Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Giveaway: The Angel Connection by Judith Anne Barton

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on August 30, 2013
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | 5 Comments

Thanks to Darlene K. Chan, Publicist, I am giving away one copy of The Angel Connection.


Book Description:

In this romantic thriller, mysterious convergences link two lives separated by 100 years.

In 1996, after her reputation, marriage, career as a TV journalist and relationship with her adult son, Chad, are trashed, Morgan Reed starts over in Milltown, Pa., a village in beautiful Bucks County. She feels drawn there, particularly to the 200-year-old former rectory that she buys. 


In 1895, Evangeline Laury, minister’s wife and mother to a small boy, feels stifled in provincial Milltown. She misses the cultured life she’d led in Philadelphia and her painting, especially when she learns that a local American impressionist, the charismatic Daniel Duvall, is giving lessons. 

As Morgan, with the help of her handsome but mercurial neighbor Victor, works on a documentary about 1895 Milltown, she uncovers more spooky parallels between her life and Evangeline’s. Both women, desperate for love and connection, are guiltily caught between competing attractions and responsibilities, whether for a husband, lover, child or work, and both women will experience the tragic death of someone close. 

In her debut novel, Barton writes lush descriptions of beauty and desire, with interesting historical details, many of which seem borrowed from real-life American impressionist painter Daniel Garber and his Bucks County studio at Cuttalossa Farm. (Black-and-white historical photos in the book go uncredited.) Though the narrative works to account for Morgan’s needy self-pity and Evangeline’s blind desire, readers might feel less sympathy than the writer intends, especially since other characters pay the ultimate price for the women’s culpability. In particular, deeply emotional Evangeline’s self-punishing guilt becomes internal melodrama. When Victor very reasonably objects to involving sullen, hard-drinking Chad on the documentary project, it’s a welcome moment of sensibleness: “It is not my problem to save your son.”

Emotional, doom-tinged and spooky, with two deeply flawed heroines.

On Writing The Angel Connection:

“Disillusioned by my own recent divorce, yet still a romantic at heart, I was inspired to write the perfect love story-one that I would fall into as a reader. Like my modern day protagonist Morgan, I had just relocated — escaped is more like it! — to a quaint historic village in Bucks County Pennsylvania. The achingly beautiful countryside, coupled with the spirits of artists who had flocked there for centuries seeking a muse, set the stage for a compelling, timeless, mystical love story. My immersion in yoga and eastern spiritualism sparked the idea for parallel universes: two creative women, born a century apart, living in the same house, unable to reconcile their artistic passion with the obligations of family and the longing for true love. The intriguing prospect of re-incarnation was in place.” – Judith Anne Barton


About Judith Anne Barton:


Judith Anne Barton is a novelist, actress, playwright and award-winning television journalist. The Angel Connection is her debut novel. After a successful career in broadcast journalism in Philadelphia that spanned over a decade, Barton moved to Bucks County, PA where she worked with her mentor, the late JP Miller, author of the classic The Days of Wine and Roses. Her first play Opening Night received its world premiere at Philadelphia’s Lantern Theatre Company, and was named a finalist in the Sundance Film Lab competition.She is the co-author of The Best Letter Book and is also a published poet. Barton now resides in Los Angeles where she also pursues an acting career in film and television. Her sons, William Wheeler (The Reluctant Fundamentalist) and Thomas Wheeler (Puss in Boots, Puss in Boots II) are successful screenwriters.

Facebook: /judithannebarton
Twitter: @jabartonbooks

This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. and ends on September 13, 2013.  The winner has the choice of print or ebook.

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Giveaway: Ghosts and Ballyhoo by Thomas Wictor

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on August 29, 2013
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | 5 Comments

Thanks to Shannon Bromham of Sandpiper Publicity, I am giving away one print copy of Ghosts and Ballyhoo by Thomas Wictor.

Book Description:

Ghosts and Ballyhoo: Memoirs of a Failed L.A. Music Journalist chronicles Thomas Wictors ten years in the Los Angeles music industry and his quest to free himself from the past. Ostensibly a memoir, Ghosts also asks and possibly answers provocative questions about fate, destiny, and life after death. 

The book is structured as a collection of anthologies rather than a continuous narrative; the seven anthologies detailing Wictor’s failed career are separated by six interludes with the “Collateral Ghost,” one of the most brilliant, yet unsuccessful, musicians who ever played former Frank Zappa bassist Scott Thunes. 

Thomas Wictors experiences include multiple failures across multiple spectra and an endless series of coincidences that always returned him to the notion that there is a Plan. Losing nearly everything he loved gave the author clarity, enabling him to see patterns of guidance and sustenance visible everywhere once he was no longer blinded by rage and negativity. This clarity exorcised Thomas Wictor and brought him peace of mind, which allowed him to transform the anger over what he lost into gratitude for what he once had. Written with profane humor and no self-pity, Ghosts and Ballyhoo includes previously unpublished articles, excerpts from interview transcripts personal correspondence, and photos.

Praise For Ghosts and Ballyhoo:


“… this is an absolutely brilliant autobiography and well worth picking up.  Not only did I find it interesting and enjoy it a hell of a lot, I also felt like I’d been on the journey with him thanks to his writing style.” – Patrick Challis, Curiosity of a Social Misfit

“…it’s the most original and well written memoir I’ve read to date. It’s funny really as I’ve read scores of them, usually by people who are more of a household name, yet the best one is written by the least famous of them all.” – Miles’tone, basschat.co.uk

“…perfect for music fans, pop culture fanatics, writers and those who dig studying human nature.”  – Gwen Joy, Motor City Blog


About Thomas Wictor:


Thomas Wictor worked as a stevedore, library archivist, conversational English teacher, editor of the world’s first online newspaper, voiceover actor, delivery driver, process server, field representative for a document-retrieval service, and music journalist. A former Contributing Editor at Bass Player, he was also a semi-professional bass guitarist in Tokyo. Thomas is the author of five books including, In Cold Sweat: Interviews with Really Scary Musicians (Limelight Editions, 2004).


This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. and ends on September 12, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Thanks to Danielle Jackson of Sourcebooks, I am giving away one prize pack which includes one signed copy each of The Bridegroom Wore Plaid and Once Upon a Tartan by Grace Burrowes.

Description of The Bridegroom Wore Plaid:

Ian MacGregor is wooing a woman who’s wrong for him in every way. As the new Earl of Balfour, though, he must marry an English heiress to repair the family fortunes.

But in his intended’s penniless chaperone, Augusta, Ian is finding everything he’s ever wanted in a wife.




Description of Once Upon a Tartan:


Honor or happiness—he can’t have both.
Tiberius Flynn may be every inch an English lord, but smart, headstrong beauty Hester Daniels has no use for his high-handed ways–no matter how handsome, charming, or beguiling he is. They only see eye to eye in caring about the feisty little girl who is under their protection.
Tiberius’s haughty insistence that his wealthy estate in England is a better place for the child than her beloved, rundown Scotland home sparks Hester’s fierce protectiveness, and the battle lines are drawn.
Praise for Once Upon a Tartan:

“Burrowes creates a powerful story replete with heartfelt emotion and rich characterization… An instant keeper.” —RT Book Reviews, 4 ½ stars, Top Pick of the Month
“Expert prose, likeable characters, realistic relationships, and believable complications create a pleasant and satisfying keeper.” —Publishers Weekly
“Warmth, sensuality, and humor infuse Burrowes’ writing, and fans of Suzanne Enoch and Sarah MacLean should enjoy this series.” —Booklist
“Grace Burrowes weaves her magic with words… a memorable love story—excellent and exquisite.” — A Long and Short Reviews Best Book\

About Grace Burrowes:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes is the author of the acclaimed Windham Family Series, The MacGregor Trilogy and The Lonely Lords Series. Her debut novel, The Heir (2010), as well as The Bridegroom Wore Plaid (2012) were both included as Publishers Weekly Best Books of their respective years, in the romance category. A practicing attorney specializing in family law, Grace lives in rural Maryland, where she is working on the final book in the Windham series, Lady Jenny’s Christmas Portrait (October 2013) and third MacGregor story, The MacGregor’s Lady (February 2014), and many more books. 

This giveaway is open to the U. S. and Canada and ends on September 10, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.


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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.