IT HAPPENED AT THE FAIR by DEEANNE GIST ~ GIVEAWAY

About Book

More about It Happened at the Fair: 

A transporting historical novel about a promising young inventor, his struggle with loss, and the attractive teacher who changes his life, all set against the razzle-dazzle of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

Gambling everything, including the family farm, Cullen McNamara travels to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with his most recent invention. But the noise in the Fair's Machinery Palace makes it impossible to communicate with potential buyers. In an act of desperation, he hires Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to tutor him in the art of lip-reading.

The young teacher is reluctant to participate, and Cullen has trouble keeping his mind on his lessons while intently watching her lips. Like the newly invented Ferris Wheel, he is caught in a whirl between his girl back home, his dreams as an inventor, and his unexpected attraction to his new tutor. Can he keep his feet on the ground, or will he be carried away?

Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/komrd

Landing page: 

http://litfusegroup.com/author/dgist 

Meet Deeanne:

Deeanne Gist---known to her family, friends, and fans as Dee---has rocketed up bestseller lists and captured readers everywhere with her very fun, very original historicals. She has received numerous RITA nominations, two consecutive Christy Awards, and rave reviews. Deeanne has a background in education and journalism and a degree from Texas A&M. She has written for People, Parents, and Parenting. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and has four grown children. 

She has a very active online community on her website at IWantHerBook.com and at Facebook.com/DeesFriends. 

Deeanne Gist is celebrating the release of It Happened at the Fair with an iPad Mini Giveaway and a Live Author Chat Webcast event {5/22}!

  One "fair" winner will receive:

• An iPad Mini
• A $25 iTunes gift card

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on May 21st. Winner will be announced at the "It Happened at the Fair" Live Webcast Event on May 22nd. Connect with Deeanne for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more! Deeanne will also be taking questions from the audience and giving away books and fun gift certificates throughout the evening. 

So grab your copy of It Happened at the Fair and join Deeanne and friends on the evening of May 22nd for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 22nd!

My Thoughts

Cullen McNamara can't believe his father went behind his back and entered his invention in the exhibition at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.  There is no way he can go since there is no one to help with the farm and his father unable to do the work.  But his father had already paid for the train ticket, entry, along with room and board.  This money was non-refundable.  They are barely surviving how did his father get the money for all of this?

When he arrives at the fair and gets settled in the fair's Machine Hall the noise was so intense that he could hardly hear when someone talked to him. He was deaf in his right ear and loosing his hearing in his left ear how was he going to communicate with potential buyers if he couldn't hear.  Someone recommended he learn to read lips.  He  was told of a young woman, a Miss Della Wentworth, at the fair that worked with deaf children so he made arrangements with her to teach him lip-reading.  All he had to do was be her guide and escort in the evening to tour the fair.  She was young and attractive therefore having to spend so much time concentrating on her lips was creating havoc with his emotions. 

Will he be able to continue with his exhibit or will he have to return home a failure, again?  There was little left of his father's money and a large debt that needed to be payed down.  He had to succeed!

The author writes of hard times for our nation at the same time of the 1893 Chicago World Fair.   She had provided many astounding images of the fair.  I had no idea of the advancement in architecture and machinery in the latter 1800's.  To make it even more interesting she adds romance between a young man and woman that are part of the exhibition    A beautiful love story in the midst of secrets and a need to succeed.  The author shows us how reaching out to God in all things that he will make our paths straight.  Always looking for the good in a bad situation.

I highly recommend this book.

I rated this book a 5 out of 5. 

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Author/Simon and Schuster/Litfuse Group for review. I was in no way compensated for this review.  This is my honest opinion.

If you found this review helpful vote yes or no here.

New eShort from Deeanne Gist for JUST .99 cent ~Tempest in the White City

Deeanne Gist’s E-Short gives readers a peek inside the world’s fair. Tempest in the White City is a digital short story available from online retailers for 99 cents.

Deeanne Gist fans won’t have to wait until the April 30 release of It Happened at the Fair to read her latest work! On March 19, readers will be able to purchase the e-short, Tempest in the White City, a 40-page short story prelude to It Happened at the Fair, for 99 cents from all online retailers. While the characters from the short story are not carried over into the full-length release, audiences will get a taste of the awe-inspiring backdrop of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and will be anxious to spend more time exploring the exhibition.

In true Gist form, Tempest in the White City combines her trademark humor with romance. Hunter Scott is one of the elite. A Chicago World’s Fair guard specifically chosen for his height, physique, character and ability to serve and protect. When Hunter is overcome with debilitating abdominal pain, he stumbles to an infirmary in the Fair’s Woman’s Building only to discover the doctor is female—which he is none too happy about. But even worse, she has the nerve to diagnose him—the toughest man west of anyplace east—with constipation.

The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair overflowed with the latest innovations welcomed by a throng of people from all around the globe. This setting replete with history, intrigue and wonder caught Gist’s attention and is sure to draw readers of both releases in as well. “I’m always drawn to events in our country’s past that are strangely absent from our history classes. Why the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition has been left out, I don’t know, especially since it was such a pivotal event for us,” explains Gist. “We were able to wow the world with our scientific innovations, and it gave women their first official board position recognized and approved by an Act of Congress (all before we had the right to vote). But it was technology which claimed the day as it nipped at the heels of horses, buggies and man-powered tools.”

More about It Happened at the Fair: Young inventor Cullen McNamara gambles everything, including the family farm, in order to make his family proud—and earn his father’s entry money to the Fair Expo back—by selling his design for an automatic sprinkler system inspired by his mother’s death in a mill fire. Struggling with hearing loss from his previous life on the farm, McNamara finds it difficult to communicate with potential buyers over the din in the Fair’s Machinery Building. In an act of desperation, he hires attractive Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to tutor him in the art of lip-reading. Much like the newly invented Ferris Wheel, Cullen is caught in a whirl between his girl back home, his dreams as an inventor and his unexpected attraction to his new tutor. Can he keep his feet on the ground or will he be carried away?

Another date that fans will want to mark on their calendars is May 22, 2013 at 8:00 PM EST. Gist will be hosting a webcast event where she will be discussing more of the story behind It Happened at the Fair and answering reader questions. During the course of the evening, a number of prizes will be given away to those participating in the discussion. More details will be available soon on the author's Facebook page,www.facebook.com/deesfriends, where the webcast will be hosted.

Readers can keep up with Deeanne Gist at her website IWantHerBook.com, as well as onFacebook (DeesFriends)and Twitter (@DeeanneGist).

Review: Love on the Line by Deeanne Gist

About Author:
After a short career in elementary education, Deeanne Gist retired to raise her four children. Over the course of the next fifteen years, she ran a home accessory and antique business, became a member of the press, wrote freelance journalism for national publications such as People, Parents, Parenting, Family Fun, Houston Chronicle and Orlando Sentinel, and acted as CFO for her husband’s small engineering firm--all from the comforts of home.

Squeezed betwixt-and-between all this, she read romance novels by the truckload and even wrote a couple of her own. While those unpublished manuscripts rested on the shelf, she founded a publishing corporation for the purpose of developing, producing and marketing products that would reinforce family values, teach children responsibility and provide character building activities.

After a few short months of running her publishing company, Gist quickly discovered being a "corporate executive" was not where her gifts and talents lie. Ignoring her creative yearnings, she wrestled with manufacturing, distributing, marketing, invoicing, collecting, warehousing, pick-pack-and-shipping, etc. In answer to Gist’s fervent prayers, God sent a mainstream publisher to her door who licensed her parenting I Did It!® product line and committed to publish the next generation of her system, thus freeing Gist to return to her writing.

Eight months later, she submitted A Bride Most Begrudging to Bethany House Publishers and they picked it up for their new "edgy inspirational" line of historical fiction. After its release in July 2005, Bride hit eight best seller lists, has sold over 150,000 copies and won the Christy Award for BEST ROMANCE 2006. The Measure of a Lady hit five best seller lists and won the Christy Award for BEST ROMANCE 2007. Courting Trouble and Deep in the Heart of Trouble have made five best seller lists so far.

Gist is contracted to have a book out every June through 2011. She lives in Texas with her husband of twenty-five years and their two border collies. They have four kids in college. Visit her blog to find out the most up-to-the-minute news about Dee.

Love on the Line

Love on the Line
by Deeanne Gist
Paperback, 365 pages
Published October 1st 2011
by Bethany House Publishers
ISBN 0764204092 (ISBN13: 9780764204098)

About Book:
Rural switchboard operator Georgie Gail is proud of her independence in a man's world ... which makes it twice as vexing when the telephone company sends a man to look over her shoulder.

Dashing Luke Palmer is more than he appears though. He's a Texas Ranger working undercover to infiltrate a notorious gang of train robbers. Repairing telephones and tangling with this tempestuous woman is the last thing he wants to do. But when his stakeout puts Georgie in peril, he realizes more than his job is on the line.

My Thoughts:
Georgia Gail was a rural switchboard operator in Brenham, Texas. She was a rare woman living on her own supporting herself. Back in those days a man ran everything. This woman is adventurous and very out spoken.

The telephone company hires Luke Palmer to take over all operations but the switchboard. He is to be a lineman, sales and bookkeeper. Her being so independent she bucks everything he does. Luke is much more than an employee of the phone company and has to keep it a secret.

The author has added humor, mystery, suspense and love in this very entertaining book. This was such a cute book and fun read. I told the author my Dad was from Brenham and his last name Przyborski. It was an odd coincidence. I am a Texan and have spent a lot of time in the Brenham area so this book held my interest to say the least.

I highly recommend this book.

I rate this book a 5 out of 5.

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