God Bless Us Every One : a Contemporary Christmas Carol

GIVEAWAY

EVERSON, EVA MARIE
GOD BLESS US EVERY ONE : A CONTEMPORARY CHRISTMAS CAROL

Keeping Christmas in our hearts

Charlene Dixon -- called Charlie by family and friends -- is devastated at the recent loss of her job. For the last five years, the twenty-seven-year-old has blossomed as the activities director of an exclusive all-girls school. But when a misunderstanding with the headmistress leads to a pink slip right before the holidays, Charlie packs up her dreams and returns to her grandmother, Sis, who raised Charlie as her own in the mountains of North Carolina.

When Charlie arrives -- broken and confused -- Sis immediately puts her granddaughter to work behind the scenes of the local school's Christmas play, A Christmas Carol. Charlie doesn't always like working with Dustin Kennedy, the drama teacher, but Sis encourages her to take a deeper look at why the book by Charles Dickens had been written in the first place and what it could teach Charlie about the needs of people in their own community.

My Review:

A novel that embraces the spirit of Christmas as it blends a Dickens classic with a contemporary twist. The author highlights the history behind the traditional tale and has created some fascinating parallels between Charlie Dixon and Charles Dickson. Very cleverly done. And each chapter starts with a pertinent quote from The Christmas Carol.

Charlie is all about looking ahead -- she prefers contemporary to classic anything! Dustin is a true traditionalist. Talk about opposites attract! Hark -- do you hear that? Those aren`t Christmas bells  -- it`s the noxious clanging of clashing wills! Funny and poignant and sweetly tender. A story about forgiveness and hope, Everson delivers the true magic of the season.

My thanks to Abingdon Press and Litfuse Publicity Group for providing me with a copy of this book.

http://litfusegroup.com/author/eeverson

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

 If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of  God Bless Us Every One please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday September 18 2016. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

Five Brides

GIVEAWAY

EVERSON, EVA MARIE
FIVE BRIDES

Five Brides...

Five single, fiercely independent women live together in a Chicago apartment in the early 1950s, but they rarely see each other.

One Dress...

One Saturday afternoon, as they are serendipitously together downtown, they spy a wedding dress in a storefront window at the famous Carson Pirie Scott & Co. After trying it on -- much to the dismay of the salesclerk and without a single serious boyfriend between the five of them -- they decide to pool their money to purchase it. Can a brush with fate and one beautiful dress forever stitch together the lives of five very different women as they take their own journeys to love and whatever comes happily ever after?

My Review:

Wow! This is the kind of story that comes to life the minute you start reading, I was so immersed in the lives of the characters that I'm convinced I actually slept on their couch a night or two! The time period is perfect -- maybe because I've seen so many movies set in the fifties and it was easy to visualize everything from the fashion to the architecture -- even the hairstyles. In fact, I cast period actresses to play the role of each young woman. It seemed to me that Everson captured the essence of that era -- especially the opportunities opening up to women after the war and the push/pull that resulted between work and home.

And, honestly, who can resist five love stories for the price of one? Each totally unique, and not without a dose of heartache, not to mention some mistakes along the way. The author has created five very distinct heroines with personal obstacles to overcome. I especially appreciated reading about each girl's faith journey. Loved the overall unity in a common goal even though they represented diverse denominations and were at different places on their journey. Five Brides not only delighted my heart, it fed my soul.

And, in case you're curious about who I cast to play the heroines in Five Brides -- here they are. You'll have to read the book to see if you agree.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

 If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of Five Brides please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw ill be held and winner announced on Sunday September 13 2015. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

Waiting for Sunrise

GIVEAWAY

EVERSON, EVA MARIE
WAITING FOR SUNRISE

Sometimes finding your future means making peace with your past

Patsy Milstrap wishes she could leave her past behind. Though she tries to put on a brave front for the sake of her family, the wounds still ache, and the scars on her soul are still deeply felt. At her concerned husband's gentle insistence, they take a vacation from South Carolina on Cedar Key, an idyllic island on Florida's Gulf Coast. A week in paradise will do them good, he says.

When a familiar--and most unexpected--face greets her at a seaside restaurant, Patsy knows she can no longer run from the past. But what will opening old wounds mean? And what will the future hold?

With a large helping of Southern charm, Waiting for Sunrise is a touching story of family, young love, and the need for forgiveness. Eva Marie Everson expertly draws out the bittersweet moments of life, weaving them into a tale that will envelop your soul.

My Review:

A compelling story that draws the reader in without apologies for the complexities of life. Real, hard-hitting, emotional -- Everson knows how to draw on a myriad of truths, not all of them pretty, in order to offer up joy and hope. A reminder of how each  individual is the result of their own 'back story' -- all the good and the bad, the realities and the misconceptions that swirl together and merge into our psyche. Waiting for Sunrise is also about unconditional love -- in all it's varied forms. A gut-wrenching yet oddly comforting read that has firmed my resolve to be gentler and more understanding to those around me.

Giveaway Opportunity:


If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of Waiting For Sunrise please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday July 1 2012. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Chasing Sunsets

GIVEAWAY!

EVERSON, EVA MARIE
CHASING SUNSETS

Sometimes you get a second chance at your first love.

Kimberly Tucker's life hasn't turned out the way she thought it would. While her ex is living it up, she struggles to understand what went wrong. When her two sons end up spending five weeks of the summer vacation with their father, Kim plans a respite at the family vacation home on tiny Cedar Key. As she revisits the long-forgotten past, she discovers that treasures in life are often buried, and sometimes you do get a second chance at love.

Let yourself be swept away to an island retreat of warm tropical breezes, sandy beaches, and the most glorious sunsets you can imagine.

My Review:

A beautiful read that goes layers deep to draw emotion to the surface. I felt it all; sorrow, despair, anguish, fury, desperation, fear...all of which were tempered with flashes of hope and understanding and, of course, love.

Kimberly's journey into the past brings her full circle into the present. The path she walks isn't an easy one and Everson pulls her readers in with a staggering emotionally-charged opening chapter that had me hooked. I ached for Kim  -- I ached for me aching for Kim as I compulsively devoured her story.

Everson plays with point of view in an unusual way. While this is primarily Kim's story (told in first person), it is riddled with flashbacks from multiple perspectives. Some are Kim's, some other characters'. This makes for a dynamic and intriguing read and while, Kim's story has an ending...and not the pure happily-ever you'll find in fairy tales...there are many unanswered questions which I hope will be answered in a sequel some day.

With characters that are rich and compelling and a setting perfect for a sultry, summer  read, Chasing Sunsets will make a great addition to anyone's vacation TBR pile.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Giveaway: Leave a comment below if you would like to be entered in a draw to win a copy of Chasing Sunsets.  Or you can email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. Draw will be held on Sunday, June 12 -- so you'd better hurry!!! Giveaway open to everyone -- regardless of what country you live in. Good luck!