June 2017 Book of the Month Giveaway
July 15, 2017 03:21 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
June was a good reading month for me. I read five books and all of them received ratings of 4-5 stars from me. However, I’ve run into an unusual dilemma that I’ve never encountered before in that my favorite book for the month is an oldie but a goodie that is no longer readily available. I’m happy to have had the opportunity to read it and pass along a recommendation for it. But unfortunately, since it’s an older book, it isn’t available in ebook at this time, and the paperback version is also out of print with no new or nice used copies available for anything resembling a reasonable price. So for this month’s Book of the Month giveaway, I’m going to go ahead and highlight the book, so that my readers will know about it and perhaps be able to find a copy at the library or get lucky enough to find one elsewhere. But instead of giving away the book itself, I’m going to give away a $10 Amazon gift card. And I’m sure no one will truly be disappointed with that.:-)
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Rosanne Bittner
May 2017 Book of the Month Giveaway
June 16, 2017 07:02 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
May was an OK reading month for me. I had a couple of duds, but most of what I read was still good. However, I didn’t have any five-star romance reads, and since I only give away what I feel is the best of the best, I don’t have a romance to offer this month. My favorite five-star read from May was a non-fiction book centering around animal rescue. Since my Loving Hearts series also has an animal rescue theme, I thought it fully appropriate to name it my latest book of the month, and if you’re an animal lover like me, you may enjoy it just as much as I did.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Cathy Scott, Hurricane Katrina
April 2017 Book of the Month Giveaway
May 20, 2017 02:58 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
My April Book of the Month choice follows right on the heels of March’s Book of the Month. It was another re-read for me, and the second in the series. While April was a very good reading month for me, with the majority of the books I read rating 4.5-5 stars and nothing less than 4 stars, this particular book was the biggest stand-out for me, because it was nearly perfect in every way. I think I ended up enjoying it just a teensy bit better than last month’s BOM, because of the stronger focus on the romance. The incredibly steamy love scenes were an added plus, too. It’s the story of a heroine who sets out looking for revenge against the man she believes was the cause of her beloved brother’s death, but unexpectedly finds love with that same man instead. The hero has been burying himself in his work to drown out the pain of losing his first wife and child, while waiting to remarry until just the right woman comes along, and he may have finally found the woman of his dreams in our intrepid heroine. It all made for a great story that I loved.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Lisa Kleypas
March 2017 Book of the Month Giveaway
April 15, 2017 03:32 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
My favorite read from the month of March was actually a re-read for me. I first read it about ten years ago, when I was coming off a book drought that had lasted at least that long. When I became a mom in 1995, reading somehow got put on the back burner. I guess having a cranky, demanding infant, who turned into a cranky, demanding toddler, and then baby #2 three years later will do that to you.:-) In any case, reading fell off my radar for quite a while, but during that time, I remember looking longingly at my stuffed bookshelves. In 2007, I became determined to get back to reading, and I did. My latest book of the month pick was the first book I chose from those packed bookshelves and the first I had read by this author. It made me fall in love with her work and immediately run out to get the other two books in the series.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Lisa Kleypas
February 2017 Book of the Month & Giveaway
March 17, 2017 03:06 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
February wasn’t quite as phenomenal of a reading month as January was. I had several really good reads, but only one romance hit that all-important five-star mark that a book needs to reach for me to make it my Book of the Month. It’s the third medieval romance I’ve read this year and was written by a favorite author who hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention from me. I don’t know how I keep putting her books on the back burner when I always seem to love her deeply emotional stories that are equal parts sweet and sensual.
In this one, we have Anya, a young woman who’s been betrayed by nearly every man she’s ever known and has also been in a long-standing feud with the church over her giving birth to a child who was the result of rape. With her parents gone and the only brother she can really trust away fighting in the Crusades, Anya is facing increasing pressure from her other brother, a greedy monk who is trying to take away the only home she’s ever known to further his own career. On top of that, there’s a shortage of food, leaving her wondering how on earth she’s going to feed all the souls under her care throughout the coming winter. Into this bleak landscape comes a kind and gentle knight who Anya finds in the forest, beaten, bloody, and near death’s door. She takes him home, where she tenderly cares for him and by the time he’s recovered, he’s fallen for her and willingly does everything he can to help her out of her untenable situation.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Barbara Samuel
January 2017 Book of the Month & Giveaway
February 16, 2017 07:16 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
January was a stellar reading month for me. I read a total of six books and novellas, all but one of which rated five stars. The one that didn’t was still 4.5 stars. So that’s a near-perfect month’s reading. I’m not sure that’s ever happened to me before.
With this many wonderful books to choose from, one might think it would be difficult to pick just one to name as my Book of the Month, but in the end, it wasn’t too hard. Anyone who’s been following my blog with any regularity, probably knows that I’m now a huge fan of the series this book comes from. I’ve already named the first two book of the series previous Book of the Month winners, so it’s not too surprising that I would pick this final book of the trilogy as well. It took me on a tumultuous, emotional, roller-coaster ride, and I loved every minute of it. The only thing that could possibly make it any better is if I could flip a switch in my brain and forget the story, so I could read it all over again like it’s the first time.:-)
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: E. L. James
December 2016 Book of the Month & Giveaway
January 16, 2017 01:08 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
Between the busyness of the holiday season and the mad last-month dash to get my newest book ready for publication, I fell behind on my blogging. In order to catch up, that means that I’ll be bringing you two Book of the Month giveaways this month, one for November and one for December.
My favorite read for December was the eleventh book in the popular historical romance series, Maiden Lane. Again, if you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know just how much I love this series and the author. I’ve given away some of her books before. I just can’t seem to get enough of her writing and even had the privilege of meeting her in person and taking a wonderful writer’s workshop with her a few years ago. I feel like a broken record every time I review her new releases, because each one seems to entrance me as much as the others. This latest book features a relatively new hero, who was just introduced in the previous book, and a heroine who’s been around for most of the series in a supporting role. Their story is one filled with action, adventure, a touch of mystery, and some heart-stopping romance that didn’t fail to keep me engaged throughout.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Elizabeth Hoyt
November 2016 Book of the Month & Giveaway
January 16, 2017 12:48 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
Between the busyness of the holiday season and the mad last-month dash to get my newest book ready for publication, I fell behind on my blogging. In order to catch up, that means that I’ll be bringing you two Book of the Month giveaways this month, one for November and one for December.
My favorite read for November was the second book in a wildly popular erotic romance series. If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that earlier last year, I absolutely fell in love with book #1 of the series and couldn’t wait to continue. To draw out the fun, I managed to wait two months before picking up book #2 and ended up loving it every bit as much as the first, maybe even more. I’ve found these books to be deeply romantic and emotionally complex in ways that many other romances aren’t. The characterizations are extremely well done, exhibiting depth and complexity as well. The hero and heroine each go through a fair bit of growth in this book, learning to compromise with each other in their relationship, while also dealing with some very stressful situations caused by external factors. Yet they always come out stronger as a couple in the end.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: E. L. James
October 2016 Book of the Month & Giveaway
November 19, 2016 02:48 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
My October Book of the Month is the second book in a paranormal romance series that I unintentionally ended up putting on the back burner four years ago, even after reading and enjoying the first of the series. It’s set in a unique world that centers around a demon hospital called Underworld General. The mythology of the series is among some of the most detailed I’ve read in paranormal romance with many different breeds of demons and other supernatural creatures that span the full spectrum on the genre. The action and adventure keep things fast-paced and exciting, making this a world that I very much enjoyed inhabiting.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Larissa Ione
September 2016 Book of the Month & Giveaway #2
October 9, 2016 05:06 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
I had two five-star reads in September, and OMG, what reads they were! Normally when I have multiple five-star reads, one stands out a little above the other, so I would choose that one to highlight and give away. But this month, I simply couldn’t. Each of my favorite reads couldn’t be more different from one another if they tried, but each touched me in a deep and indelible way that I couldn’t ignore. That’s probably why I couldn’t make up my mind between them. That’s great news for you, my readers, though, because my indecision means you get a chance to win two incredible books this month.
My second choice is a wildly popular erotic romance novel that has been controversial to say the least. For this reason and a few others, I went into reading it a bit wary, but within a few chapters, it had already sucked me. I kept waiting for something to happen that would make me change my mind, but it never did. It just kept getting better and better for me. It took me on an emotional roller coaster ride, and when it was over, I didn’t want it to stop. So I’m incredibly pleased that there are more installments to come, and I can’t wait to read them.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: E. L. James
