Queen of the Waves
By Janice Thompson
Publisher: Summerside
ISBN: 978-1609366865
Pub. Date: October 1, 2012
Pages: 336
Blog Tour Links: http://litfusegroup.com/campaigns/american-tapestries-thompson
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/e0YHw

Review: 

I've always been interested in the RMS Titanic every since I watched the Robert Ballad special in the 1980s. My parents bought me every book that came out on the ship. I lost interest in it when the bloated and overrated 1997 Titanic came out to theaters. This year marked the 100th anniversary since the Titanic sunk and many books have been released about the famous ship. I bought a few of the fiction books that came out earlier this year, but I haven't had time read them yet. When I saw that Queen of the Waves was available to review through Litfuse Publicity Group, I eagerly signed up for it.

Queen of Waves is part of the An American Tapestry series and involves a spoiled rich young woman, Jacqueline Abingdon, who is in love with her family's gardener, Peter Bowen, but her father wants her to marry the wealthy Roland Palmer. Jacqueline makes plans to runaway and to marry Peter. She is supposed to be on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, but she gives her ticket to a poor English girl, Tessa Bowen. Tessa will take her identity on the ship while Peter and she can exchange their vows and start their life together without her father ever knowing.

Where the Trail Ends
By Melanie Dobson
Publisher: Summerside Press
ISBN: 978-1609366858
Pub. Date: October 1, 2012
Pages: 336
Blog Tour Link: http://litfusegroup.com/campaigns/american-tapestries-dobson
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/e0YC2

Review:

The year is 1842 and the Waldron family is on the Oregon Trail trying to reach Willamette Valley before winter arrives. Mr. Waldron tells his family that the Willamette Valley is the Land of Milk and honey, and that he would build them a home of their dreams. They barely escaped the fall's deadly thunderstorms and the wrath of the wild animals, but they might die of hunger and thirst before arriving at their destination.

The book focuses mostly on the daughter Samantha Waldron, who is extremely close to her little brother, Micah. When the family tries to cross the Columbia River, a violent storm erupts above them causing the river to become out of control. Samantha and Micah are saved by Lord Alexander Clarke and brings them to Fort Vancouver. Micah is just fine and plays with the other children living at the Fort, but Samantha takes several days to recover. The only thing Samantha has left is her little brother Micah.

Alexander helps Samantha by giving her a job as the school teacher. There are many single soldiers stationed there and Alexander makes sure none of the men make an uncalled advanced toward Samantha, whose heart now belongs to him anyway. Just as the two start to become close, a ship from England arrives to take Alexander back home.

Suddenly, Micah goes missing. Who will help Samantha find her little brother?

Guest Host this week is: http://soonrememberedtales.blogspot.com/

Question: Banned Books Week ends on the 6th. How do you feel about books being challenged to be banned from libraries or schools? Have you read any banned books?

My Answer: 
I can understand schools banning books that contain strong sexual content and questionable materials, but I don't think public libraries should. I recall Judy Blume's books being banned from libraries. Are her books any worse than the countless harlequin paperbacks that libraries carry?

I'm surprised that our government hasn't created a rating system for books, where you have to be over a certain age to check out a book with explicit content.

Do we really need to ban the books that the people want to read?

Welcome to the world of independent publishing.

The great news is that virtually everyone has an inexpensive avenue to share their work with the world.

The awful news is that virtually everyone has an inexpensive avenue to share their work with the world.

While it’s now so much easier to present your novel, novella, short stories, or poems to a potentially huge audience, you’re now competing with every Henry, Wadsworth, and Longfellow who thinks they’ve penned the next best seller.

Collectively all of those books, online or otherwise, are noise. They’re the background from which you’re hoping your effort will stand apart. It’s not easy. Half of all self-published authors earn less than $500 per year. The top ten percent of earners account for seventy five percent of the income.

So how do you break through the noise? Here are five ideas:

The Trouble with Cowboys
By Denise Hunter
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 978-1595548030
Pub. Date: October 2, 2012
Pages 289
Blog Tour Link: http://litfusegroup.com/campaigns/the-trouble-with-cowboys-by-denise-hunter-facebook-party-and-blog-tour
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/dSvBa

Review:

The third and final installment of the Big Sky Romance series focuses on the Wilkerson sisters, Annie and Sierra. Annie is a successful columnist writing for Montana Living and she is also a horse trainer for Moose Creek. Their father left them when they were just kids, their mother died later on as well as their grandfather. Annie has spent most of her young life taking care for Sierra. When her sister became pregnant at age sixteen, Annie became more like a mother instead of a sister. Sierra kept the baby boy, completed her GED, and is now attending college. Annie is having financial problems as she tries to pay for Sierra's college tuition.

Annie dislikes cowboys, even though she lives in Montana where she can't throw a rock out a window without hitting a cowboy. Her father was a cowboy and so were the countless loser boyfriends that her late mother had. She doesn't trust cowboys!

When Hope Blossoms
By Kim Vogel Sawyer
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 978-0764207877
Pub. Date: July 1, 2012
Pages: 350

Review:

Amy Knackstedt arrives in Weaverly, Kansas in the hope of starting a new life for her three children, Adrianna, Bekah, and Parker. Sadly, her husband, Gabe, had passed away about three ago in a mysterious accident. When the authorities began asking strange questions about Gabe, Amy couldn't handle it and decided that the best thing to do was to move.

The Knackstedt's neighbor is Tim Roper, who just happens to be an ex-Old Order Mennonite himself, but he disliked the Mennonite's beliefs and he is not very thrilled about his new neighbors either. Adriana, Bekah, and Parker try to befriend their new neighbor, but Tim is determined to have nothing to do with anything that reminds him of his childhood.