Book Spotlight and Giveaway: The Frailty of Things by Tamsen Schultz

The Frailty of Things
By Tamsen Schultz
Genre: Romantic Suspense

Book Blurb:

Independence. Kit Forrester is a woman who wears her independence like armor. Despite keeping secrets and hiding her past, she's built a life she loves and is accountable to no one. Until, that is, one of the world's most wanted war criminals sets his sights on her and she must weigh the risk to one against the chance of justice and closure for many-a decision Kit couldn't make on her own even if she wanted to.

Certainty. As a man who makes his living in the shadows of governments and wars, certainty isn't a part of Garret Cantona's vocabulary, and he's just fine with that. But when Kit walks into his life, he realizes he's never before been so sure about anything or anyone. Suddenly, he finds he's looking at the world, his world, in a different light. And now that he is, he's determined to protect it, and her, in whatever ways he can.

Frailty. No one knows better than Kit and Garret that an appreciation for
what is, or what was, or what might be, can be born from the uncertainty and fragility of life. But when a hunt for a killer leaves Garret no choice but to throw Kit back into her broken and damaged past, even his unshakable faith in what they have together might not be enough to keep it from shattering into a million pieces.

Author Bio:

Tamsen Schultz is the author of several romantic suspense novels and
American Kin (a short story published in Line Zero Magazine). In addition to being a writer, she has a background in the field of international conflict resolution, has co-founded a non-profit, and currently works in corporate America. Like most lawyers, she spends a disproportionate amount of time thinking (and writing) about what it might be like to do something else. She lives in Northern California in a house full of males including her husband, two sons, four cats, a dog, and a gender-neutral, but well-stocked, wine rack.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TamsenSchultz
Twitter: @tamsenschultz
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tamsen-Schultz/e/B009NVIEGO
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/tamsens
Website: www.tamsenschultz.com

The author is giving away 3 $10 Amazon Gift Cards to 3 lucky readers!
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Downton Abbey - Season 5, Episode 7

Things I DIDN'T Like About This Week's Episode:

1. Isis was diagnosed with cancer, and Cora and Robert put her in bed between them for the night as she was about to pass.  This scene just did me in.

2. Tom (my favorite character) is planning to move to America with Sybil.

3.  Isobel (my second favorite character) was treated with unbearable rudeness by Lord Merton's sons at a dinner party celebrating her engagement.

Things I DID Like About This Week's Episode:

1. Rose and Atticus are engaged.  I think they are the most adorable Downton couple ever, and I hope their romance continues to be a happy one.

2. Cora found out about Edith and Marigold, and they worked out a plan for Edith to adopt Marigold openly and live at Downton.  Finally a hopeful resolution for this long, sad storyline!

3. Daisy, Baxter, and Molesley visited Mr. Mason at his farm.  Mr. Mason is as lovable as ever, and he encouraged Daisy to continue her studies. 

4. Mary found resolution with Tony Gillingham, as Charles helped her stage a flirtation to signal that she was truly done with the Gillingham romance and wanted him to move on.

Line of the Night:
"I'd say she takes after the dachshund, M'Lady." (Sprat to the Dowager Countess, about new maid Danke) 
"In what way?" 
"She's QUITE untrainable."
As a lifelong dachshund person, that had to make me laugh.

What did you think of tonight's episode?  I would love to hear from you in the comments, below.
 

Almost Perfect by Diane Daniels Manning - Book Review and Giveaway

About the Book:
Two unlikely friends, an old woman and a boy with special needs, take an aging champion to Westminster Dog Show, and heal their troubled families.

Seventy year-old Bess Rutledge has fantasized about winning the Westminster Dog Show all her life, but now she has decided she is too old to follow her dream. She meets Benny, an angry fourteen year-old with mild autism and ADHD, who has a dream of his own: to impress his self-absorbed mother. He becomes convinced that winning Westminster with McCreery, Bess’ aging champion standard poodle, will finally make his mother proud of him. Getting Bess to go along with his plan, however, is not going to be so easy.

My Book Review: 

At the heart of Almost Perfect there are two people and two dogs.  Benny, a fourteen year old boy with special needs, wants a dog more than anything else.  His love of dogs leads him to meet Bess Rutledge.  Bess has been a top breeder of standard poodles for years, but she is closing her kennel without ever achieving her dream of winning the Westminster Dog Show.  There are also two special dogs in this story:  Bess's dog McCreery, who is a champion poodle and the sire of Breaker, a mischievous puppy who plays a very important role in this book.

I love books about puppies and dogs, so I knew I would enjoy this read.  I certainly did!   The details about the dog show world were new (and very interesting!) to me.  I have already recommended this book to several dog friends.  I'm sure they will enjoy it too.

I found the changing focus back and forth between Bess and her life and Benny and his family and school very interesting.  I liked learning about their separate lives because it made their unlikely friendship that much more moving.

The dogs, McCreery and Breaker, stole the show.  The author did a great job at capturing their individual personalities.  I especially loved watching Breaker's growth from a puppy to a young dog.

I listened to this book in Audible audiobook format.  Caroline Miller did a wonderful job with the narration, especially in the separate voices and personalities of Bess and Benny.   This book translated very well to audiobook format.

At first I found the character of Benny a bit disconcerting because he seemed so much younger than his 14 years.  If I had not been told he was 14, I would have assumed he was a much younger child, perhaps 6 - 8.  As the book went on, I got used to him seeming very young for his age and my interest in the story about Benny's love of dogs and friendship with Bess became primary in the read.

The setting of the dog community and dog show world was especially interesting.  I enjoy watching the Westminster Dog Show, and especially enjoyed reading this book just before this year's Westminster, February 16 - 17.

I would recommend this book for dog lovers from middle school age to adult.  It is a family friendly story with an appealing, heartwarming tone.  I kept thinking, as I read, that this would make a very good Hallmark movie.   Do you love dogs?  Do you enjoy a warm, uplifting story?  Then you will really enjoy Almost Perfect.

Author's Bio:

Diane Daniels Manning is the co-founder and director of The New School in the Heights, a therapeutic school in Houston, Texas which helps children dealing with social-emotional challenges find success in school and life. She has a Ph.D. in Education and a post-doctoral M.P.H from Harvard and is a practicing child psychoanalyst certified by the American Psychoanalytic Association. Formerly, she was the Director of the Reading and Learning Disabilities Clinic at Tufts University, Lecturer and Research Associate in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Harvard, and Chair of the Department of Education at Tulane University. She learned the inner workings of dog show kennels by writing an authorized oral history of a lifetime President of the Poodle of Club of America. Her writing awards include the Faulkner-Wisdom Novella Prize and the Women in Film and Television Short Script Competition.

When not at The New School, Diane and her writing partners, a Standard Poodle named Misty and a rescue cat named Elvira, convene at the keyboard to share great thoughts and plan the dinner menu.

Connect with her: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

​​

Where to buy the book:

Amazon

​Audible​

​Barnes & Nobles​

​Book Trailer:​

Almost Perfect Trailer V1-2 from Kaizen Marketing on Vimeo.

​Giveaway:​

​Prize: ​

Giving away 13 copies of Almost Perfect by Diane Daniels Manning (5 print copies - USA only, 5 ebook copies and 3 audiobooks from Audible - international) and one $25 Amazon Gift Card (open international)

​ Ends Feb 20, 2015​

You can also win one $50, $25 or $10 Amazon Gift Card on the author’s website. ​The author will ask a question about the book as an entry.​

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received this book from iRead Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

 

These Are The DSRs Of Our Lives: What's In a Name? The Shops of Online Business Su...

I had fun writing this guest post for These Are the DSRs of Our Lives, a group blog for Online Business Success.  Wanted to share with you!

 



These Are The DSRs Of Our Lives: What's In a Name? The Shops of Online Business Su...: We are a group of eCommerce sellers - eBay, Etsy, Amazon, eCrater, Bonanza, and more.  We have been friends for years now, and enjoy shari...

Vintage Valentines: A Picture Gallery

I have always loved vintage Valentines.  When I was a little girl, my family liked to antique together.  When we wandered through antique stores, I always looked at Valentines and holiday cards.   When I first heard of eBay, I browsed for vintage Dachshund Valentines.  And then I started selling.  I mostly sold vintage children's books at first, and then I added in vintage Valentines and vintage Christmas cards and ornaments.  I still love finding a big box of Valentines, scanning them, and listing them.  All of the cards pictured today are located in my stores:  eBay Valentines department, Etsy, and Bonanza. 

Here are a few of my latest vintage Valentines:

Three dogs in a barrel at sea.  This card is spectacular!  It is mechanical and the barrel rocks back and forth when you move it.

This heart-shaped card is 1920's vintage.  It features a little boy and girl under a big umbrella.  

 A sweet little bear has a plate of Valentine heart cookies.

Love this Mid-Century illustration of a girl in a fancy dress and hat.  "A Valentine for a Swell Sister."

Fun 1950's owl Valentine.  "Do I give a hoot for you, Valentine?"

Fun Mid-Century card for a husband -- includes several pages of illustrations:

 A cute kitten drinks an ice cream soda at a malt shop:

1920's or earlier card featuring a little girl with ringlets talking to a bird.  "I'm all of a twitter my Valentine."

This is an unusual mechanical Valentine!   The little girl's eyes open and close.  "Don't give me the shut-eye my Valentine."

A calico cat plays with yarn -- mechanical card.  (The cat's eyes move.)   "I love you and that's no yarn my Valentine!"

Fun Deco Valentine featuring a boy and girl fishing.  "If you're fishing for me use your heart as bait my Valentine."

This mechanical card features a dressed dog in a butcher shop chopping baloney.  The card is mechanical - his arm and the knife move.  "It's no baloney when I say I love you!"

I believe this older card is a Grace Drayton illustration.  It features a little girl with dumb bells who is exercising as her dog watches.  The card is mechanical -- the girl bends at the waist.  "I'm 'most reduced to tears, I'm so skeered I won't get the Valentine I want."

This mechanical card features a little girl in a flower hat that pulls up and down.  "Pansies tell what I can't conceal.  Look under my hat and see how I feel."

This is a fabulous mechanical card.  The little boy's arm and pig move back and forth.  "Tom, Tom the Piper's Son stole a pig one day - and as for you, your taking ways just steal my heart away!"

This is a lovely Charles Twelvetrees illustrated card.  It features a boy and girl on a toy horse:  "With your arms around me holding tight, we'll gallop on my hobby horse - 'cause love's in sight!  Be My Valentine."  The card has a honeycomb detail -- the horse's back folds out into a beautiful honeycomb.

Another Grace Drayton illustration.  (You will recognize her work from the Campbell soup kids.)   A boy and girl stand with an organ grinder and a monkey.  "Don't monkey with my heart - be my Valentine."  This is a mechanical card -- the boy's arm, the winding device, and the children's eyes all move.