The Guardian by Margaret Mallory... Blog Tour, Review and GIVEAWAY!

I just love the writing of Margaret Mallory! She never, and I really mean it, never disappoints me! Her characters are made up of strong women, hunky guys and stories that sweep you off your feet into a time and place that are so well described that you feel that you've lived there all your life... History and romance blended into a perfect dish!

How fortunate for us girls that Margaret has written another great romance! The Guardian by Margaret Mallory brings together...

Four fearless warriors returning to the Highlands to claim their lands and legacies. But all their trials on the battlefield can't prepare them for their greatest challenge yet: winning the hearts of four willful Scottish beauties."

PASSION IGNITED

After years of fighting abroad, Ian MacDonald comes home to find his clan in peril. To save his kin, he must right the wrongs from his past . . . and claim the bride he's long resisted.

As a young lass, Sìleas depended on Ian to play her knight in shining armor. But when his rescue attempt compromised her virtue, Ian was forced to marry against his wishes. Five years later, Sìleas has grown from an awkward girl into an independent beauty who knows she deserves better than the reluctant husband who preferred war to his wife. Now this devilishly handsome Highlander is finally falling in love. He wants a second chance with Sìleas - and he won't take no for an answer.

The Guardian by Margaret Mallory is humorous, sexy and truly a story you'll long remember after the last page, dripping with romance! I loved Sileas, who created a life for herself despite her childhood crush, Ian, who never thought twice about taking her into his arms until 5 years later when he is left speechless as he comes home to find the most gorgeous woman living in his house- and who happens to be his WIFE! The four warrior boys, who grew to men are a wonderful part of the story, showing their coming of age in a time of war and clan politics. Their relationships among themselves helped define Ian, and give us a sense of time and place where Margaret set her story. It's also so much fun watching the boys try and figure out women!

If you love a man in kilts (how can ye not?!) you have to pick up this book! If you are familiar with Margaret Mallory's other romance series, All The Kings Men, you will love the characters and setting just as much in The Guardian, which is the first book in her new series, Return of the Highlanders.

About the Author... Margaret Mallory surprised her friends and family by abandoning her legal career—and her steady job—to write novels. At long last, she can satisfy her passion for justice by punishing the bad and rewarding the worthy—in the pages of her novels, of course. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two college-age children. Want to know a little more? Learn how Margaret became a writer at her author profile on Hachette's website!

You can find more about the author at Margaret Mallory's website, read an excerpt of The Guardian!, AND enter to win one

of three copies of The Guardian courtesy of Hachette Books! Here's how to enter...

* Let's all get in a little romance in this summer! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment with your email address!

* If you want to Tweet or Blog about the giveaway, that's great too! You'll get a bonus entry for spreading the word! Just leave me a link to where you tweeted or blogged!

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on May 29th. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

I want to thank Brianne of Hachette Book Group for sending along a copy of The Guardian to review! Today's post is also part of Margaret Mallory's Blog Tour for The Guardian!

Memoir Monday... Two Kisses for Maddy by Matt Logelin

Our first book for "Read Like a Mother week" is a Memoir, Two Kisses for Maddy by Matt Logelin, which is a love story and the story of the devastating loss of new mom & wife of Matt, Liz, just 27 hours after the birth of her daughter. Matt poured his heart out in a blog, which became an amazing support system for him. When I read about this book, without even turning the pages I teared up. Here's the blurb from the publishers, Hachette...

Matt and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. After years of long-distance dating, the pair finally settled together in Los Angeles, and they had it all: a perfect marriage, a gorgeous new home, and a baby girl on the way. Liz's pregnancy was rocky, but they welcomed Madeline, beautiful and healthy, into the world on March 24, 2008.

Just twenty-seven hours later, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and died instantly, without ever holding the daughter whose arrival she had so eagerly awaited. Though confronted with devastating grief and the responsibilities of a new and single father, Matt did not surrender to devastation; he chose to keep moving forward-- to make a life for Maddy.

In this memoir, Matt shares bittersweet and often humorous anecdotes of his courtship and marriage to Liz; of relying on his newborn daughter for the support that she unknowingly provided; and of the extraordinary online community of strangers who have become his friends. In honoring Liz's legacy, heartache has become solace.

Matt still has a blog, and in Liz's memory he has created The Liz Logelin Foundation, which is a foundation that offers support and financial assistance to young widows and widowers with dependent children. This is definitely one book on my reading list and a perfect memoir for a week in which we celebrate Mothers!

Two Kisses for Maddy by Matt Logelin is available now from your favorite bookstore! And it's Kindle Ready!

Giveaway: Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell... To start off National Reading Group Month!

The Sopranos meet ER in Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

Congratulations to Jonnie, Amanda & Cheryl who each won a copy of Beat the Reaper! And a BIG Thank you for EVERYone who joined in on the fun by entering the giveaway, Tweeting about it and Blogging about it! THANKS! Come Back for more fun soon!

Dr. Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan's worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he'd prefer to keep hidden. Whether it's a blocked circumflex artery or a plan to land a massive malpractice suit, he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwna is a hitman for the mob, with a genius for violence, a well-earned fear of sharks, and an overly close relationship with the Federal Witness Relocation Program. More likely to leave a trail of dead gangsters than a molecule of evidence, he's the last person you want to see in your hospital room.

Nicholas LoBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante, is Dr. Brown's new patient, with three months to live and a very strange idea: that Peter Brown and Pietro Brnwa might-just might-be the same person ...

Now, with the mob, the government, and death itself descending on the hospital, Peter has to buy time and do whatever it takes to keep his patients, himself, and his last shot at redemption alive. To get through the next eight hours-and somehow beat the reaper.

Spattered in adrenaline-fueled action and bone-saw-sharp dialogue, BEAT THE REAPER is a debut thriller so utterly original you won't be able to guess what happens next, and so shockingly entertaining you won't be able to put it down.

Today is the first day of National Reading Group Month, and what better way to start the celebration than with a giveaway of a book worth plenty of discussion for any group! Beat the Reaper is a fun romp through the Hospital! Filled with great characters, the mob and plenty of action! You can read my full review next week, but for now, let's have some fun! Would you like to read an excerpt? Here's the link to chapter one! Here's the Reading Group Guide for some great discussion questions! And finally learn more about Josh Bazell, Beat the Reaper and play the Beat the Reaper game at www.beatthereaper.com. Courtesy of Valerie of Hachette Book Group I have 3 copies of Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell up for grabs! Thanks Valerie!

To Enter this giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*For another entry, sign up to follow my blog and leave a comment to let me know you just became a follower. (if you're already a follower you will get an extra entry!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only.(No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on Oct. 17th. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

The Night Gardener ... A Murderous Giveaway!

It's a GIVEAWAY for The Night Gardener

A thriller of the murderous kind by legendary writer George Pelecanos!

I have 3 copies of The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos to giveaway to my readers! A BIG thank you to Valerie of Hachette Book Group for making this possible!! George Pelecanos has written 15 crime novels set in and around Washington, D.C. "Bigger and even more unstoppable than his previous thrillers, George Pelecanos achieves in The Night Gardener what his brilliant career has been building toward: a novel that is a perfect union of suspense, character and unstoppable fate."

From Publishers Weekly:

Pelecanos delivers a dignified, character-driven epic that succeeds as both literary novel and page-turner. In 1985, the body of a 14-year-old girl turns up in a Washington, D.C. park, the latest in a series of murders by a killer the media dub "The Night Gardener." T.C. Cook, the aging detective on the case, works with a quiet, almost monomaniacal, focus. Also involved are two young uniformed cops., Gus Ramone, who's diligent, conscientious and unimpressed by heroics, and Dan "Doc" Holiday, an adrenaline junkie who's decidedly less straight.

Fast Forward 20 years. Detective Ramone, now married with kids of his own, investigates the murder of one of his teenage son's friends. The homicide closely resembles the earlier unsolved Night Gardener murders. Holiday, now an alcoholic chauffeur and bodyguard, follows the case on his own and tracks down Cook, long retired but still obsessed with the original murders. While the three work together toward a suspenseful ending, Pelecanos emphasizes the fallacy of "solving" a murder and explores the ripple effects of violent crime on society.

Listen to an excerpt here! Read an excerpt here! Visit the authors website here!

This book has gotten a lot of positive buzz! And now is your chance to win a copy!

So now about the giveaway! There are a number of ways to win, each good for one entry...

• Leave a comment below with your email address.
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment below with the link.
• Become a follower and leave me a comment letting me know you just became a follower. (if you're already a follower you'll automatically get an extra entry by entering the giveaway)

So if you do all of the above, you'll get 3 entries!

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only. (No PO Boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. I will contact the winners by email for mailing address. (Please check your email, winner must contact me within 3 days! Thanks!) Giveaway ends 11:59 pm EST June 20th! And the winners will be chosen randomly from all the entries the next day.

Good luck everyone! Let's have some fun....

AND THE WINNERS ARE....

Linda, Alexa & Beth

Congratulations Ladies! And thanks to everyone who joined in the fun and entered the giveaway!