Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Book Tour Excerpt & Giveaway: Boots and Bedlam by Ashley Farley


On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

Boots and Bedlam (Sweeney Sisters #3)
Boots and Bedlam
(Sweeney Sisters #3)
by Ashley Farley
Women's Fiction, Romance
Paperback & ebook, 166 pages
October 18th 2016

‘Tis the season for chaos.

Wedding bells will soon be ringing in the Lowcountry. All Sam Sweeney wants is to marry her man on Christmas Eve surrounded by family and friends. But emerging complications, some humorous and some not so humorous, threaten to converge and derail the best-laid plans during the busy stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Amidst the chaos—dealing with real estate, planning a wedding, running a seafood market, honoring traditions, and contending with teenagers—even the weather rears its head when the weatherman forecasts a white Christmas. Never has family support been more needed, but will it be enough to restore order and save the day?

Escape to the Lowcountry this Christmas where romance, intrigue, and holiday merrymaking await you.


Book Trailer


Excerpt 

Maybe I can convince him to stay home, order a pizza, and watch football. What man doesn’t want to watch the college teams play their big rivals?
Wishful thinking. She stripped off her clothes and stepped in the shower. She’d seen the determined set of his jaw. He had something up his sleeve.
Despite Eli’s insistence that she hurry, she took extra time with her appearance, styling her short hair and applying a touch of makeup—a swipe of clear gloss to her rosy lips and a hint of blush to her pale cheeks. She slipped on her one pair of designer jeans and a white silky blouse that clung to her slight figure before tugging on her cowboy boots.
When she emerged from her bedroom twenty minutes later, Eli was waiting for her in the hallway. “Turn around and place your hands against the wall.”
“Ooh . . . I like the sound of that. Are you planning to frisk me, Officer?”
“No, ma'am. I'm placing you under arrest.” After a quick pat down, he covered her eyes with a blindfold. “You’ll need this. It’s cold outside.” The familiar weight of her Barbour coat cocooned her body.
“I guess this means we can’t stay home and watch football.”
“No football tonight. Sorry.” He spun her around and fastened something cold and hard, which she assumed were handcuffs, around her wrists.
“What exactly do you have in mind for me tonight, Lt. Marshall?”
“You'll have to wait and see.” He scooped her off her feet and carried her outside to the car—her Jeep judging from the squeaky passenger door and the smell of mildew inside.
“Where are we going?” she asked when he set her down on the seat.
“Stop asking so many questions. You'll find out when we get there,” he said, and slammed the door.
Sam kept track of the number of turns and the time in between each one. When she felt a bump and the crunch of gravel beneath the wheels, she guesstimated they were on the waterfront somewhere close to her younger sister Faith’s house. The Jeep rolled to a stop, the engine grew silent, and the driver’s door opened and closed. Seconds later Eli was at her side, gripping her arm tight as she climbed out. He removed the handcuffs and untied the bandanna from her head. She rubbed her wrists and blinked her eyes until they adjusted to the scene in front of her.

Other Books in the Series

Her Sister's Shoes (Sweeney Sisters #1)
Her Sister's Shoes
(Sweeney Sisters #1)
by Ashley Farley
Women's Fiction, Romance
Paperback & ebook, 380 pages
June 24th 2015

Set in the South Carolina Lowcountry and packed with Southern charm and memorable characters, HER SISTER'S SHOES portrays three sisters—Samantha, Jackie, and Faith—who struggle to balance the demands of career and family while remaining true to themselves.

Samantha Sweeney has always been the glue that holds her family together, their go-to girl for love and support. When an ATV accident leaves her teenage son in a wheelchair, she loses her carefully constructed self-control.

In the after-gloom of her dreaded fiftieth birthday and the discovery of her husband’s infidelity, Jackie realizes she must reconnect with her former self to find the happiness she needs to move forward.

Faith lacks the courage to stand up to her abusive husband. She turns to her sisters for help, placing all their lives at risk.

In the midst of their individual challenges, the Sweeney sisters must cope with their mother’s mental decline. Is Lovie in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, or is her odd behavior normal for a woman her age? No one, including Lovie, understands her obsession with a rusty key she wears around her neck.

For fans of Elin Hildebrand, HER SISTER'S SHOES is a contemporary women’s novel that explores and proves the healing power of family.


Lowcountry Stranger (Sweeney Sisters #2)
Lowcountry Stranger
(Sweeney Sisters #2)
by Ashley Farley
Women's Fiction, Romance
Paperback & ebook, 284 pages
July 1st 2016

Family Drama, Southern Style.
There's a stranger in town. And it’s no coincidence when she shows up uninvited at a Sweeney family wedding. All eyes are drawn to this urchin who seems to have washed in with the tide. Before the night is over, the doe-eyed waif charms young and old with her street smarts and spunky personality. For better or worse, Annie Dawn is here to stay.

The memorable Sweeney sisters from Her Sister’s Shoes have returned with more suspense and family drama to hold you spellbound until the dramatic conclusion. As she approaches the next stage of her life as an empty nester, Jackie is torn between expanding her fledgling design business and spending these last precious months with her boys before they fly the coop. Her own worst enemy, Sam is terrified of making a commitment to Eli Marshall, handsome police officer, true love of her life. Her resolve is tested when a ghost from her past shows up after nearly two decades. Faith nurtures her seven-year-old daughter who is recovering from the trauma of her abusive father. Is the threat in the past, or is there more danger on the horizon? The sisters seek guidance from their mother, Lovie, a true Southern matriarch who shows them how to respond to adversity with grace and dignity.

Things are heating up in the Lowcountry. The Sweeney sisters remind us, once again, that being a part of a family is about more than sharing the same DNA.


Ashley Farley is the author of the bestselling series, the Sweeney Sisters Series. Ashley writes books about women for women. Her characters are mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives facing real-life issues. Her goal is to keep you turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. If her story stays with you long after you've read the last word, then she's done her job.

After her brother died in 1999 of an accidental overdose, she turned to writing as a way of releasing her pent-up emotions. She wrote SAVING BEN in honor of Neal, the boy she worshiped, the man she could not save.

Ashley is a wife and mother of two college-aged children. She grew up in the salty marshes of South Carolina, but now lives in Richmond, Virginia, a city she loves for its history and traditions.

Ashley loves to hear from her readers. Feel free to visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ashleywfarley or twitter.com/ashleywfarley.

Tour Schedule

November 9th: Launch
November 16th: Grand Finale

Tour Giveaway

1 winner to receive a $25 Amazon eGift Card & choice of a Sweeney Sisters ebook
2 winners to receive choice of a Sweeney Sisters ebook
Open internationally
Ends November 21st
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Review & Giveaway: To Win a Lady's Heart by Sian Ann Bessey


Heidi Reads... To Win a Lady's Heart by Sian Ann Bessey

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing

http://www.amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.comhttp://www.barnesandnoble.comhttps://deseretbook.com/p/to-win-a-lady-s-heart?autocomplete=true&variant_id=147124-paperbackhttp://www.goodreads.com

Synopsis

For eighteen years, Lord Gilbert has been tortured over a grievous lapse in judgment. Bitterness has tainted his interactions with the people of Moreland and his relationship with his only daughter, Lady Joanna. With a wolfhound guarding her around the clock and no freedom to leave the castle grounds unattended, the only time Lady Joanna can be alone is when she sneaks out through an old castle tunnel to visit the healer Agnes in her cottage by the sea. One morning as Lady Joanna approaches the cliffs, she discovers an injured man. She immediately goes to Agnes for help. The wounded stranger is Sir Lukas, and while he recovers, he makes plans to identify his attackers and their motive. Upon learning that Moreland’s wool has been stolen, Sir Lukas comes to believe that the crimes are related and point to a much more sinister plot. When Lord Gilbert announces an archery tournament, the prize being Lady Joanna’s hand in marriage, it attracts noblemen from across the land, and suddenly Sir Lukas’s pursuit of the villains takes a different turn. As Lady Joanna’s and Sir Lukas’s feelings for each other grow, the stakes soar, and only Sir Lukas’s skill with a longbow can save them.

My Review

A wonderful cast of characters give heart to this medieval tale of loyalty and betrayal. I loved Lady Joanna's compassion for the peasants in her father's land, and her determination to champion their cause since they couldn't for themselves. Her secret relationship with Agnes and the two young men Agnes cares for proves to be beneficial when they come to her aid as the kingdom seems to be falling apart. The arrival of Lukas was timely as he helps solve the mystery of the stolen wool and reveal the culprits who are behind the plot to rob Joanna's father of everything. His goodness shines through in his kindness and devotion to Joanna, and I was rooting for him to win the tournament and her heart. Lord Gilbert's loyal knight Sir Edwyn was a steadying influence in Joanna's life as a father figure and his connection to Lukas brought the story full circle. This is a book that will be enjoyed by fans of Melanie Dickerson and I highly recommend it for both young adults and adults.

Gratitude Giveaway Hop! Enter to win The Ringmaster's Wife by Kristy Cambron!



Happy Thanksgiving! I am grateful for the opportunity to read so many wonderful books and share my thoughts with you. Thank you for the support you give when you follow my blog! This is an easy giveaway to enter- just leave a comment with a book you are grateful to have read recently and a way that you follow Heidi Reads... (And be sure to submit your entry in the Giveaway Tools widget below) 

I'm giving away a copy of an amazing book I read and loved this year, The Ringmaster's Wife by Kristy Cambron. Read my 5 star review here...


http://www.goodreads.com

Synopsis

What is revealed when you draw back the curtain of the Greatest Show on Earth?

Rosamund Easling is no stranger to opulence. As the daughter of an earl, she’s grown up with every comfort money can buy. But when hard times befall the family’s Yorkshire estate in the aftermath of the Great War, Rosamund’s father sells her beloved horse, setting the stage for a series of events that would extend beyond even her wildest dreams.

Though expected to marry for a title instead of love, Rosamund feels called to a different life – one of adventure outside the confines of a ladies’ parlor. She abandons all she’s known and follows in pursuit as her horse is shipped to the new owner – an American entertainer by the name of John Ringling. Once introduced to the Ringling Brothers’ circus and knowing she has much to learn, Rosamund agrees to a bareback riding apprenticeship in the shadow of the Ringlings’ winter home—Ca’D’Zan. It is at that mansion, in what would become the last days of the enigmatic Mable Ringling’s life, that Rosamund finds a deeper sense of purpose in the life she’s been given, and the awakening of faith in her heart.

With a supporting cast of characters as mysterious and dazzling as the Ringlings’ big-top world, Rosamund’s journey takes her from the tradition of the English countryside to the last days of America’s Roaring ‘20s—a journey that forever changes what one life might have been.




Monday, November 14, 2016

Pre-order Taste of Home by Annette Lyon!



http://amzn.to/2eU7dx8
I loved this sweet romantic novella, it's perfect for holiday reading!

http://www.amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.comhttp://www.goodreads.com

Synopsis

From USA TODAY bestselling author Annette Lyon comes an enchanting Christmas novella: Claire Jennings is headed home to spend Christmas with her family, riding the train with Will Rhodes, who grew up across the street. He may be twenty-one now, but she can’t forget his torturous teasing from their school years. At the rail station, Claire learns that her home is under quarantine because her little brother has measles. She’s stuck in town, away from her family, on her favorite holiday. Will stays behind with her, and as Christmas Day approaches and her homesickness deepens, she discovers that perhaps he has changed in more ways than one.

A TASTE OF HOME was first published in the SILVER BELLS COLLECTION from TIMELESS ROMANCE ANTHOLOGIES.