Category: giveaway

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Under A Tuscan Sky by Karen Aldous

whatcathyreadnext1 Comment

UnderATuscanSkyTourBanner

I’m delighted to host today’s stop on the blog tour for Under A Tuscan Sky by Karen Aldous. If you yearn to be transported to the sun-drenched Italian countryside for an uplifting romance, then look no further. You can read my review below.

Under a Tuscan Sky Giveaway NotebooksAnd there’s a fantastic giveaway (UK only) with a chance to win one of the following prizes:

  • 1st prize: £10 Amazon voucher, eCopy of Under a Tuscan Sky & a signed notebook
    2nd & 3rd prize: eCopy of Under a Tuscan Sky & a signed notebook

To enter the giveaway, click on the link below
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/bf633057121/?

UnderATuscanSkyAbout the Book

Publisher’s description: A summer she’ll never forget…When Olivia Montague’s grandmother passes away, she decides it’s finally time to make some changes in her own life. So she breaks up with her ‘going nowhere’ boyfriend and embarks on a journey to her Nonna’s home in Tuscany. Until now, Olivia has always believed that she’s incapable of love, after being abandoned by her parents as a baby. But with each day spent at the gorgeous villa nestled in the rolling Italian hills, she feels her heart begin to flutter…And when handsome antiques dealer Hugh St. James arrives on the scene, she realises things might be about to change forever!

Book Facts

Format: ebook Publisher: HQDigital Pages:
Publication: 14th June 2017 Genre: Romance

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com ǀ Barnes & Noble
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Under A Tuscan Sky on Goodreads

My Review

Inspired by a sepia photograph of her Italian grandmother and grandfather, Olivia decides that she’s settled for ‘second best’ in relationships for long enough. So she dumps her current boyfriend and determines to make the need to sort out her late grandmother’s estate in Italy the start of a new, and independent, chapter in her life.   However, it isn’t long before Olivia discovers unsettling information that means she must confront long buried secrets about her family and battle her own insecurities in the process.

Thankfully, help arrives in the form of two very different men, each of whom has their own particular attraction. Olivia is drawn to Alberto, not only because he is drop dead gorgeous and wants to spoil her rotten, but because he can offer her inclusion into the close-knit family she has always hankered after. Hugh is equally hunky but seems to Olivia more of a kindred spirit. He is supportive and can empathise with the situation she finds herself in because of his own family background.  Quite a nice choice to have!  However you’ll have to wait until the end of the book to find out which, if any, Olivia ends up with.

Alongside the romantic story line and the descriptions of luscious Italian landscapes, the author writes convincingly about Olivia’s struggles to overcome her lack of self-confidence (although I couldn’t really picture Olivia as the forty year old woman she is stated to be – I imagined her to be in her late twenties or early thirties).  I liked the book’s hopeful messages about the importance of family, the possibility of second chances and the value of friendship.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy publishers, HQDigital, the author and Neverland Blog Tours in return for an honest review.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

In three words: Light, hopeful, romance

KarenAldousAbout the Author

Karen Aldous enjoys village life on the edge of the north-downs in Kent with easy access to the buzz of London. Not only does she love the passive pleasures of reading and writing, she also craves the more active pursuits with her family and friends such as walking, cycling and skiing especially when they involve food and wine! Karen gets much of her inspiration from her travels and if she had to choose, France, Greece, Switzerland, Italy and the USA would be her favourites. However, wherever she goes, she discovers a new character emerges in ‘Karen’s World’. She likes to write about strong independent women who can direct their own lives – but struggle to control them! And, of course there’s always a gorgeous hunk or two!

Connect with Karen

Website ǀ Facebook ǀ Twitter ǀ Goodreads

 

Blog Tour/Giveaway: More Than A Soldier by D. M. Annechino

whatcathyreadnext1 Comment

I’m delighted to be today’s host on the blog tour for More Than A Soldier by D. M. Annechino. Subtitled One Army Ranger’s Daring Escape From the Nazis, it’s an exciting, vivid account of the true story of Angelo DiMarco’s exploits during World War 2. Read my review of this inspiring story below.

There’s also a giveaway with a chance for one lucky person to win a $25 Amazon gift card (US/Canada only). To enter, follow the link below. The giveaway runs until 24 June 2017.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/defcd44e284/

You can catch up with the other great bloggers taking part in the tour here

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

MoreThanASoldierAbout the Book

Feeling a patriotic duty to defend his country after Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, seventeen year old, Angelo J. DiMarco, enlists in the U.S. Army. Severely short of frontline fighters, the Army rushes Angelo through Ranger training and sends him to Italy as part of the 1st Ranger Battalion. Their objective: stop the German invasion.  Fighting on the front lines in Italy, the Germans teach Angelo a sobering lesson on life when they capture him during the bloody battle of Cisterna. The poor living conditions and ill-treatment in the German prison camps quickly convince Angelo he has to find a way out. Against insurmountable odds, Angelo miraculously escapes in a way that stretches the imagination. He survives behind enemy lines for over five months, hiding from the Germans and trying to outmanoeuvre them. He begs for food, sleeps in barns and suffers from many ailments, including dehydration, malnutrition, malaria and exposure to the elements.  More Than a Soldier is Angelo DiMarco’s powerful story of survival, resilience and courage.

Book Facts

  • Format: ebook
  • Publisher: CreateSpace
  • No. of pages: 316
  • Publication date: 10th April 2017
  • Genre: Historical Biography

To purchase More Than A Soldier from Amazon.com, click here (link provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme)

Find More Than A Soldier on Goodreads

My Review

As is often the case with war heroes, Angelo DiMarco kept his story to himself until close to the end of his life when he finally revealed it to his son.   The author, D. M. Annechino, has taken the facts of Angelo’s remarkable wartime experiences and crafted them into a compelling book, with Angelo as our engaging and credible narrator.

Posted to Sicily following his ranger training, Angelo experiences both the boredom and hardships of army camp life and the chaos and confusion of battle. The book depicts in vivid detail the true nature of frontline battle where fear is an ever present additional enemy.

‘The kind of fear that reaches inside your chest and squeezes your heart. The kind that lines the inside of your lungs with concrete so you can barely draw a breath. It steals every drop of saliva from your mouth so your throat is dry and on fire.’

Angelo knows it’s a case of kill or be killed but even knowing that, the enormity of the act weighs heavy on him as, for the first time, he lines up a shot on another human being – not a practice target – and places his finger on the trigger.

‘Any soldier who has yet to kill a man in combat tries to imagine what it will be like when the moment arises. There are no words to accurately explain how it feels to know than in a millisecond you will end a life; make his wife a widow; make his children fatherless; paralyze his family.’

The book does not seek to hide the horror of war or the conflicting emotions that arise following the death of comrades.

‘I felt great anger welling up inside me. Hatred actually. I wanted to kill every German soldier in the world. I wanted to even the score. I didn’t recognize the man thinking these dark thoughts and could only conclude that the war had finally transformed me from someone I once was to someone I might never recognize again….War is much more than a word that defines a conflict between nations. It’s a living, breathing predator, and its only goal is to devour your mind, body, and spirit.’

Nor does it pull any punches when it comes to describing the callous treatment of Angelo and his comrades at the hands of the Germans.   Providing a counterpoint to this is the sense of comradeship amongst the soldiers; they truly do become a ‘band of brothers’.

‘Fighting side by side and struggling to survive every minute of every day seals an unbreakable bond between men. One of the only benefits of war.’

This close bond makes it even more traumatic when comrades are killed or suffer life-changing injuries and we see the effect on Angelo of the death of close comrades.   And, on many occasions during his adventures, he himself is in imminent risk of death. However, along the way there are also lucky escapes, near misses and chance encounters with friendly locals. At times, the story read like a movie script and I had to remind myself that it was a true story. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the book got snapped up by a film studio. (They’d probably add a romantic Hollywood ending – you’ll no doubt guess what I’m thinking about when you read it.)

This is an inspiring story of heroism, comradeship and resilience in the face of the horrors of war.

I received a review copy courtesy of Italy Book Tours and the author in return for an honest review.

In three words: Thrilling, inspiring, action-packed

DMAnnechinoAbout the Author

Daniel M. Annechino, a former book editor, wrote his first book, How to Buy the Most Car for the Least Money, while working as a General Manager in the automobile business. But his passion had always been fiction, particularly thrillers. He spent two years researching serial killers before finally penning his gripping and memorable debut novel They Never Die Quietly. He has written and published five novels – all thrillers. But his latest work, More Than a Soldier, is a historical biography set in Italy during WWII. A native of New York, Annechino now lives in San Diego with his wife, Jennifer. He loves to cook, enjoys a glass of vintage wine, and spends lots of leisure time on the warm beaches of Southern California.

Connect with Daniel

Website https://dmannechino.wordpress.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/DMHemingway
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/daniel.m.annechino
Goodreads https://www.facebook.com/daniel.m.annechino

ItalyBookToursLogo