Mid-Winters Eve Blog Giveaway Hop

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Winter Escape #1

Janie is Savannah’s (Van’s) best friend since childhood. Peter is the man she literally fell for her first day of college. Her biggest mistake was introducing them to each other. That is why as this book starts she is dressed up looking like a satin orange pumpkin as maid of honor at their wedding.

After the wedding hoopla she decides to drown her sorrows with a little Vodka and a Rin-Tin-Tin movie marathon. During the night she drunk orders a puppy off the internet. When the puppy arrives she finds out he is 200 pounds and has been trained with only Slovak commands.

Savannah Leone’s life will never be he same.

I read this book last summer.  My review is below.  As you see I thought it was better for fall and winter so I held onto it for this giveaway, 🙂

I would call this a great summer read with one caveat, it takes place in the fall and winter. It is still a great “escape” novel.

I like this author’s writing style, it is very mature for a debut novel. I love the characters, Joe was in a class all his own. Filled with humor and heartbreak and doggy kisses, I was almost sorry to see the story end.

It is a light fun read that animal lovers will enjoy and appreciate. It is amazing how quickly we become attached to our pets and the magically way they understand, love us unconditionally, and even save us from ourselves. All this for a little scratch behind the ears and doggy treats.

Plus some bookish and yummy swag!!!

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Winter Escape #2

May Johnson leaves behind her mother, sister June, and her dull life in Minnesota for the big city of San Francisco. It doesn’t take long and she finds herself the girlfriend to a mobster and is the only witness to his murder. The authorities try to make it look as if May was also killed and put her into the Witness Protection Program. US Marshall Durst is assigned as her handler and she goes through 4 different identities to keep her barely one step ahead of the mobsters who want her dead and want something they believe she has.

My review from last summer:
We follow May from San Francisco to Chicago, to rural Wisconsin as she tries to blend in to each new identity and keep herself alive. There are plot twists and turns that keep the pages turning as this becomes a fast paced story. It is very well written with an unexpected surprise some readers may find a little unbelievable but it sure is an interesting twist.

Plus some bookish and yummy swag!!!

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Winter Escape #3

It all starts with a Premise!!

Hugh Waters was so excited that he had sold his script. His whole life was about to change. Then a new person was put in charge so the contract was canceled. He believed the new person, Hedda Chase, was wrong when she said “NO!” to his project. So Hugh jumped on a plane to Los Angeles just to talk to her, make her see the script was good.

The conversation didn’t go as planned when she declared his story unbelievable. Stressed to a breaking point, Hugh decided to reenact the terrifying ending using Miss Chase as the victim. Now her life hangs in the balance when Hugh plan takes an unplanned turn.

I had mixed feelings on this one:

The characters are uniquely fit together, sometimes at too much of a coincidence to ring true, but the characters themselves are believable with their many faults. Hugh is bored with his life, including both his job and his marriage. I felt sorry for his wife. The character of Hedda Chase is very unlikable so it takes a little work on the part of the reader to become concerned about her fate. The homeless girl showing up at weird times and places gave me pause. Bringing in a character, Denny, an Iraqi war vet adds a sense of current events to the story, but again his actions were confusing at times.

With all that said I did enjoy the book, it just was not what I expected. It was much more psychological as first Hugh definitely suffers a break from reality but it seems all the other characters do as well. This turns into a character study set off by one event that connects it each character to the others.

The way the story itself was written was the part that made it interesting, as it was told from the points of view of three different people and we actually got to read what was in their minds, what they were thinking. To me this saved the book. The characters were well written the plot just seemed forced and contrived.

Plus some bookish and yummy swag!!!

All Escapes are Open to U.S. and Canadian Residents
This Hop Allows 1 Mandatory Entry and 3 Optional Entries for a limit of 4 Entries For Each Escape.
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A Separate Form For Each Escape You Would Like To Win!

Contest Will End December 27th at 11:59 PM CST
Winners Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winners Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here.