April 2022 Book of the Month Giveaway
May 15, 2022 04:54 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
During April, I read four full-length novels, two short stories, and one children’s book. All of them rated four stars or higher, but aside from one of the short stories, which is already available for free, the only one that received the full five-stars from me to be featured here was the children’s book. It’s a middle-grade, mystery, adventure story about Stanley Yelnats who believes that his family is cursed because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. Whether they’re actually cursed is up for debate, but they’ve certainly had a run of bad luck, the most recent of which is Stanley being falsely accused of stealing a valuable pair of sneakers. The judge gives him the choice of going to jail or going to Camp Green Lake, a boy’s reform camp. Stanley chooses the camp, thinking it will be the better of the two options, but at camp he quickly discovers that every day each boy is required to dig a hole that is exactly five feet in diameter and five feet deep. The people who run the camp say it builds character, but when he finds a small gold tube, he quickly realizes that the Warden and her cronies are actually looking for something, probably something valuable. Along the way, Stanley also makes friends with a loner nicknamed Zero, whom he teaches how to read. The two boys help each other out, and eventually through a series of misadventures, they finally discover exactly what the Warden is up to.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Louis Sachar
March 2022 Book of the Month Giveaway
April 17, 2022 05:22 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
During March, I read four full-length books, a novella, and two short stories. There were a few of so-so reads among them, but overall, most of them were quite good, with two receiving five stars from me. However, one stood out slightly above the other. It’s an erotic, historical romance, the first I’ve read by this author and the first in a planned quartet, that received a lot of buzz when it was first published quite a number of years ago. Passion is a widow who endured an unhappy marriage. While browsing the exhibits at the Crystal Palace one day, she’s rescued from being clobbered by a falling potted palm by a man who awakens a side of herself she’d thought lost. His mere touch inflames her in such a way that she can’t resist the pull of his allure, so when he draws her behind an ornate screen, she eagerly accepts all that he has to offer. They make love right there in the museum and make plans to do the same for the next few days. When Passion’s visits to the Crystal Palace come to an end, Mark insists that they must continue to see each other and starts climbing the trellis to her bedroom window every night. Soon, their encounters deepen far beyond mere sex until they both know that they don’t want to live without one another. But Mark is being blackmailed by a social-climbing commoner who has dirt on his mother. He doesn’t care much about the woman who birthed him, but if the information gets out it would hurt his brother as well, something he’s determined not to let happen. But the price that’s being exacted from him is nothing short of marriage to the vile blackmailer’s daughter. Mark plans to do what he must to protect his family, while hoping to keep Passion as his mistress. But when Passion discovers that his betrothed is none other than her own beloved cousin, she can’t bring herself to continue their affair, leaving them both brokenhearted.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Lisa Valdez
February 2022 Book of the Month Giveaway
March 20, 2022 05:04 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
During February, I read five full-length books and two short stories. There were a couple of so-so reads among them, but overall, most of them were really good, making my decision as to which book would be named my Book of the Month a little harder this time. Ultimately the one that came out on top is a paranormal romance by a favorite author that’s part of a favorite series of mine. This one follows SnowDancer wolves Indigo and Drew. Indigo is a dominant female and a pack lieutenant, while Drew is the pack’s tracker. Drew has been crazy about Indigo for a while, but she’s been trying to keep their relationship friends-only. She worries that getting involved with a male who is both younger and less dominant could lead to disaster. But tired of waiting for her to come around, Drew pulls out all the stops to prove to Indigo that she’s the only wolf for him. Meanwhile, the threat from Pure Psy, the Psy faction that’s determined to maintain Silence no matter the cost, is rising, and Indigo and Drew discover evidence of a Psy incursion onto SnowDancer land. With the help of their alpha, Hawke, and the rest of the pack, they must figure out what the Psy’s new game is and stop it before serious damage is done, but a climactic battle with the Psy could put Indigo and Drew’s relationship in jeopardy before she’s even had a chance to decide whether he’s her perfect mate after all.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Nalini Singh
January 2022 Book of the Month Giveaway
February 20, 2022 04:36 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
During January, I read four novels, two novellas, and three short stories. It was kind of a mixed bag with about half of them not even reaching four stars for me. There was only one book that received a five-star rating from me to make it eligible to be featured as my Book of the Month. This author’s books have consistently received this honor so I’ve featured her work several times before. This one is a paranormal romance roughly long novella or short novel length, so meatier than a short story but not quite as involved as the main novels of the series it comes from. It’s about Azagoth aka the Grim Reaper, who is in charge of Sheoul-gra, the world between the human realm and Sheoul, and a kind of holding tank for the souls of demons and other evil beings. Azagoth has lived a rather lonely existence, trapped in his own realm, and is tired of being alone. He’s decided that he wants a mate and demands that Heaven send him one. Lilliana is the angel who shows up for the job, but given a choice between two unsavory scenarios, she didn’t have a whole lot of say in the matter. However, she’s offered a chance to get out of the deal and earn redemption for her “sins” if she finds and steals a time-traveling device which Azagoth possesses. When she first arrives, Lilliana thinks that Azagoth is a jerk and has every intention of finding the device and getting out as soon as possible, but the longer she stays and the more she gets to know him, the more she sees Azagoth’s gentler side and begins to fall for him. But when he discovers her original intentions, he may not be so forgiving.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Larissa Ione
December 2021 Book of the Month Giveaway
January 18, 2022 04:35 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
During December, I read four full-length novels, three short stories/novellas and one children’s book. All of them rated four stars or higher, but only one received the full five stars from me to be featured here. As it happens it was the children’s book, which is a heartwarming, middle-grade, holiday story about a little homeless puppy who goes around town, saving lives, helping people in need, and spreading Christmas cheer during the holiday season. I loved how the puppy is still able to give love and help the townspeople to feel better, even though he is so very lonely himself after getting lost from his canine family. I found this to be a great object lesson for humans in that if we can rise above our own hurts and find the love in our hearts to help others, it might just make us feel better too, not to mention it was a great example of the real spirit of Christmas.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Nicholas Edwards
November 2021 Book of the Month Giveaway
December 18, 2021 04:14 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
During November, I read five full-length books and one short story, but only one romance received the five-stars from me to be featured here. It’s a paranormal romance in a long-running favorite series by a favorite author, and it was a blast to read. Thousands of years ago, Yenreith and Verrine were the best of friends and were starting to become more than that, but lacking confidence due to her inexperience, Verrine pulled back a little from their romantic relationship. Yenreith, instead, was seduced by Lilith and slept with her on a whim, but little did he know that their tryst had created the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Eventually Yenreith’s memory was erased and many years later, he became the Unfallen Angel known as Reaver. Although heartbroken by his actions, when Verrine found out about the children, she vowed to always look after them and keep them safe, something that she accomplished by willingly becoming the Fallen Angel known as Harvester and working her way up through the ranks of Sheoul to become their Watcher.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Larissa Ione
October 2021 Book of the Month Giveaway
November 23, 2021 04:30 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
I completed five novels, a children’s book, and two short stories during the month of October, but only one full-length romance garnered five stars from me. It’s the third book in a serialized set of novels that follows wealthy CEO Stephan Coleman and Brianna Reeves, the young woman he rescued from horrific abuse by buying her from a man who’d enslaved her as a minor. The previous book had ended on a cliffhanger with Brianna’s dad, who’d had a hand in her being sold into slavery, showing up at her door while Stephan was at work. This book begins with the outcome of that encounter, which unfortunately traumatizes Brianna and forces her to deal with more of her troubled past. The remainder of the story follows Stephan and Brianna through roughly another month of their lives together as Stephan patiently and gently works through Brianna’s fears and helps her to come out of her shell and be more comfortable around other people. She begins to see more of her childhood friend, Cal, even though he and Stephan don’t entirely get along, and meets his girlfriend, Jade, as well as spending more time with their friend, Lily. Stephan and Brianna also talk more about a possible dom/sub relationship down the road and what that might look like, while Stephan still faces censure from multiple fronts for his lifestyle. Stephan continues his investigation into Ian, Brianna’s former slave master, and with the help of his CFO, finds some incriminating evidence, but along with it, he’s also outed for buying her freedom. Despite all the challenges they’ve face, Stephan and Brianna’s love has only grown, but this information getting out, along with nasty allegations from her father, could destroy the beautiful life that they’ve been building together.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Sherri Hayes
September 2021 Book of the Month Giveaway
October 17, 2021 12:24 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
I completed four novels and two short stories in September, but once again, only one received the necessary five stars from me to feature here. It’s the third in a favorite series by a favorite author who I featured once before. Luke and Sydney were teenage sweethearts who were madly in love, but at nineteen, Sydney left their Gansett Island summer paradise for college without ever saying goodbye to Luke. She completely moved on with her life, marrying another man and having two great kids, but an unthinkable tragedy brings her back to the island to heal both her body and mind. About a year later, Sydney and Luke finally reconnect and quickly discover that the old spark is still there. Luke has never stopped loving Sydney, so he’s all in pretty much from the start. However, Sydney is a little more gun-shy, loving their time together, but wanting to take things slow when it comes to making major decisions about their future. She also feels some guilt about having such strong feelings for Luke with her husband only gone a year. Then there’s the possibility of her parents, who’ve always disapproved of Luke, getting in the way of their budding reunion romance, while Luke is playing a few things close to the vest for fear of getting hurt again, which stirs up a little trouble in paradise, too.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Marie Force
August 2021 Book of the Month Giveaway
September 25, 2021 04:23 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
In case you missed by note from last month, my new job has been keeping me very busy lately, so in the interest of saving time, I’ll be shortening my Book of the Month blog posts moving forward. If you’d like additional info or analysis on the book I’m offering each month, you can scroll down and click on the “Read My Complete Review” link.
I didn’t get a lot of reading accomplished in August and out of what I did read, there was only one romance that made it to the five-star level. It’s a very spicy, contemporary, BDSM romance that’s the second in a pretty popular series and the second I’ve read by this author. Master Dan is still mourning the loss of his wife in a car accident. Bearing a lot of guilt and blaming himself for her being where she was at the time, he hasn’t been able to move past her death for the three years since. Although he’s a regular dungeon master at Club Shadowlands, he’s not looking to take on a permanent sub again, which is why he never spends more than one night with any of the subs who frequent the club even though he’s one of their most experienced and sought-after doms. He’s helping Master Z, the owner of the club, teach a beginner’s class when Kari comes in for the class with a date. However, her date behaves like a caveman, making her want to leave, until Master Z gives her the option of staying in the company of an experienced dom, namely Master Dan. Kari was brought up in a sexually repressive family, but she suspects she may have some submissive tendencies and wants to explore that possibility. Since she’s very attracted to Master Dan, she can’t resist the offer. After one delicious night together, Kari wants to continue her explorations, but she doesn’t really want any other dom besides Master Dan. While Kari has gotten under Master Dan’s skin, he doesn’t think he has anything to offer a sub other than a single night of pleasure, but with a little help from his matchmaking friends, she just might prove him wrong.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Cherise Sinclair
July 2021 Book of the Month Giveaway
August 21, 2021 03:39 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
My new job has been keeping me very busy lately, so in the interest of saving time, I’ll be shortening my Book of the Month blog posts moving forward. If you’d like additional info or analysis on the book I’m offering each month, you can scroll down and click on the “Read My Complete Review” link. With that small order of business out of the way, let’s move on to the naming of my Book of the Month for July.
I completed a fair bit of reading during the month, but only one romance hit the five-star mark for me. It’s a historical by a new-to-me author that I’d heard good things about but had never read or featured before. It’s a fun, witty, pirate-y story about Sara, who is the stepdaughter of an earl and a passionate reformer. As such, she goes undercover on a ship that’s transporting convict women to Australia, hoping to document the deplorable conditions these women face, both on the ship and upon arriving in New South Wales, so that she and her Ladies Committee can perhaps enact reform. About two weeks into their journey, the ship is accosted by pirates led by none other than Captain Gideon Horn aka The Pirate Lord. He and his men have decided to retire from the pirate life and have found a lovely deserted island where he wants to build a utopia, and the only thing they lack to make it perfect are wives. He figures a ship full of convict women would be happy to be “rescued” from their fate, but he didn’t count on a stubborn bluestocking who plagues him with her demands. Gradually they come to a compromise on rules and length of time for courting. Although Gideon insists that Sara also choose a husband once their allotted time is up, she still hopes for eventual rescue, but she didn’t expect to be seduced and actually fall for The Pirate Lord himself. For his part, Gideon has no desire to tie himself to an exasperating woman like Sara, but at the same time, she stirs his protective and possessive instincts and he can’t bear the thought of anyone else touching her. But when Sara’s expected rescue party finally shows up, it could spell the end of their budding romance.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Sabrina Jeffries
