Thanks to all who participated in my giveaway last week. Based on the draw result from Random.org, the winner is ...

Iliana

Congratulations, Iliana! I'll be emailing you shortly for your mailing information. I hope you will enjoy reading this book!

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

He was still drop-dead gorgeous, with laughing brown eyes that narrowed to slits when he smiled, but he'd lost the power to suck the air out of her lungs with just a look. He was her sister's husband, an old friend, and nothing more.

(Pg 38-39, Falling Home by Karen White)

Karen White, The New York Times Bestselling Author of On Folly Beach, tests the limits of love and the resilience of family in her highly anticipated novel, Falling Home

After arriving in New York, Cassie did everything she could to reinvent herself, from losing herself in a career to squashing her accent. But a single late-night phone call brings back everything she has tried to forget. She hasn't spoken to her sister Harriet since Cassie wiped the Georgia clay from her high-heeled pumps - not since Harriet stole Cassie's fiancé and married him. Now Harriet's on the line with the news that their father is dying.

Cassie makes the trip back, and the only thing that frightens her more than losing her father is seeing Harriet and the family who should have been hers. But she can't help loving her nephews and nieces any more than she can help feeling at home in a place where people ask how you are and actually expect to hear the truth. As she fights a surprising reaction to a forgotten friend and faces an unexpected threat to the family she left behind, Cassie comes to realize that moving on doesn't always mean moving away from who you are - and that home is a place that lives in a person's heart, waiting with open arms to be rediscovered.

Once again, Karen White shares a place that has touched her heart. In this case, it is Monroe, Georgia, which she visited years ago and which inspired the fictional town of Walton. "My parents are from Mississippi, so I've always considered myself a Southern girl," says Karen. She lived in four states and two countries before actually living in the south. "I spent most of my childhood wishing I had a home town to call my own," she notes. When she first saw Monroe, located just an hour from her Atlanta home, she recognised it as the kind of small southern community she'd always hoped to claim for herself.

Falling Home was originally published in 2002, and is being released again in November 2010 in response to the many readers who reached out after unsuccessfully searching for the out-of-print novel. It has been extensively revised for this new publication. "Readers told me they loved the story and characters, so it was hard to see what I might change," says Karen regarding the revisions. "Then it clicked. I didn't want to change the story. I wanted to change some of the writing - to take the experience and education of having written nine other novels and to work at creating a better book."

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Thanks to the author's publicist, I have one copy of Falling Home to be given away to one lucky winner! To enter for the giveaway:

• +1 Leave a comment on this post stating your name and your email address (Please also state the total number of points given).
• +1 Tweet about this giveaway.
• +1 Blog about this giveaway (posting on your sidebar is also acceptable.)

Because this book will be sent directly from the publicist, this giveaway is open to US/Canada readers only (no PO boxes, thank you!). I will be drawing for the winner on November 2nd (Tuesday), the day when Falling Home goes on sale.

Good luck!

• Ritual by Mo Hayder
• Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory
• Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
• The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
• Evermore by Alyson Noel
• The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Lost Hours by Karen White
• Godmother : The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Stolen by Lucy Christopher
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• The Ghost Writer by John Harwood
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• Ash by Malinda Lo

Happy Book Blogger Appreciation Week! Bookbloggers rock!

Thanks to Random. org, Iliana at Bookgirl's Nightstand and Julia at Julia's Books Corner has each won a copy of The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer, with compliments from Sourcebooks.

Congratulations, Iliana and Julia!

Please send me an email with your snail mail address and I will forward it to Sourcebooks.

Thanks, everyone, for participating!

ISBN-13: 9781402218941
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc
Published: July 2009
372 pgs




I have not read anything by Georgette Heyer so when Danielle from Sourcebooks contacted me and asked if I want to review The Grand Sophy, I jumped at the offer!

After reading this book, I am happy to declare that I fell in love with Heyer's writing and I think the plot and the characters are very engaging! I liked Sophy Stanton-Lacey and I think she is simply one extraordinary heroine. She is bold, headstrong and a very intelligent young woman and she refused to let anyone bully or get into her way if she doesn't want to. Considering the generation and society at that time, I think what her attitude and some of the tings she did would be most likely to be frowned upon but that does not stop Sophy from doing the things she wanted to do. Simply put, I admired her.

The Grand Sophy begins with Sophy's arrival in the Rivenhall's residence when her father, Sir Horace, is to leave for Brazil and her aunt, Lady Ombersley has agreed to take her into the family temporarily until her father is back.

Sophy caused an uproar when she arrived at the Rivenhall's residence with a magnificent equipage and although the members are flabbergasted by her outrageous behaviour, they quickly warmed up to her and they are quite impressed by her sharp wit and intelligence. However, Charles Rivenhall, the eldest son in the family is not pleased with her at all and thinks she should behave like a real lady. Conflicts arise and sparks fly between them; and he is most certainly not pleased that one of his sisters, Cecilia who always seem to seek for her advice concerning her betrothed whom he deemed favourable but it seems Cecilia already has a gentleman in mind and he is none other than poet Augustus Fawnhope.

It seems this is not the only issue that infuriates Charles. Sophy also goes to extra length in saving his brother from an infamous moneylender when he loses his games and is in debt. Despite she managed to settle things without getting anyone hurt, Charles thinks what she did is improper and he is most certainly shocked that she own a gun and could handle it as well as him! But most of all, what bother him is the way she deals with things in general and her determination in rearranging the lives of anyone she encounters (in particularly the Rivenhall's members), never mind if her intentions are all good.

Seriously, I had great fun reading the exchanges between Charles and Sophy because most of their dialogues had me chuckling, and not to mention it made me wonder when or what it would take to make them see each other in a less prejudice manner. I really liked Sophy; I was in awe of her direct approach when dealing in certain situations and not at all wishy-washy.

I really enjoyed reading The Grand Sophy, and I can totally understand why this book is classified as one of Heyer's most beloved regencies. This is my first Heyer's book but definitely not the last!

Many thanks to Danielle for sending this book to me for review!

~*~*~*~*~

• This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only, courtesy of Danielle from Sourcebooks.
• Leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you and forward your address to Sourcebooks if you win.
• I will draw the two winners on 31 July (Friday). Good luck!

As I mentioned last week, I did my TBR pile spring cleaning and will be giving away some books which I have not read (due to my current reading mood, I have no interest in reading them). Below is the first batch of books which I am giving away:





The Promised Land by David Hewson

Rules:

• Just leave a comment on this post and tell me which book you are interested in winning. You may enter two books but you can only win one.
• Include your email address at the end of your comment post.
• You will be given an extra entry if you post a comment on any of my post this week.
• Open worldwide.
• Entries will be closed on Sunday, 19 April and winners will be announced on Monday, 20 April.

Good luck!

Synopsis:
Six charming stories illuminate the everyday magic of life in the small North Carolina town of Clementine. With the help of her wise and colourful Great Aunt Sophie, young Louise learns to deal with life, death, love and friendship.

Genre: Novella, Women's Fiction, Southern, Contemporary
Appropriate for YA as well as adult audiences

Leave a comment on this post if you are interested to win this CD set. Closing date for the draw is 26 August (GMT +8.00). The winner will be announced on the following day. Good luck!

Thank you, everyone!

This week’s theme is a sort of meme. The basic challenge is to post author photos.

1. Photos of your favorite author(s).

2. Photo(s) of the author(s) of the book(s) you’re currently reading.

3. A youtube of (an) author(s) you’ve heard speak. (I attached the picture since I couldn't have it linked.)

4. A photo of the author of the book you’ve most recently finished.

5. Photos of the hottest author(s)!

Bonus Question:
List any title written by this author. (Hint: She writes historical fictions. One of her works was shown on the big screen this year.)

Note: You will stand a chance to win a copy of Taken by Barbara Freethy if you can answer this bonus question correctly. Please send your reply to melreadingcorner (AT) gmail (DOT) com; deadline is Thursday, 7 August (GMT +8.00) and the winner will be announced on the following day.

Good luck!

Cold Mountain goes to Aaron from That's the Book!;

• Jaimie from Bell Literary Reflections is giving away three books. Because these books are her favourites, so the winners will be getting brand new ones! (Click here for more details.)
• Dewey from The Hidden Side of a Leaf is celebrating her one-year blogiversary too! She's giving away a book and the winner will get to choose any book under $20. On top of that, she's also giving away two $20 Amazon gift certificates for Buy a Friend a Book Week. (Click here for more details.)
  Edited on 5 April: I have misunderstood Dewey's post about this giveaway. The following is actually what she meant. As quoted: "I have two amazon gift certificates for $20. I am not giving them away. I am letting two people (one for BAFAB, one for my blogiversary) choose any book available at Amazon for under $20. And I will use the gift certificates to pay for them. Hope that clears things up! :)"
• Katrina from Stone Soup is giving away some books from her bookshelves! She has a great list there; please click here for more details.

Have fun blog hopping! And of course, good luck with the giveaways! ;-)