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Tag: book tour

  • Working It Out by Rachel Anderson #BookReview

    Working It Out by Rachel Anderson #BookReview








    Working It Out A chance encounter . . . Grace Warren’s life is safe and predictable—exactly the way she likes it. But when she gets roped into going to an auction to help out a friend, everything changes. She meets Seth Tuttle—a guy who unexpectedly kisses her then disappears, leaving her flustered and upset. If she never sees him again, it will be too soon.
    A chance for love . . . Weeks later, when Seth limps into Grace’s rehab clinic post surgery, she immediately recognizes him. Unfortunately, he’s every bit as frustrating and annoying as she remembered. Yet there’s something about him that makes her second-guess her carefully placed boundaries even though he’s everything she’s sure she doesn’t want in a man. But maybe Seth is exactly what Grace has needed all along—assuming she’s willing to risk safe and predictable for a chance at love.  





    Author Rachael Renee Anderson

    Rachael Anderson is the author of five novels (Working It Out, The Reluctant Bachelorette, Minor Adjustments, Luck of the Draw, and Divinely Designed) and two novellas (Twist of Fate, from the All I Want anthology and The Meltdown Match from The Timeless Romance Anthology: Summer Wedding Collection). She’s the mother of four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty parties to their rooms. She can’t sing, doesn’t dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating.

    My Review:  I really enjoyed reading Working It Out. Although this was a quick read, and one full of romance and pure fun, it also made me think. What am I doing in my life, to hinder having some fun? Am I giving excuses to avoid a possible outcome, or do I really try to live my life to the fullest?  Rachel took some sensitive subject with disabilities, but also a true fear of “what may happen” and turned them into positive outcomes. After reading Working It Out, I’m actually almost inspired to go book a paintball date with Mark. We’ve never done something like that, mostly because I worry – What if it hurts? What if I look like a fool? What if..?

    Blog Tour Special Price Drop!
    Grab a copy of Working it Out for just $2.99!

    Blog Tour Giveaway

    $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
    Ends 9/10/13

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • Osteoblasts to the Rescue #BookTour

    Osteoblasts to the Rescue #BookTour

    Osteoblasts cover Osteoblasts to the Rescue

     

    Merrin and Pearl are at it again! This time these two young Human Body Detectives are exploring the skeletal system.
    With the ability to jump in and examine the various systems in the body, Merrin and Pearl’s adventures are fun stories and helpful tools to educate children.
    In Osteoblasts to the Rescue, Merrin and Pearl navigate their friend, Lily’s, broken arm and learn all about bones.
    As the fourth in The Human Body Detectives series, Osteoblasts to the Rescue can also stand alone as a book that’s sure to inform, engage, and inspire readers of all ages.


    heather m  

     

    Author Heather Manley, N.D.

    I have always been passionate about healthy foods and exercising. Growing up in Toronto, Canada I would exhaust my allowance at the health food store and write school papers on spices and herbs. It was no wonder I found myself studying biology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. I loved animals as well so I initially focused on wildlife conservation and animal biology, however, with some exposure to naturopathic medicine, this health care philosophy rang true for me. I switched to pre-med and I graduated in 1993. I earned my doctorate at the from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon before moving with my family to Hawaii where I became licensed and continue to practice today.

    Everything I learned in medschool came into fruition when my children were born. I realized the importance of teaching them, by example, about healthy food and lifestyle. Telling them what to eat was not enough, so I created and wrote educational adventure stories that explain the physiological systems in the body. Not only did my kids love the engaging and interactive stories but so did their friends.

    I love seeing kids have fun learning to understand their bodies and how food helps them run faster and be smarter. My focus is on preventative health. I am passionate about encouraging families to seek the value of a simple lifestyle and offering tools to assist them at being proactive and confident in their daily living. I am constantly inspired seeing people make positive changes in their lives. With my website, I am excited to reach more families in a way that will manifest healthy living.

     

    My Thoughts  I was pleasantly surprised by Osteoblasts to the Rescue. I haven’t read the previous books in the Human Body Detectives series, but I definitely want to now. I read this with my 6 and 5 year old. The 6 year old kept her attention, and stopped to ask me different questions on what this meant or that meant, when different bones were mentioned. I felt we got a pretty good layout of the upper human body while reading this, but the best benefit was that my kids got to learn a little something without even realizing it!  Our 5 year old, who paid a little less attention, did have a lot of fun going back through the book to find all the hiding Osteoblasts.  We’ll for sure be adding the rest of the series to our home library so we can continue to learn with the Human Body Detectives!

    Buy It

    *This is an affiliate link. By clicking on it, and purchasing from the site, you are helping Home Maid Simple grow. Thank you*

    *I was provided with a copy of the book for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*
  • For What It’s Worth by Karey White {Blog Tour}

    For What It’s Worth by Karey White {Blog Tour}

    Tour Schedule

     
    Thanks for stopping by Home Maid Simple on the For What It’s Worth Blog Tour. Click on the above banner for the whole tour schedule.
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    For What It’s Worth by Karey White

    Twenty-four year-old, Abby Benson has dreams of owning her own wedding cake shop. An inheritance from her aunt gives her the ability to make those dreams come true. She hires Dane, a handsome contractor, to help her get the bakery up and running and soon they’re moving toward their own happy ending.

    Unsure what to charge for her cakes, Abby has a crazy idea to let the customer decide what they think their cake is worth. This plan has its ups and downs, but the novelty of the idea makes her a local celebrity. When she is interviewed on television about the unusual idea, business booms and Abby has cake adventures she never dreamed possible. But as her fame grows, Abby is swept up in a whirlwind that threatens everything she values. With the challenges that face her, will she be able to determine what is worth the most?

    Book Trailer

    My Thoughts
    I am a sucker for all things romantic. So a clean book about wedding cakes with a romance blooming on the side, right up my alley.  I loved the detail the author took to describe the remodeling of the home into a bakery, the different outfits Abby wore, and the beautiful cakes. So many books go overboard in their descriptions of the small details, but Karey has taken just enough time for you to picture it all in your mind, and continue with the story.

    I just love that there are recipes included. I’m a big fan of novels with recipes included. Each chapter begins with a new recipe.  We even tried out the Pumpkin and mini chocolate chip Mufiins.  I do think a little more editing needed to happen with the recipes. Some were a bit hard to follow, or were missing ingredients, that were mentioned in the directions. For example the muffins direction asked me to dredge the raisins in flour…but there were no raisins in the ingredients list…so we left that step out.  Nothing big, and since I do a lot of baking I was able to pull some together pretty nicely.  The kids are enjoying them for breakfast right now, actually.

    Purchase

    Author Karey White

    Karey White grew up in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Missouri. She attended Ricks College and Brigham Young University. Her first novel, Gifted, was a Whitney Award Finalist.

    She loves to travel, read, bake treats, and spend time with family and friends. She and her husband are the parents of four great children. She teaches summer creative writing courses to young people and is currently working on her next book.

    Links

    Blog Tour Giveaway
    $25 Amazon Gift Card + A Copy of For What It’s Worth
    Paperback available to US only, Ebook Available Internationally

    Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent’s permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

  • Author Kimball Fisher’s Top 10 Christmas Books {Blog Tour}

    Author Kimball Fisher’s Top 10 Christmas Books {Blog Tour}

    Thanks for stopping by Home Maid Simple in the Finding the Baby Jesus blog tour!
    I had the opportunity to ask the Author for a Top Ten List.
    Since the theme is obviously Christmas, I wanted to know Mr Fisher’s Top Ten Christmas Book List.
    Here it is!
     
    1 – A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens). Best Christmas book ever. Tiny Tim, Scrooge, and the Spirits of Christmas.
    2 – The Night Before Christmas (Clement Clarke Moore). Of course! Not even mice were stirring.
    3 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Dr. Seuss). From a modern genius of both word and illustration.
    4 – Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Robert L. May). For the kids. Old ones, too.
    5 – The Little Match Girl (Hans Christian Anderson). Look for the volume illustrated by Rachel Isadora.
    6 – Nutcracker (E.T.A. Hoffman). The story that inspired Tchaikovsky’s ballet.
    7 – The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg). Haunting words and illustrations. Modern classic.
    8 – Louisa May Alcott’s Christmas Treasury. Charming stories from the author of Little Women.
    9 – The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson). A personal favorite and one of the inspirations for FINDING THE BABY JESUS. My wife and I loved this story, which although shorter than many, was always too long to read out loud in a single evening. I wrote FINDING to be read in a single sitting (even with most wiggly children).
    10 – The Christmas Box (Richard Paul Evans). A fairly recent feel-good story.
     
    Thank you so much Mr Fisher for sharing your favorite Christmas stories with us, and giving us one more to add to our list!

    Finding the Baby Jesus by Kimball Fisher

    After being forced to wear lederhosen for the annual holiday card picture, twelve-year-old Chris thinks that the least his parents can do is get him the Tony Hawk skateboard he wants for Christmas. But when he recovers the hand-carved Baby Jesus that everyone thought had been destroyed in a fire the year his Grandma died, Chris realizes that some gifts are even more important than skateboards.

    When the author had to discontinue a cherished tradition of reading Christmas stories out loud with his family and holiday guests each week in December, he wrote Finding the Baby Jesus. He had been unable to locate enough meaningful stories that could be read in a single sitting with wiggly children.

    Purchase

    Author Kimball Fisher

    Kimball Fisher writes novels for young readers. He is also a best-selling business author, professional speaker, and management consultant. Some of his past jobs include: sailboat builder, ghost writer (not as scary as it sounds), illustrator, and factory manager (more scary than it sounds). For fun he builds furniture, stained-glass windows, and writing pens.

    He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities (with minors in English, Asian Studies, and Japanese), and a Master of Organizational Behavior degree from Brigham Young University. He and his amazing wife Reenie live in Portland, Oregon, where they have seen pheasants, coyotes, and a bobcat in their own backyard.

    Links
    Book Blast

    Tour Giveaway:
    $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
    Ends 12/26/12

    Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent’s permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

  • A Writers Workspace {Guest Post by Author Bekka Black}

    A Writers Workspace {Guest Post by Author Bekka Black}

    Welcome to Home Maid Simple’s stop on the iFrankenstein book tour! I am lucky to have author Bekka Black here. In an attempt to keep with this blogs theme of home, I asked Ms Black to tell us about her workspace!
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    I don’t have an office, or maybe it’s more true to say that I have many offices. I’ve had offices before, of course, from gray fabric cubicles in Silicon Valley to a blue desk with a 360 degree view of the ocean in Hawaii. But I’ve found that my best work gets done elsewhere.

    When I’m at home, everything is my problem. Sound of breaking glass? Better investigate. Laundry piling up? Better fold it. Plaintive voice calling “Mom!” Better administer hugs.

    So, I run away to cafés where nothing is my problem but my work. Sound of breaking glass? Someone else will have to sweep that up. Laundry piling up? Not here. Plaintive voice calling “Mom!” Not my kid (although I look every time anyway).

    This means I have to carry everything in my purse that I need to write. Here’s what I have: a Netbook computer because it’s light, a cell phone because there are things that need to distract me and I can check my email on it if the café doesn’t have Internet, a notebook and pen because I can’t imagine not having those even though I mostly take notes on my phone now, earphones in case people get noisy, and reading glasses. That’s it. With these items I’ve written novels in cafés, on planes, in cars, at airports. Everywhere can be my office.

    But my favorite office is a nice café. One that has a good view of the street so I can people watch when I’m thinking. One where the staff leaves me alone after I order and doesn’t ever check to see how I’m doing. One where the music isn’t too loud. One where the customers chatter, but don’t start fights with each other. One where there are always a couple of empty tables so I don’t feel guilty sitting there taking up space from paying customers. One with a good chai tea.

    Luckily, I’ve found places like that all over the world. In fact, I’m writing this in one now.
    What’s your favorite place to work?
     
     


    After a childhood often spent without electricy and running water, Bekka escaped the beautiful wilderness of Talkeetna, Alaska for indoor plumbing and 24/7 electricity in Berlin, Germany. Used to the cushy lifestyle, she discovered the Internet in college and has been wasting time on it ever since (when not frittering away her time on her iPhone). Somehow, she manages to write novels, including the award-winning Hannah Vogel mystery series set, in all places, 1930s Berlin, and The Blood Gospel series (with James Rollins).
    She lives in Berlin with her husband, son, two cats, and too many geckoes to count. iDrakula is her first cell phone novel.

     
     
     

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    Frankenstein comes to life for the wired generation.
    Following her critically-acclaimed iDrakula, award-winning author Bekka Black breathes life into a modern re-telling of iFrankenstein, using only text messages, web browsers, tweets, and emails. Homeschooled teenager Victor Frankenstein is determined to write his own ticket to independence: a chatbot to win the prestigious Turing prize and admission to the high tech university of his choice. He codes his creation with a self-extending version of his own online personality and unleashes it upon the internet. But soon he begins to suspect his virtual clone may have developed its own goals, and they are not aligned with Victor’s. The creature has its own plan, fed by a growing desire to win darker and more precious prizes: unfettered power and release from loneliness.
    As the creature’s power and sentience grows and its increasingly terrible deeds bleed over from the online world into the real one, Victor must stop his creation before his friends and humanity pay the ultimate price.

    You can follow Bekka Black by social media on the following platforms
    Website
    Twitter
    Facebook
    Goodreads

     
  • The Reluctant Bachelorette {Blog Tour & Giveaway}

    The Reluctant Bachelorette {Blog Tour & Giveaway}

     
    I am so excited to be a part of this Blog Tour with Kathy from I am a Reader Not a Writer!
    I’ve been following and reading Rachel Anderson’s blog (author of the book) for awhile now, and just fell in love with her writing. This is the first book I’ve read of hers, and now I get to share it with you!
     
    The Reluctant Bachelorette
    by Rachel Anderson
    About the Book: Unknowingly cast as the bachelorette for her town’s charity event, Taycee Emerson wants out.  Especially when she discovers her old teenage crush, Luke Carney, is one of the bachelors and it’s up to the viewers – not her – to decide which bachelors stay or go
    Coerced into participating, Taycee does what any self-preserving girl would do. She launches a subtle attack on Luke’s good name with the hope of getting him voted off the show.  Unfortunately, Luke’s an eye-for-an-eye kind of guy, and when he discovers what she’s up to, it means revenge.
    But when their pranks go south, will they screw up any chance they have at a future together, or will they be able to forgive and forget and prove that love really does conquer all?
     
    About the Author: Rachael Anderson is the author of four books: Divinely Designed, Luck of the
    Draw, Minor Adjustments, and The Reluctant Bachelorette. She’s the mother of
    four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty
    parties to their rooms. She can’t sing, doesn’t dance, and despises tragedies.
    But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread,
    which she is really good at eating.
    Connect with Rachel on
     
    My Thoughts:  I fell in love with this book. I even started to fall in love with one of the bachelors! If you enjoy watching the popular television show “The Bachelorette” you will most definately love this book.  Rachel pulls this book together in a real life, believable way!  The whole setting of this book feels like my small town – farmers, one little diner, and the cutest little flower shop ever! So reading The Reluctant Bachelorette was like reading about my own town. It also rekindled my desire to make flower arrangements (thanks Rachel!).
    If you’ve ever had a dream to be more, do more, or you can’t get “that guy’s” face out of your mind, you should read this book!  It’s lighthearted humor, real to life situations, and the search of true love, make this the perfect book to cozy up to with a mug of hot cocoa and warming fire this fall.
     
     
    Right now Rachel is offering the ebook for only 99cents!! You can purchase the ebook HERE or a paperback copy HERE
     
    Now time for the Giveaway!!!
     
    Grand Prize
    Print Copy of the Reluctant Bachelorette
    $15 Amazon Gift Card
    copy of the DVD Sneakers (US Only)
     
    1 Winner
    Print Copy of The Reluctant Bachelorette
     
    3 Winners
    Kindle Ebook copy of The Reluctant Bachelorette