it was so fun to see it again...even if we did have to camp out about 1 1/2 hours before the show started.

 

So, that wraps up Magic Kingdom.  Stay tuned for our last day of vacation...

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 5

Up next on our Vacation-O-Fun...

Day 5: Universal Studios Orlando

Day 5 of our vacation lead us to Universal Studios Orlando.  I love Universal Studios.  I think it's the theme park that people tend to forget about, but I love it!  From the classic "Jaws" ride to "Twister" to the backlot tour, it's a fun park that transports you into the sets of many movies.

My two favorite rides at this park were "Revenge of the Mummy" and "Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket."  Though I've never seen The Mummy, I know the general idea and the ride is pretty fun.  It's all indoors and has moments of complete darkness, while it goes up and down.  With Rip Ride Rocket, you got up to 65 mph and climb 17 stories!  Plus, the coolest thing about the ride is that you get to pick your our soundtrack.  There are speakers near your ears and a bunch of songs to choose from, so your ride can always have a different theme! 

One thing that I always LOVED about Universal Studios California, was the "I Love Lucy" store...though sadly, I don't think they have it anymore.  However, Universal Orlando has a Lucy Tribute store that we just HAD to check out and on the way there...we ran into Lucy and Ricky!!

We were able to finish up at Universal by about 3pm and since we had a park hopper ticket...we went back to Universal Island of Adventure, specifically to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for more butterbeer and rides!

Fun times on Day 5!  Where did we go to next...

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 4

Continuing along on our Vacation-O-Fun…

Day 4 – Sea World

On the fourth day of our vacation, we decided to preserve our sanity and take a break from the Disney parks.  So, we headed over to Sea World.  If you remember from one of our prior vacations, we like Sea World.  In fact, Jeremy has always told me that he wants a Killer Whale as a pet.  Diesel is almost as big as a Killer Whale, so we’ll just call it good.

Our day at Sea World consisted of the typical things: the dolphin show, the whale show, Wild Artic, the water ride: Atlantis (which we got drenched on) and the seal lion and otter show.  However, we also fed Sea Lions and I even got to feed a dolphin! 

One really cool thing that Sea World Orlando has that our Sea World San Diego doesn’t, is a roller coaster.  And not just any roller coaster, but a really cool Manta Ray coaster that straps you in and then hangs you parallel to the ground, while going through ups and downs and loops!  Very cool ride.  I highly recommend it.

And that wraps up day 4.  Where did we go to next??