Showing posts with label Fairy tales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fairy tales. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

A Royal Wedding review and giveaway

 

To purchase your copy, click here.

About the Book




 



Genre: Christian Romance/Christmas

 



Release Date: October 18, 2016

 



Book Format: Paperback & Ebook

 



Avery Truitt aches for true love—the kind she once shared with Prince Colin. Can she dare to hope for happily ever after, or is a fairy-tale ending beyond reach?



College volleyball star Avery Truitt has not seen her former flame, Prince Colin of Brighton Kingdom, since he suddenly pushed her away five years ago. But now, the sadness of losing her father and the joy of her sister Susanna’s pregnancy have brought Avery back to Brighton just in time for Cathedral City’s enchanting Christmas season.



Avery knows she can’t avoid seeing Colin—now the Kingdom’s most eligible bachelor—whether or not her heart is ready to relive the pain. But seeing him again might bring her the closure she needs after all this time.



When Colin finds himself at the center of a centuries-old Brighton tradition, he must decide whether to follow the path laid out before him or follow his heart to the only woman for whom he would ring the Pembroke Chapel Bell.



Can Colin convince Avery to meet him at the chapel on Christmas morning—as tradition dictates—or will Avery run back to her St. Simons home and pursue a coaching career as planned?



In the fourth installment of the Royal Wedding Series, New York Times bestselling novelist, Rachel Hauck, weaves a charming story of holiday romance as two broken hearts seek the love they once knew.


My thoughts: I love this series! I think that there is something in most of us that just enjoys a good fairy tale with princes and princesses. The story of Avery and Colin may very well be my favorite out of the series to date, since I loved the old tradition of the bell being rung as a proposal and how the history ties into the story of a modern day couple. This one is such a fun book to read this holiday season! I highly recommend it.
I received this book from Celebrate Lit in exchange for my honest review.



About the Author


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Rachel Hauck is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling, and award-winning author.



A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, Rachel worked in the corporate software world before planting her backside in an uncomfortable chair to write full-time in 2004.



She serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and leads worship at their annual conference. She is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, and conference speaker.



Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pets, and writes from her two-story tower in an exceedingly more comfy chair. She is a huge Buckeyes football fan.



Guest Post from Rachel Hauck


I don’t think we can ever get enough of royals or Christmas, do you? The two just seem to go together.



The Bible tells us eternity is written on our hearts. (Ecc. 3:11) I wonder if it’s also written on our hearts to be princesses in a grand, beautiful, perfect kingdom.



That being said, welcome to The Royal Christmas Wedding blog tour. My deepest thanks to all the bloggers, reviewers, and readers for hosting and visiting this tour. I’m excited to share this story with you all.



The hero and heroine, Prince Colin and Avery Truitt, first met in Once Upon A Prince at King Nathaniel’s coronation.



I hadn’t planned to write a spinoff story with the two of them. In fact, I didn’t even know Prince Colin existed until Avery walked into the abbey for the coronation and glanced across the sanctuary into his eyes.



Here’s his introduction:

 



Lean, aristocratic with an outdoorsman ruddiness, he nearly made Susanna swoon when he winked at Avery.



I liked Colin immediately. So did Avery. As well as a lot of you.



When my publisher asked me to write their story, it would be two years before the book would release. Plenty of time, right?



But “time crunch” is the name of the game with most writers. Between life, rewrites, edits, and promotional activity, we often find ourselves hurrying toward a deadline. Well, at least I do.



In the fall of 2015 I was writing The Wedding Shop and A Royal Christmas Wedding at the same time.



I’d also dealt with a physical issue that left me shaky. Could I write two books in five months? Did I want to even make the attempt?



If I said no, publication dates would be pushed out, causing a year delay on A Royal Christmas Wedding. And I knew that was something I did not want to do.



Publishing is a long game. Books are contracted and due 12 to 18, even 24 months, before release dates. Time must be carved out for rewrites and editing, marketing and promotion. Review copies go out at least five months in advance.



So I agreed to write both books. I told my editor, “Diamonds come from pressure.”



Coming up with Avery and Prince Colin’s story wasn’t as easy as I’d planned. Since they met in Once Upon A Prince as teenagers, I struggled with how to advance their age and relationship, and how to present them as the book opened.



Where had their relationship gone “between the books?”



When I came up with the idea of the Pembroke Chapel bell, the story magic began to happen. One of the things I love in the royal wedding books is the fairytale aspect. Looking for something out of the ordinary.



Even though my writing time was tight, writing Avery and Colin’s story was a joy. Once again I wish I could visit Brighton, eat a puff, and royal watch for the Strattons!



I hope you found a few sweet spots in the story, all wrapped in Christmas holiday cheer, and enjoyed your time with me in Brighton Kingdom.



Merry Christmas!



Blog Stops

 

December 9: Book by Book
December 10: Pause for Tales
December 11: Quiet Quilter
December 12: Splashes of Joy
December 13: Neverending Stories
December 14: The Power of Words
December 14: Counting Pinecones
December 15: Genesis 5020
December 15: CTF Devourer
December 16: Lighthouse Academy
December 17: God is Love
December 17: A Simple Life, really?!
December 18: A Holland Reads
December 18: The Scribbler
December 19: By The Book
December 19: Karen Sue Hadley
December 19: Southern Chelle
December 20: Faithfully Bookish
December 21: ASC Book Reviews

Giveaway


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To celebrate her tour, Rachel is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card plus a copy of A Royal Christmas Wedding and a copy of The Wedding Shop. Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post to earn 9 extra entries in the giveaway!
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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

The Beauty Series


Beauty for Ashes: Jazz is being forced to move and her mom has given her a major task to accomplish. She has to pack up the attic. What Jazz finds in the attic changes her life in ways she never imagined, and opens her up to life altering possibilities.

Monstrous Beauty: Ethan’s father was a piece of work, to put it mildly. His father managed to become quite wealthy before he died, yet he left Ethan deeply damaged in more ways than one. Can the love and care of a strange young woman with a past of her own free him, or is he doomed to never change?

My thoughts: I enjoyed both of these re-tellings of fairy tales! I am drawn to fairy tales, so I was thrilled to have the chance to pick these stories up and read through them. While I enjoyed both stories, I think I especially liked the second book, since it is a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, which is one of my favorites from childhood (honestly, it is probably the library and the fact that Belle was bookish that drew me in as a kid!). Carol does a wonderful job of drawing the reader in. I look forward to seeing which fairy tale she picks next!
I received these books through Celebrate Lit in exchange for my honest review.

Carol Keen currently resides in Alabama with her husband and family. She spends her time writing, reading, working on photography, and working with her much loved critters. She started creating stories to share with others at the age of two years old. She was published for several years in FAMA magazine (Freshwater And Marine Aquarium) as a contributing editor. She published her first book on CD, called Simply Seahorses. She is overjoyed to be publishing her fiction to share with you now. Carol currently has more books in the “works”. Please feel free to follow her for updates.

Can you believe it? I’m on my second tour with Celebrate Lit! Wow! I’m floored and happy and close to tears too. I have to say a HUGE thank you to Sandy and Denise for their encouragement and patience and help.



Today we are talking about my first series, The Beauty Series. The first book, Beauty For Ashes is the very first published fiction book that I have released. It started out as a contest entry. When it didn’t make the winning selection, I expanded it and had several trusted people read it. It was well received over all, and so I braved the scary world of navigation Amazon and published it.



Beauty For Ashes is based on Cinderella, and it was a challenge to write. I had always had some questions about why certain things weren’t covered in that story, so in my version, I added them. I answered my unanswered questions. I also have always felt that Cinderella had to be Christian to survive what she did and still be who she was.



My third published book is the second book in this series, and one of my favorite fairytales of all time. Monstrous Beauty is based on Beauty and the Beast. As with Beauty For Ashes, I always felt a “back story” to what drove the Beast was missing. In this version I have added all that, as well as having other answers to why “Beauty” was in this situation to start with. How would either of them relied on God to get through their situations?



 I had a lot of fun writing Monstrous Beauty, and I’m looking forward to the next book I plan to write in this series.



Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure, and please feel free to ask questions!



Blessings, Carol :)



Blog Stops

August 14: Back Porch Reads
August 15: Pause for Tales
August 17: A Greater Yes
August 24: ArtisticNobody

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Carol is giving away three ebook copies of the Beauty Series with bookmark. Enter the giveaway here: https://promosimple.com/ps/a180
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Friday, July 29, 2016

Rise and Shine


Shannon Malone thought she’d found her happy ending when she married Edmund Ridgeway, but a diving accident on their honeymoon left her in a coma. Waking up to the news that she’s thirty years old would have been daunting enough . . . but she also learns that Edmund has lost his interim battle with cancer and the world has marched on without her. Her gorgeous doctor, Daniel Petros, seems to know everything about her and becomes Shannon’s tour guide into a whole new world of madness where reality television has taken over the planet and everyone’s life appears to revolve around a tiny screen on their cell phones!

As Shannon struggles to navigate through the changes—both in the world and in her—she also must discern real memories from imagined ones. Did she really ever wear capris pants and entertain in her living room, or was that Laura Petrie from her favorite classic TV show' And where is her beloved dog, Freeway' Oh, wait! That was Jonathan and Jennifer Hart’s dog, not hers.

Shannon’s three elderly aunts flit through her life in true Sleeping Beauty style with her well-being always a priority. And Edmund’s sister Millicent descends like the Evil Queen she is, trying to extract Shannon from any claim on the Ridgeway family fortune. When a tornado moves through town and Shannon is knocked unconscious, will Daniel’s kiss awaken her once and for all'

My thoughts: This us such a cute story! I love retellings of fairy tales, so I had fun reading this book. Sandra does a fun job of bringing the story of Sleeping Beauty to life, with a modern twist. So much could change in ten years! I loved reading about Shannon and how she handled those changes.
I received this book from Moody in exchange for my honest review.
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