VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!

Happy Memorial Day! I'd like to thank all soldiers and family/friends of soldiers. Thank you. You are a real blessing and I pray God blesses you.

And in honor of this special day, may I announce Interviews and Book Reviews' VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!!!! EEEEK!!!!

Okay, so there will be two winners. One will receive "Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown" by Eric Blehm (in honor of Memorial Day), and the other will win a copy of "The Shadow Catcher's Daughter" by Carla Olson Gade, and it's also a new release.

To enter, please comment below, leaving your email address. If you win, you will be notified via email and announced on this blog. Also, please share/tweet/email this giveaway around. Thank you!

There's only one problem, I can't send it to anyone that's not in North America, due to the high prices of shipping. Thank you!




This giveaway ends on June the 4th. Enter while you can!

                          

Firestorm by Lisa T. Bergren review

I rate this book 3.5 stars.

About this book:
"As a smoke jumper, Reyne Oldre--friend to Rachel Tanner and Beth Morgan (Refuge)--once led a team of courageous firefighters into a blaze that ended in unspeakable tragedy. Now crippled by fear, she conducts fire research from a safe distance, determined not to risk that kind of pain again. But when the flames of love begin to flicker between her and smoke jumper Logan McCabe, Reyne must face the fearsome storms from her past and battle the raging Firestorm that burns in her soul." 


What I think about it:
This book is better than the one I last read by her. It was sweeter, but definitely sillier.
The heroine, Reyne, seemed to be a bit childish and silly, and the author's excuse for that was that she had watched some of her fire crew die.
The hero is a bit arrogant and seems to think he's just too charming for anyone. Also, the relationship advances way too quickly. I don't really think it was all that bad, but just not my type of book.




(PS: Tomorrow I WILL post the giveaway!!!)

My First Award (that I know of)!!!!!

    Wow, I'm so honored! Thanks, Rosie! (HUGS)

Here are the rules:

1: This award is for book blogs only! To receive this award the blog must be at least 50% about books (reading or writing is okay).


2: Along with receiving this award, you must also share your top five favorite books you have ever read in your life. (It can be more then five if you prefer)

3: You must give this award to five-ten other book blogs that you adore. 
My top five favorite books, listed in order:
"Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland"  by Roseanna M. White
"The Edge of Recall" by Kristen Heitzmann
"A Tailor-Made Bride" by Karen Witemeyer
"Love Finds You in Revenge, Ohio" by Lisa Harris
"Love Finds You in Groom, Texas" by Janice Hanna (Yes, I'm obsessed with LFY books. I plan to write for them someday ;)
Wow, there are so many more I love. Okay, ON TO THE BLOGS!!!


Now, the 5-10 blogs/bloggers I LOVE are. . . .
Becki @ Being Becki (She writes about her life and writing and such. So I guess she qualifies)
Those Girls @ Colonial Quills (ALL book blog. You'll love them.)
Stephanie and Jill (and the others) @ Go Teen Writers (You guys are the best!)
Rachelle @ Inspiring Daring (Yay!!)
Allison @ Allison's Bookish Life

Thank you all! Now you must go on your blog and do the same! Thanks! Muah!

(PS: New review soon. And giveaway should start tomorrow, if I remember ;)

Really exciting news!

So, you've all heard about my friend Becki, the one who came up with the blog tag. Well, guess what? She self-published her VERY FIRST BOOK!!!!!! EEEEK!!!! Sorry, I'm really excited for her. REALLY excited.

Becki, AKA Beekee, the newly self-published author!!

Her GORGEOUS book cover, featuring her  lovely sister, Abri.

Anyway, her book is called Shieldmaiden.
And here's the back of her book:
 "A novella about a girl who must rescue the Prince and his friend, and stop a plot to take over the thrown, all while protecting herself. “I need your help. Are you up for another adventure?” When the Prince and his best friend are kidnapped by a nefarious man, who wants to take over the throne, who will King James call in to rescue them? The King's guards? Spies? The King himself? Or maybe . . . a girl? Join Alasstryne on a perilous journey to rescue two boys. But the journey doesn't end there. A plot to storm the city, Dalziel, has been uncovered. Will Lassey be able to stop it?"
Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Well, it is. I've read one of her drafts (I forget which one) and it's really good.
Now, you can read an excerpt from the book if you Click Here. You can also buy the book from there.

Well, it's official. Becki Badger is a Teen Author! Whoot! You can congratulate her below in the comments and/or go on her blog (Click Here!!!). Well, I'll be posting another review soon! TTYL!!!

Blog Tag!!

So, my best friend Becki started a round of Blog Tag (And if she made these questions, she can be sure I'm gonna. . . . well, let's leave it at that.).

Anyway, here's the rules. You. . .yes you, the one reading this. . . are officially tagged and now you have to answer all of the question (truthfully!!) on your blog. Got it? Great! Let's get started.


1. Let's start out easy.  Favorite color?

You could learn this in any conversation. Deep red.

2. Favorite book genre?

Christian Romance. ;)


3. Describe your dream house.
Big. Three story, Historical/Victorian house with red shutters and a big, bay window. I would want the outside to be painted white. Really, that's all I want.




4.  Which of your characters (if you write) or someone else's characters (if you don't) do you identify most with?
Marc Barrington of Endangered, currently being written by me. He seems a bit like me, in a way.




5. Who is your hero?  Why?

Jesus. He saved my life.


6. Now it gets a little harder.  What is one major thing you dream of accomplishing in your lifetime?Like Becki, I want to get children and teens excited about reading again. I find it sad that a few hundred years ago, some women (and children) weren't allowed to read and had to sneak books everywhere they went. Now that those people are allowed to read, they want nothing to do with it.




7. Which quirk annoys your best friend most?

Well, I have three of those, but they all love me ^_^ Well, I don't know. You'd have to ask them.



8. Would you consider yourself more of a leader or a follower?

I'm, for the most part, a leader. It kind of comes naturally when you're the oldest child of seven.

9. What's an idiosyncrasy that drives you crazy?

Um, well I don't know if you would call this a "idiosyncrasy " but I hate it when my little siblings act like they are my parents. -_- It drives me crazy.




10. If you won a million dollars on a game show, what's the first thing you'd do with the money?

I'd do something nice for my family and put the rest of the money in a savings account.


11. A little easier, now.  Which Disney/Pixar character was your favorite?

Um, this may sound ridiculous, but Lady from Lady and the Tramp.




12. Why?

Don't ask me why!!! I guess it's because she's so pretty and I've wanted a Cocker Spaniel ever since I watched that movie when I was, like, three.




13. 3 people in your life it would almost kill you to lose?

And THIS is what I might have to kill Becki over.
1: Anybody in my life. I love my family, I love my friends, if I lost any of them, I would be heartbroken for life.





14. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Wherever the Fearsome Foursome  (we) are going to meet! We haven't decided yet, so I can't say where. Other than that, Lancaster County, PA.




15. If you could change your accent, what would you change it to?
I don't really have an accent (even though I live in the south), so I think I'd make it full-time Southern-Belle accent. Either that, or French. :P


16. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?

Hmm, maybe I'd know how to control my temper?

17. What's your favorite thing to do in your free time?

Read, write, and *DING DING DING* My favorite thing to do is talk to my friends. ^_^

18. Something you did out of obligation recently that you would rather not have done?

I don't remember anything like that. I probably did something, but what? Oh, yeah! This. :P





19. If you were stranded on a desert island (if you're stranded, how is there a desert there?) What five things would you bring?
Well, I'd bring the Fearsome Foursome (for company and entertainment), lots of food, my computer, books, and. . . . chocolate. I can't live without chocolate.




20. One random thing about yourself.

Um, I like Trixie Belden books better than Nancy Drew books. That's about as random as I get. :P

Thanks, Becki! I answered your questions without making a fool of myself! :P

Prize of my Heart review

3.9 stars. Cover: 5 stars


Review: "Prize of my Heart" was the first book I have ever read by Lisa Norato, and let us just say it left quite an impression. Not in a bad way, but not in the best way either. I know, I know. You're thinking, "Really? This girl never finds any book that is to her liking!" That's not entirely true, I just find most books in need of tweeking (No, I'm not a perfectionist. I understand everyone has to start somewhere!). Anyway, it was a good book. But I felt as if things were prolonged a bit too long. Like the author was trying to make the book longer. And when things did start happening, I felt as if it happened too fast. I would have loved to see the relationship between the characters develop a bit more, and perhaps bit more action? I love the cover, it reminds me of what my book's cover would look like (something like that, anyway.). If you like ships and captains (Really, this book is starting to sound more and more like mine!) and young maidens falling in love with dashingly handsome fellows and secrets galore, you will adore this book (Excuse all of the seemingly "old-world" words. I seem to talk more and more like that with every passing day). I will re-read this book and think its meaning over again. I shall probably dream of young maidens with devastating secrets and ship captains who have just as many secrets.
Buy it here!
Buy it here!
Buy it from the Publisher (Bethany House Publishers)!

(PS: I have an announcement to make in a few days, at the very most, and I should be having my VERY FIRST giveaway soon! *SQUEAL!!!* And I have QUITE a few books to give away. ;)

Where Lilacs Still Bloom review

3 stars. Cover: 4 stars.
Review: "Where Lilacs Still Bloom" is better than most books I have read from Jane Kirkpatrick. I could actually finish this book. But I just didn't "like-like" it. I've never liked fictionalized non-fiction, and most of the characters were boring. And I did not see the point of adding fake people to the story, when most of them had no impact to the outcome of the story. The best thing about this book was the cover. There were a few scenes that made me laugh, but nothing more. I didn't feel like I was "there" with them. I didn't feel as if I "knew them personally". It took me four days to read this book (Books I love only take me a few hours), and I was forcing myself to read it. I felt as if it were a punishment. Anyway, the book is basically about a German housewife whose main goal is to "create" a creamy white, twelve petal lilac. I love flowers, I do, but not enough to read a book which is focused on flowers. Most of the scenes felt rushed, the characters (Based on real people) didn't seem developed, and switching back and forth between character to character and not knowing what was going on most of the time led me to decide this book was--well, boring. Hopefully, I will never have to read another book by Mrs. Kirkpatrick again. (Sorry, all Jane Kirkpactrick fans!) I am sure she has talent, just not the kind of talent I like. God bless her and her writing!