G is for Giveaway

I have a book review scheduled for today, A Comedy of Erinn by Celia Bonaduce. The main characters are Erin and Jude and Massimo. Not a single G in sight. Not even at Valley Forge where a memorable scene takes place. So, I'm going with Giveaway. Read to the end for details. Title: A Comedy of Erinn Author: Celia Bonaduce Category: Contemporary Romance Published: September 19, 2013 by Kensington Rating: 3½ out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository Erinn Wolf needs to reinvent herself. A once celebrated playwright turned photographer, she's almost broke, a little lonely, and tired of her sister's constant worry. When a job on a reality TV show falls into her lap, she's thrilled to be making a paycheck--and when a hot Italian actor named Massimo rents her guesthouse, she's certain her life is getting a romantic subplot. But with the director, brash, gorgeous young Jude, dogging her every step, she can't help but look at herself through his lens--and wonder if...
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B is for Bat

B is for Bat. I recently listened to The Bat by Jo Nesbø and a review follows. The story takes place in Australia, so first I thought I'd talke a bit about bats "down under," large fruit bats actually. In the sandstone caves of Northern Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, there are numerous depictions of flying foxes, some dating back tens of thousands of years.  In The Bat, several Aboriginal stories are referenced but not the one about a confrontation between Tjinimin the Bat God and the Great Rainbow-Snake.  Tjinimin wanted to have sex with the Green Parrot-Girls that were the consorts of Great Rainbow-Snake and of course Great Rainbow-Snake objected to this.  At the end of the story Tjinimin hangs upside-down in a tree to admire the stars and decides never to try having sex with anyone again, whereupon his nose falls off.  Which is why bats have such short faces, apparantly. Flying foxes eat fruit and this has inevitably brought them into...
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A is for Amelia Bedelia

Welcome to A to Z April! I think this is the 3rd year I've participated and I am probably the least prepared this year. On the other hand, I already know what I'm doing for W and Z, two semi-tough letters. When I was thinking about A things, I came up with quite a list - apples, April, avocado, apricot, astronaut, Amelia Earhart, agent. None was really striking me, then I remembered that well-loved character from kids books - Amelia Bedelia. Everyone loves Amelia Bedelia, the literal-minded housekeeper. When she makes a sponge cake, she puts in real sponges. When she weeds the garden, she replants the weeds. And when she pitches a tent, she throws it into the woods. She's wonderful, and so often right, even when she's wrong. It's fun watching her navigate the pitfalls of language. She takes everything literally and when you ask her to do something, she does exactly what you ask her. Kids can be a lot like...
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Review: Witch Interrupted by Jody Wallace

Title: Witch Interrupted (Pack and Coven #2) Author: Jody Wallace Category: Paranormal romance Published: February 24, 2014 from Carina Press Rating: DNF Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon | Audible Two decades ago, assassin Katherine Zhang faked her death to escape the Keepers, a secret council of witches who use magic to kill those who pose a threat to their kind. Once a powerful Keeper, she lives a solitary—but peaceful—life as a tattoo artist. Until a strange, handsome lone wolf named Marcus Delgado walks into her shop. Marcus has his own reasons to hate the Keepers. A scientist who sacrificed himself to test the fragile boundaries between witch and wolf, he believes there's a way to harness the combustible power between the two species. If he succeeds, he'll be protected from the Keepers, but he needs a willing partner—and the delicious Katie just might be the perfect test subject. Katie knows working with a wolf, an adversary she's undeniably attracted to, is a dangerous proposition...no matter how tempting she finds Marcus's...
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Audiobook Review: The Lake Quilt Mystery by S. D. Brown

Title: The Lake Quilt Mystery Author: S. D. Brown Read by: Wendy Pitts Category: Middle school, Mystery Audio published: January 21, 2013 (first published 2009) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon Freedom Lake Resort Gated. Fenced. Remote. Miles from home. Miles from friends. The moment twelve-year-old Kelsey and her mother arrive at Freedom Lake, it's obvious that this is not going to be the kind of resort experience Kelsey expected. Or hoped for. A nurse escorts a girl in a straight-jacket out the back door of their cabin and Kelsey's creeped out. The girl begs Kelsey for help. Mrs. A., the woman who runs the resort, apologizes and explains that the girl hasn't been taking her meds. That's when Kelsey learns there's a private school on the property for girls with "special needs." It's off-limits to resort guests, not that Kelsey would have a reason to go there. At first Kelsey believes Mrs. A. because she has other things to worry about. Like how she will fit...
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Audiobook Review: Moonlighting in Vermont by Kate George

Title: Moonlighting in Vermont (Bree MacGowan Mystery #1) Author: Kate George Read by: Sara Mackie Category: Mystery Audio published: January 21, 2013 (first published 2009) Rating: 2½ out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon Rumor has it that nothing ever happens in small-town Vermont, but for Bella Bree MacGowan, there is no shortage of excitement. She becomes the prime suspect when she finds her boss dead in a pool of blood and can’t convince the officer in charge, hunky Lt. Miles Brooks, that she isn’t capable of murder. Lt. Brooks believes two things: The first is that everyone is capable of murder, and the second is that the simplest solution is usually correct. So when it appears that Bree MacGowan has both motive and opportunity, he’s confident he’s found his killer. Meg Maverick owns the local paper, and Bree’s been her paste-up tech and friend from the beginning. She has no doubt of Bree’s innocence, but she’s worried. If her husband Tom, the captain-in-chief at the local state...
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