Litfuse Tour - Rosslyn Elliott author of Sweeter Than Birdsong (Saddler's Legacy series #2)

About Rosslyn:

Rosslyn Elliott is the award-winning author of Fairer than Morning, the first in the Saddler's Legacy series. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in English from Emory University. Her study of American literature and history inspired her to pursue writing fiction. Elliott lives in Albuquerque, where she homeschools her daughter and works in children's ministry.

For more about Rosslyn, visit her website: http://rosslynelliott.com




Link to buy the book: http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=159554786X&title=A_Saddler's_Legacy_Novel:_Sweeter_than_Birdsong

About the book:
Music offers Kate sweet refuge from her troubles . . . but real freedom is sweeter.

In Westerville, Ohio, 1855, Kate Winter’s dreams are almost within reach. As the first woman to graduate from Otterbein College, she’ll be guaranteed her deepest wish: escape from the dark secret haunting her family. But with her mother determined to marry her off to a wealthy man, Kate must face reality. She has to run. Now. And she has the perfect plan. Join the upcoming musical performance—and use it to mask her flight.

Ben Hanby, Otterbein College’s musical genius, sees Kate Winter as an enigmatic creature, notable for her beauty, yet painfully shy. Then he hears her sing—and the glory of her voice moves him as never before. He determines to cast her in his musical and uncover the mystery that is Kate. Still, he must keep his own secret to himself. Not even this intriguing woman can know that his passionate faith is driving him to aid fugitives on the Underground Railroad.

A terrifying accident brings Kate and Ben together, but threatens to shatter both their secrets and their dreams. Kate can no longer deny the need to find her courage—and her voice—if she is to sing a new song for their future.

Read an excerpt here: http://rosslynbooks2.blogspot.com/2011/11/chapters-one-and-two-preview.html

About the giveaway and party:

In this second in the award-winning Saddler's Legacy series, Rosslyn Elliott has written a stirring novel of hope and faith inspired by real historical people and events. With Ben Hanby, a genius composer, Kate Winter, one of the first female college graduates in America, and John Parker, an ex-slave who risked his life time and again to help fugitive slaves, Sweeter than Birdsong is full of real heroes to inspire us. "I hope readers will find a renewed sense of strength in their own lives," says Elliott, "knowing that change is possible, and our efforts matter. I want them to remember these unique, brave people in history who left us a shining example of what it means to live out one's beliefs with passion and commitment."

So to celebrate the music in all of us, Rosslyn and Thomas Nelson are hosting this "sweet giveaway".

One fortunate winner will receive:

• A Brand new iPod Nano (Winner's choice of color!)
• Fairer than Morning by Rosslyn Elliott
• Sweeter than Birdsong by Rosslyn Elliott

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on February 28th. Winner will be announced at Sweeter than Birdsong Author Chat Facebook Party on 2/28. Rosslyn will be chatting with guests, sharing a sneak peek of the next book in the series, hosting a trivia contest, and more! She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, season 1 of DowntownAbbey, and a book club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club AND a LIVE Author Chat for your group with Rosslyn.)

So grab your copy of Sweeter than Birdsong and join Rosslyn and friends on the evening of the 28th for an evening of fun.

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 28th!

My Thoughts:

I loved this book! It will break your heart reading about pain and sorrow people went through fleeing and fighting for freedom. This book gives us a look at the underground railroad from the heart and eyes of a two young college students who want more than anything to make a difference in this world. Kate Winters is very shy and withdrawn. But Ben Hanby, musician and song writer, sees much more in this young woman. He tries bringing her out of her shell and into a world she was unaware. Which happened to be reality. As Kate is pulled from her cocoon she was forced into, by an over bearing mother and drunkard father, her world explodes into a world of adventure and grave danger. This part of her new life she tries to hide from her mother but knows she must honor her parents and tell them the truth she encountered while on an outing with Ben Hanby's mother.

This historical fiction has adventure, suspense, love, faith, hope and redemption.

This is the second in the series of Sadler's Legacy and Ben Hanby's mother and father were the heroine and hero of the first book in this series.

I highly recommend this book.


I rate this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Litfuse for review. I was in no way compensated for this review. It is my own opinion.


Blog tour schedule: http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13456229/birdsong

Book Review: by Jenn McLean on "Catch Me" by Lisa Gardner

                                     written by Jenn Mclean

So, I finally finished a fantastic book that I received for free from Penguin Books as an "Advanced Reading Copy" to be reviewed by ME!! I was so thrilled to be asked to do my first review. I must admit, I'm an avid reader. I know this is new information to most of you who regularly read my blog, Just Add Water Silly. 
Usually I'm waxing poetic about new amazing artists I've "discovered" on my travails through the blogosphere, or expounding on what fun it is to paint and have the outcome be just exactly what you wanted it to be. You are also probably used me interspersing these artistic centered posts with other posts about cool tools or new artist's supplies or even explanations about artist's techniques. What I have never done is review a book. Until today!

Now, back to my announcement. I L♥VE to read. I was actually kindly but mercilessly teased by friends and acquaintances alike about the fact that I was never without a book. Now that I have a Kindle it's filled with hundreds of books that I've read or have yet to read. I love it. What a thrill to have a book just magically show up in my mailbox, asking to be read and reviewed. Yes! I'm on it!

The title of this thrilling mystery (my favorite genre, by the way) is "Catch Me" by Lisa Gardner. The back cover pulls you expertly into the story by giving you two pertinent details...

1. Charlie Grant claims she will be murdered in the next four days.
2. She wants Boston's best murder cop, Detective D.D Warren to investigate her upcoming death four days hence.

This begs the question... Is Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant (known as Charlie) actually about to become Boston's next murdered citizen or is she just as crazy as she sounds. This is what Det. D.D. Warren has to find out and she only has four days to do it.

This book is the sixth in Lisa Gardner's series centered around Det. D.D. Warren, a Boston murder cop with a "get'er done" attitude. Det. Warren, now 41, has just had a baby. D.D's afraid motherhood is going to soften her. She comes off of maternity leave to find herself having to balance two unusual cases. One involving Charlie Carter and another that seems to involve a vigilante killer plumbing Boston's seedy underbelly for child predators. Yet the cases seem to strangely be connected. But how could that be?

Author: Lisa Gardner

Gardner is expert in instantly pulling you into her story. Her writing is tight and adds only minimal extraneous information. I didn't find myself thinking, "get on with it" once throughout this fantastic read. That's rare these days. So many authors seem to fill pages with every detail surrounding each character that one feels "trapped" in too many words. Not with Gardner. She gives many details but stops at just the right point where you're learning about the characters and their environment but you're not bored. It's a well balanced book.

Let me also say that her character development is perfectly paced. Her first "punch" of information to hold our interest is followed by enough details to flesh out each additional main character. In just one book I've gotten to to "see" the main characters as multi-dimentional people who I want to read more about. Gardner forces you to wish her books were longer and makes you thankful you can go and get her preceeding five books.

This is a "can't put it down, read past your bedtime" kind of book. Gardner adds double twists, keeping the reader guessing until the very last page. A truly spectacular read, I can't wait to peruse her other offerings. I'm hooked on this author and her fully developed characters!!Thank you to Penguin Books, I had needed a new author, they provided a perfect fit.

My suggestion, go to your local bookstore or Amazon.com and get this book. You won't regret it. I'll be back with a more art focused post soon.
We'll talk, have coffee. K?
Best,

Book Blogger Hop: 7/1-7/4 (and a surprise!)

Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier!

In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).

This week’s question comes from Sue who blogs at Cookies Book Club! Thanks for submitting a question for our Hoppers, Sue! Be sure to visit her blog and tell her thank you!

“What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?“

IT'S TIME TO READ MAMAW'S ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION.

I started reading a book the last month and it was suppose to be a very good book. But after giving it a couple of chapters I just couldn’t get into it. I put the book aside to read another day. I don’t like to do that because I feel as if my mind might have had too many distractions and I didn’t give the book a chance. So I always try to wait for another day to give it another go. I have so many other books calling to me from my to-be-read list that it can really be distracting. READ ME! READ ME!
I prefer reading and reviewing Christian Fiction but I do read a varity of other books. I just can’t handle too scary or gory. Suspense and Mysteries I like. No explicit adult books either if I do find one I really want to read I just skip over the x-rated stuff. So what genre do I read?

Blog Hop in Progress

I found a great blog hop that last Friday - Monday every week on Crazy For Books. So looks like today is the last day until it starts up again this Friday. If you would like to join in on this hop just click on the button below it will take you to the hop where you will find the rules and the host that you need to be sure and follow.

Crazy For Books has asked this question of the blog hoppers.

How many books are currently in your To-Be-Read (TBR) Pile?

My answer is: My list gets bigger everyday. If I don't stop adding to it I will be reading from the grave. ;)
I love the idea of the questions wonderful idea CrazyForBooks.