Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Nov 22

4

Elton John at 75 by Gillian G. Gaar: Review, Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 4, 2022
Posted in Books Read in 2022 • Music • My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , , | 1 Comment

Elton John at 75 by Gillian G. GaarElton John at 75 by Gillian G. Gaar

Thanks to Steve Roth of The Quarto Group, I am giving away one print copy of ‘Elton John at 75’.

Description Elton John at 75 by Gillian G. Gaar


Few rock artists continue to gather more and more adulation with age. Sir Elton Hercules John is an exception who proves the rule. In Elton John at 75, veteran rock journalist Gillian Gaar examines the rock icon through the lens of 75 career accomplishments and life events. Key studio albums are featured, of course, as are a curated selection of his earworm singles. But Gaar delves deeper to reveal the events that helped chart the course of Elton’s career:

  • Key performances such as his breakthrough performance at LA’s Troubadour, and the historic Soviet Union and Dodger Stadium concerts
  • Legendary collaborations with the likes of George Michael, Billy Joel, and Kate Bush
  • His many film and television roles, including Tommy and The Muppet Show
  • Tireless work on behalf of AIDS research
  • Notable awards and honors, including knighthood
  • And of course, his collaboration with long-time cowriter Bernie Taupin

Beginning with his 1969 debut LP, Elton John is regarded as one of the most influential musicians and performers of the previous five decades. In examining 75 touchstones, Gaar provides a unique presentation of Elton’s career arc, from his first steps as a solo artist to the breakthrough album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to his flamboyant stage presence, and beyond.

Every page is illustrated with stunning concert and candid offstage photography, including gig posters, 7-inch picture sleeves, and more. This incredible package also includes a gatefold Elton John timeline, a previously unpublished gatefold artwork, an 8×10-inch glossy print, and a pullout poster. The result is a stunning tribute to one of the most admired stars in rock—in a milestone year.

My Thoughts Elton John at 75 by Gillian G. Gaar


I had always wanted to see Elton John live however, for many reasons, I didn’t get to see him until his Farewell concert in 2019.  Yes, he is still touring with his farewell concert but that is because he had to postpone while we were all in social isolation for covid.  If you get the chance, do not hesitate!  I have been to a lot of concerts but his is in my top 5!

Then Steve Roth of The Quarto Group sent me an email asking if I wanted to review this new book coming out about him by Gillian G. Gaar.  She just happens to be my favorite Rock and Roll biographer so, of course I wanted it.  I was so excited to be asked.  Not only that, Steve agreed that I could offer a giveaway of one print copy to my readers! This is a $75 book, even more in Canada! 

As usual, Gaar has done an exceptional job in not only writing but curating some of the best photos, memorabilia, etc.  Due to my older sister being an earlier fan, I thought I had seen it all.  I hadn’t!  This book is packed full of amazing photos and includes an 8X10 poster! 

When this book came in the mail, I absolutely geeked out.  I couldn’t put it down until the last page!  I have had it for about three and a half weeks now and have gone through it several times.  It has a prominent spot on our coffee table with many other spectacular musicians! This would be the absolute perfect gift for Elton John lovers, I only wish my big sister was still around so I could get it for her!

Despite the price tag, I cannot recommend this book highly enough!  I give it 5 plus stars!

About Gillian G. GaarElton John at 75 by Gillian G. Gaar


Gillian G. Gaar has written for numerous publications, including Mojo, Rolling Stone, and Goldmine. Previous books include She’s a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll; Entertain Us: The Rise of Nirvana; Return of the King: Elvis Presley’s Great Comeback; The Doors: The Complete Illustrated History; and Boss: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band—The Illustrated History. She lives in Seattle.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GillianGaar

Buy Elton John at 75 by Gillian G. Gaar


Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Barnes&Noble
IndieBound
Bookshop.org

Giveaway Elton John at 75 by Gillian G. Gaar


This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ends on November 18, 2022 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nov 22

3

Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella Rose: Kickoff, Interview

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 3, 2022
Posted in Book Tours • Guest Authors/ Interviews • My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , , | 2 Comments

Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella RoseStealing the Selkie’s Heart (The Selkie Seas, #1) by Ella Rose


Publisher:  Lightning Platypus Press, (July 19, 2022)
Category: Paranormal Romance
Tour dates: November 3-23, 2022
ISBN: 979-8985603811
Available in Print and ebook, 286 pages

Stealing the Selkie’s Heart

Description Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella Rose


A cursed town, a kidnapped selkie…what will happen when love is on the line? 

Powerful selkie warrior Ronan must negotiate with a group of local sirens before war breaks out. The last thing he needs is a desperate human who steals his sealskin, intent on forcing him to help her. He decides to seduce her, get his skin back, and fulfill his mission. But finding out she’s his True Mate changes everything…

Widow Una MacCallan is determined to save her small Scottish fishing town from the curse that fell over it twenty-four years ago, even if it means blackmailing the fierce selkie. Though she knows he is the key to breaking the spell, she doesn’t anticipate the attraction between them. She can’t afford the distraction, and she doesn’t trust that his interest is anything more than a manipulation, a bid for freedom. But she keeps finding herself tempted…

Together, they must race against time to break the curse. But as the two get closer, they find themselves asking: can they give up love to save those around them? What is the price for their newfound passion?

Stealing the Selkie’s Heart is an exciting enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance and the first book in The Selkie Seas series by Ella Rose. Let it steal your heart today!

Praise Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella Rose


“A fun novel with a great HEA. I am looking forward to finishing the prequel. More fun awaits!”- John P., Amazon

“Stealing the Selkie’s Heart is a cute love story between a fisherman’s widow and a selkie warrior. One of the funniest utilizations of romance novel “logic” we’ve read in a while. It’s also fun to read along with the “whodunnit” portion of the book. If you like your PNR on the short, cute, & sweet side, this is a fun one to read.”- Meg Richmond, Reedsy Discovery

Praise Losing the Selkie’s Skin (Prequel)


“This was a really neat story about Selkies and the twists and turns they have to go through to help the Selkie Prince with his skin. I enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to reading more of the Author Ella Rose’s books.”- Jacquetta Harvey, Goodreads

“ Mythology and folklore tales are highly intriguing on their own. These stories are filled with mystique, adventure, and a sense of intrigue and fantasy that is unique to the genre. But take mythology and folklore and intertwine that with paranormal romance and you’ve got yourself a book that is difficult to put down.
This book is wonderfully written and from the start, the reader will be drawn into the story, wanting and needing more. The author writes in a way that makes you feel for the characters, yearning for them to just finally get together. The reader cannot help but fall for the main characters as they journey through the book.
Losing the Selkie’s Skin is a wonderful start to a thrilling series, in so many ways. I highly recommend this book for lovers of paranormal romance, mythology and folklore stories.”- Kristin, Goodreads

Interview Ella Rose

TR: Please tell us something about Stealing the Selkie’s Heart that is not in the summary.  (About the book, character you particularly enjoyed writing etc.)

ER: I really enjoyed writing the female MC, Una. She’s sassy and smart and has no idea how lonely she is until the male MC, Ronan, comes along. She’s passionate about her village and willing to do whatever it takes to keep it safe. Multiple times someone asks her why she doesn’t just leave, and each question seems to reaffirm her desire to make her environment suite her rather than the other way around.

TR: I always enjoy looking at the names that authors choose to give their characters. Where do you derive the names of your characters?  Are they based on real people you knew or now know in real life? How do you create names for your characters?

ER: My selkie main character names always come from some Gaelic base. Ceannas is derived from the Gaelic word for “leader”. Ronan is based off the word for “little seal.” Prion is derived from the Gaelic for “prince.” The names are usually based not off people that I know, but rather emotions or personality landmarks that spring to my mind when I think about the character.

TR: Where did you get the inspiration for your cover?

ER: I was lucky to find a gem in Deranged Doctors Design, who did all the covers for my books. I told them a few small details of what I wanted, from the clothes worn by Ronan and the character that depicts Una, plus some of the necessary background elements, and D3 ran with it and made the beautiful cover I went with. They brought my vision to life, even when I didn’t exactly know what I wanted.

TR: What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

ER: My favorite scene in the book is when Ronan first kisses Una outside the Town Hall. He tells her they’re being watched and steals a kiss. She threatens to break his hand if he tries that again, and he cheekily retorts that it would be worth it. I love it because it’s such a microcosm of their relationship and it shows that both characters have some bite to them.

TR: What kind of messages do you try to instill in your writing?

ER: I favor hard-won romances. I feel like situations where each MC believes themselves to be just fine on their own brings out the best in my characters since they must learn that they need the other person to be whole. I feel like that’s also true in real life—we are social creatures and need love in our lives. And the way it takes the MCs a while to figure this out about each other parallels my own experiences in love, as well.

TR: What draws you to this genre? 

ER: I love happy endings and angst and stolen kisses and fierce-burning relationships. So, it was a natural joining.

TR: Will Ronan have more to tell readers in the future?

ER: Not directly, but tangentially throughout the next few books. He doesn’t disappear entirely.

TR: Do you have any writing projects that you are currently working on?

ER: Saving the Selkie’s Heart, Book 2 in The Selkie Seas series. It follows Ceannas and Lyall’s relationship.

TR: Is there a question/s that you would have liked me or another blogger to ask but didn’t? If so, please ask and answer.

ER: If there is a reading order between this and the prequel novella, Losing the Selkie’s Skin. I very much want readers to find Stealing the Selkie’s Heart first and then supplement with Prion’s story in Losing the Selkie’s Skin.


About Ella Rose


Ella Rose is a paranormal romance author who loves kink, ink, and cake, and hopes you do too. She is a bi-sexual author writing through a Bi-Polar Disorder lens and thinks representation and mental health matter. She is the author of The Selkie Seas series, which includes Losing the Selkie’s Skin and Stealing the Selkie’s Heart.

Her latest selkie short stories will appear in Dark Rose Press’s Worlds Apart and Dragon Soul Press’s Beyond Atlantis anthologies. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Paranormal Romance Guild.

Website: https://www.ellarosebooks.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EllaRoseBooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellarosewrites/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ellarosewrites?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/EllaRoseWriter/

Buy Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella Rose


Amazon
Barnes&Noble
Indiebound
BookShop.org

Giveaway Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella Rose


This giveaway is for 2 print or ebook copies. Print is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on November 24, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella Rose


Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 3 Kickoff & Interview

Gracie Goodreads Nov 7 Review

Suzie My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews Nov 9 Review & Guest Post

Sal Bound 4 Escape Nov 11 Guest Review

Laura Lee Celticlady’s Reviews Nov 14 Guest Review & Excerpt

Bookgirl Amazon Nov 15 Review

Bee Book Pleasures Nov 16 Review & Interview

Gud Reader Goodreads Nov 18 Review

Nora S. Storeybook Reviews  Nov 20 Guest Review & Guest Post

Mark Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 21 Guest Review

Nadene Totally Addicted to Reading Nov 22 Review & Excerpt

Denise Amazon & Goodreads Nov 23 Review

Stealing the Selkie’s Heart by Ella Rose

Nov 22

2

Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu: Kickoff, Interview

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 2, 2022
Posted in Book Tours • Guest Authors/ Interviews • My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , , , | 6 Comments

Soulful Return by Fidelis O. MkparuSoulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


Publisher:  DX Varos Publishing (November 22, 2022)
Category: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, African-American Fiction, Immigrant Experience
Tour Dates November 2-23
ISBN: 978-1955065603
Available in Print and ebook, 332 pages

Soulful Return

Description Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


“The hounding voice inside me would not let go.”

Thus begins the emotional journey of Afamefuna Onochie Nwaku, a Harvard-trained medical doctor with a career most can only dream of, a loving wife, and supportive family. Then, he receives a telephone call from his sister who lives in Nigeria that her life is being threatened.

Left with no other fair choice, Afam leaves behind his family, throwing his marriage into turmoil and risking the life he has built in Boston. Instead of the Nigeria that he loves, that he needs, he finds a land and people he barely recognizes waiting for him. Afam decides to stay but realizes that his future in Nigeria is as murky as the River-Niger after a torrential tropical rainfall.

As Afam sets out on a journey to reconnect with the family and heritage that he left behind, he must face new enemies in an increasingly corrupt Nigeria where many people see him as an American intruder. And through it all, he must fight to keep his family together—and alive.

Advance Praise Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


“Mkparu has created a masterpiece of immigrant experience and connection, outlining many of the forces that influence and stress modern Africans and Americans alike.” — D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Awards and Praise for Fidelis O. Mkparu


2018 EVVY winner, Literary & Contemporary Fiction for Tears Before Exaltation.

Silver Medal: Nautilus Book Awards, Fiction 2016 for Love’s Affliction.

Reader Views Literary Award Winner 2015/2016 for Love’s Affliction.

Finalist 2015: INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award, Multicultural Fiction for Love’s Affliction.

“A must-read, Love’s Affliction is an exceptionally gripping and poignant story. While intense throughout, there is resolution – and not quite what one may expect!”—San Francisco Book Review

“An exceptionally well crafted work, “Love’s Affliction” is an engaging and extraordinary multi-cultural novel that documents author Fidelis O. Mkparu as a talented, first class storyteller. “Love’s Affliction” is very highly recommended for personal reading lists and would prove to be a valued addition to community library Contemporary Fiction collections.”—Midwest Book Review

Interview With Fidelis O. Mkparu

TR: Please tell us something about Soulful Return that is not in the summary. (About the book, character you particularly enjoyed writing etc.)

FOM: Writing Soulful Return was an emotional journey for me. That journey started when I assumed the persona of Afam while writing, and it took me back to a small town where my ancestors lived. Obodo is not a real town in Eastern Nigeria, but the town has a lot in common with Ojoto in Anambra State, Nigeria where I call my ancestral home. If I have a wayward soul, that part of my being that is untethered, I believe it’s roaming around in my hometown Ojoto drinking palm-wine and telling tales of past valor.

TR: I always enjoy looking at the names that authors choose to give their characters. Where do you derive the names of your characters? Are they based on real people you knew or now know in real life? How do you create names for your characters?

FOM: Most of the names I used in SOULFUL RETURN are from my ancestors. The names chosen and their meaning help to elucidate some of the nuances in Igbo culture as it relates to my story, SOULFUL RETURN.

TR: Where did you get the inspiration for your cover?

FOM: The inspiration came from the last time I walked on the dirt road leading to the ruins of my grandfather’s house built around 1870’s.

TR: What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

FOM: The scene of palm-wine libation by Afam honoring his father in the presence of his grade school mates. In that scene, Afam states that although he is assuming the role of his family patriarch, he is not usurping his father’s achievements and glory.

TR: Which actor would you like to see play Afam from Soulful Return? Are there any other actors you can think of for some of the other characters?

FOM: Denzel Washington

TR: What kind of messages do you try to instill in your writing?

FOM: The importance of cultural heritage and how it binds us together.

TR: What draws you to this genre?

FOM: The freedom it offers for expressivity.

TR: Will Afam have more to tell readers in the future?

FOM: Definitely. How his life evolves in Obodo and if he would ever go back to Boston to live.

TR: Do you have any writing projects that you are currently working on?

FOM: An anthology of poems dedicated to my wayward soul.


About Fidelis O. Mkparu Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


Multi award winning author, Fidelis O. Mkparu is a Nigerian immigrant in the U.S. who wishes to speak to his experiences and those of his fellow immigrants. He is a professor of Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University and a senior attending cardiologist at Aultman Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Canton, Ohio. Previously, he was a Spaulding fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School.

His preceding novels include Love’s Affliction and Tears Before Exaltation.

Website: https://fidelismkparu.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fidelismkparu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fidelis.mkparu

Preorder Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


Amazon
Barnes&Noble
DX Varos Publishing

Giveaway Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on November 24, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 2 Kickoff & Interview

Sal Bound 4 Escape Nov 3 Review

Denise Amazon & Goodreads Nov 8 Review

Laura Lee Celticlady’s Reviews Nov 10 Review & Excerpt

Bookgirl Amazon Nov 11 Review

Suzie My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews Nov 14 Review & Excerpt

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 15 Review

Gracie Goodreads Nov 16 Review

Bee Book Pleasures Nov 17 Review & Interview

Linda Lu Goodreads Nov 18 Review

Nora S. Storeybook Reviews Nov 22 Review & Guest Post

Ellen Goodreads Nov 23 Review

Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu

« Previous Page — Next Page »