Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Maggie's Wars_Tour Banner _FINALThanks to Amy Bruno of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I’m giving away on print copy of Maggie’s Wars.

Maggie's WarsBook Description:

Combating wars on two fronts – one of fame and the other love – Maggie Hogan never wavers as a rare woman reporter on the battlefields of World War II, the Nuremburg Trials and the beginnings of the cold war. But she makes the mistake of falling for an officer, complicating her ambitions.

Learn of what one woman feels she must do in order to make it in a man’s world, no matter what. Maggie’s Wars is a story about the ultimate battle between love and prestige, and how you can’t win them both.

Praise for Maggie’s Wars:

“Maggie’s Wars is a highly charged story, with power politics on a grand scale…the frighteningly realistic descriptions and technical know-how is right on the mark and Phil Pisani’s skill at painting a vivid scene in the mind’s eye of the reader is excellent and packs a wallop.”William H. LaBarge, author of Sweetwater Gunslinger 201, Hornet’s Nest, Road to Gold and Desert Voices

About Phil Pisani:

Phil Pisani grew up on the north side of the railroad tracks in an upstate New York blue-collar industrial town in a rough neighborhood filled with the most colorful characters in the world. Factory and tannery workers mingled with bar and restaurant owners, gamblers and gangsters, good people and bad people, brash rogues and weak loudmouths, all spawned by the early immigrant movement to America.

Italians, Russians, Slovacks, Irish, and Germans formed a rough and tough section of town where few from the south side dared to venture.   He learned to fight at a very young age, both in the ring and on the streets. Fights became badges of honor.

He also was a voracious reader. His mother worked in the village’s library. After school, or fights or sandlot football games he would curl away into the adult reading section. Enjoying the polished blonde oak bookshelves, tables and chairs, he would choose a book from the stacks and delve into its smells and contents. Reading soothed him.

He studied history and humanities in Pisa, Italy, and Oswego State in New York and later earned a MA in Political Science from Binghamton University.

He worked as a labor investigator for NY and rose in the ranks through the years but never stopped writing or reading. He currently lives in Albany NY, with his wife Joanne.

For  more information please visit Phil Pisani’s website. You can also connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Buy Maggie’s Wars:

Amazon 
Barnes & Noble

This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada only and ends on September 4, 2014.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

SWP_TextThanks to Caitlin Hamilton Summie of Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity, LLC, I’m giving away one copy of The Vintner’s Daughter.

Book Description:

In 1895, seventeen-year-old Sara Thibault’s dream is to follow in her father’s footsteps as master winemaker at their stunning Loire Valley family vineyard, Saint Martin. But after her father passes unexpectedly, her mother’s hasty sale of the land places it in the hands of a rival family whose oldest son, Bastien, can’t be trusted. A violent tragedy leaves Bastien dead and compels Sara and her sister to flee to America.

Though Sara is committed to eventually reclaiming her family’s vineyard, she decides to travel to California with the hope of making her own way in the winemaking world. When she encounters Bastien’s brother, Philippe—a man as committed to bringing his brother’s killer to justice as he is to building the largest vineyard in Napa—they are instantly drawn to each other. But now Sara must make a choice: to risk discovery or run again. Will Philippe help her regain Saint Martin, or prosecute her for her crime?

Kristen Harnisch’s sweeping debut is a tale of betrayal, retribution, love, and redemption. THE VINTNER’S DAUGHTER is a captivating story that immerses readers in the rich cultures of the Loire Valley, New York, and Napa and a tenacious heroine’s fight to determine her own destiny.

Praise for The Vintner’s Daughter:

“One of the novel’s highlights is its rich history of the wine-making process through the eyes of a woman who is passionate and meticulous about each step…. In the beginning, [Sara] endures nonstop pain and loss, but these tragedies transform her from a smart, hardworking girl into an independent, resourceful woman. At its core, The Vintner’s Daughter is a story of perseverance and transcending one’s past.”—Booklist

“A young French woman, determined to pursue her dreams, shows resourcefulness and endurance as she journeys from her home to America in a novel set in the late 1800s….the plot is engaging and well-paced. Wine aficionados and fans of romance and historical fiction will drink this in.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Lush and evocative, this novel brings the Loire Valley and its glorious vineyards to life in a story that will delight readers everywhere. Enjoy with your favorite glass of Merlot!”—Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Shoemaker’s Wife

“… will invoke inevitable comparisons to Gone with the Wind…. A pleasure.”—Roberta Rich, author of The Harem Midwife and The Midwife of Venice

About Kristen Harnisch:Kristen Harnisch

Kristen Harnisch drew upon her extensive research and experiences living in the San Francisco Bay Area and visiting the Loire Valley to create the story for The Vintner’s Daughter, the first in a series about the changing world of vineyard life at the turn of the 20th century. Harnisch has a degree in economics from Villanova University and currently resides in Connecticut.

Buy The Vintner’s Daughter:

Amazon 
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository

This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada only and ends on September 3, 2014.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dark Aemilia_Blog Tour Banner_FINALThanks to Amy Bruno of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I am giving away 5 copies of ‘Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady’.

Dark AemiliaBook Description:

A TALE OF SORCERY AND PASSION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LONDON—WHERE WITCHES HAUNT WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND HIS DARK LADY, THE PLAYWRIGHT’S MUSE AND ONE TRUE LOVE.

The daughter of a Venetian musician, Aemilia Bassano came of age in Queen Elizabeth’s royal court. The Queen’s favorite, she develops a love of poetry and learning, maturing into a young woman known not only for her beauty but also her sharp mind and quick tongue. Aemilia becomes the mistress of Lord Hunsdon, but her position is precarious. Then she crosses paths with an impetuous playwright named William Shakespeare and begins an impassioned but ill-fated affair.

A decade later, the Queen is dead, and Aemilia Bassano is now Aemilia Lanyer, fallen from favor and married to a fool. Like the rest of London, she fears the plague. And when her young son Henry takes ill, Aemilia resolves to do anything to save him, even if it means seeking help from her estranged lover, Will—or worse, making a pact with the Devil himself.

In rich, vivid detail, Sally O’Reilly breathes life into England’s first female poet, a mysterious woman nearly forgotten by history. Full of passion and devilish schemes, Dark Aemilia is a tale worthy of the Bard.

Selected by O, The Oprah Magazine as one of 17 Books You Won’t Be Able To Put Down!

READ AN EXCERPT!

Praise for Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady:

“With elegant style, masterly wordplay, and an eye for historical detail, O’Reilly beautifully relates a passionate and tragic love story, worthy of two such well-known figures. With Shakespeare’s 450th birthday approaching this April, fans of historical fiction writers such as Philippa Gregory, Anne Easter Smith, and Tracy Chevalier won’t want to miss this one.”Library Journal

“O’Reilly’s American debut is an imaginative take on the life of poet Aemilia Layner, a contemporary of William Shakespeare…. This is a lively, vividly rendered novel about the dramatic life of an extraordinary woman.”—Booklist

“Seductive, sharp-witted lady-in-waiting Aemilia Bassano, who later becomes known as England’s first published female poet, falls into a love affair with the Bard himself, loses favor with the court, and resorts to black magic and sorcery to save her child in this textured work of historical fiction.”—O, The Oprah Magazine

 “We all know Shakespeare wrote love sonnets. Now, O’Reilly’s new novel brings us the Bard’s sonnet-writing lover and sonnet-inspiring muse.”—The New York Post

A gripping novel that gives feisty feminist voice to the unknown woman who inspired Shakespeare’s sonnets… O’Reilly brings her star-crossed lovers together and drives them apart through plot twists that are, for once, credible outgrowths of the characters’ personalities and beliefs, finally giving them a tender, heartbreaking parting. First-rate historical fiction: marvelously atmospheric and emotionally engaging.”Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“[Dark Aemilia] mesmerizes with its descriptions of the Bard’s London…O’Reilly casts her story with witches, doomed royals, evil courtiers, and star-crossed lovers, as if it were a Jacobean play. But her finest accomplishment is not the tribute she pays to these historical figures, but the bold imagination she displays in bringing them together.”—Publishers Weekly

About Sally O’Reilly:Sally O'Reilly

Sally O’Reilly has received numerous citations for her fiction, which has been shortlisted for the Ian St James Short Story Prize and the Cosmopolitan Short Story Award. A former Cosmopolitan New Journalist of the Year, her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, the Evening Standard, and the New Scientist. She teaches creative writing at the Open University and the University of Portsmouth in England. Dark Aemilia is her U.S. debut.

For information and news please visit Sally O’Reilly’s website and the Dark Aemilia Facebook Page.

This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada and ends on September 2, 2014.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway