My First Barnes & Noble Book Signing is Soon!

I talked to the PR person from a local Barnes & Noble yesterday and everyhing is set! The book signing for the first three of my books--The Hesitant Heiress, The Bound Heart and The Captive Imposter--is in a little over a week! It's still sort of surreal to be signing books at the very B&N I used to work at 14 years ago! 

❤️📖❤️📖❤️📖❤️📖❤️

Talk about a dream come true! And, of course, I'll be almost 8 months pregnant too! I waited longer to get pregnant (with my first, three years ago) than I did to find a publisher for my novels! For the few years I spent writing THH, TBH and the first half of TCI (2010-2013) before I received my three book contract for them, I'd given up on having children.... but then there I was, so surprisingly six months pregnant with my first born while signing the contract! Which yes, made things a little more complicated than they were when I was simply a stay-at-home-writer!

And just in case you're wondering, there will be another book signing at the other Barnes & Noble in the fall when The Cautious Maiden releases in paperback/ebook on October 4, 2016! 

If you'd like to see more details, here's the link to the facebook event!-->

https://facebook.com/events/1529907387315124

Learn a Lesson in Love—Tippy Style— in Dana Mentink’s New Book (Plus a Prize Pack Giveaway)

What do you get when you add one abrasive professional athlete, a quirky out-of-work schoolteacher, and an overweight geriatric dog? A lesson in love—Tippy style—in Dana Mentink’s new book, Sit, Stay, Love. As Gina travels through Cal’s world with Tippy in tow, she begins to see Cal in a different light. Gina longs to show Cal the God-given blessings in his life that have nothing to do with baseball or fame. When her longing blooms into attraction, Gina does her best to suppress it. But Cal is falling in love with her too. . . .

Join Dana in celebrating the release of Sit, Stay, Love with a blog tour and a Travels with Tippy prize pack giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Sit, Stay, Love
• A $75 Visa cash card
• A basket filled with Tippy-themed goodies
  • Travel-themed decorator box
  • Reading dog statue
  • Dog journal
  • Poems for Dog Lovers
  • Snuggle Paws fleece blanket from Animal Rescue Site
  • Pawprint scarf
  • Doxie desk pen
  • Pupmobile auto magnet

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry! The giveaway ends on April 25th. The winner will be announced April 26th on Dana’s blog.

{My Review}

Sit, Stay, Love by Dana Mentink was a cute, lighthearted tale about Tippy, a dachshund mix stuck in limbo of belonging to anyone after her own (the hero's mother) dies. She's tied to Major League Baseball player and pitcher Cal Crawford by inheritance, and soon wraps her leash tightly around the heart of the girl he's hired to take care of her, quirky Gina Palmer. Cal and Gina are both struggling through a stage of life where they're not sure what to do next. Cal is famous and lives a life of high profile--caged in an elaborate mansion which is nothing like the "home" he had as a kid, a ranch in Northern California. Gina is a teacher who's lost her job and is filling in for her much sought after dog-sitting friend. As these two get to know each other and bond over their growing love for Tippy, as well as dealing with some deeply personal issues brought up by others, they find way more than they ever expected in each other and Tippy. ❤️

Sit, Stay, Love has a rating of 4.54 out of 5 stars (from 76 ratings) on GoodReads. This book released from Harvest House on April 1, 2016.

 

I received a free copy of this book from Harvest House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.   

 {MORE ABOUT SIT, STAY, LOVE}

Take one abrasive professional athlete, a quirky out-of-work schoolteacher, and an overweight geriatric dog, and you’re ready for a lesson in love . . . Tippy style.

Pro baseball pitcher Cal Crawford is not a dog guy. When he inherits his deceased mother’s elderly dog, Tippy, he’s quick to call on a pet-sitting service.

Gina isn’t thrilled to be a dog sitter when her aspirations lie in the classroom. Furthermore, she can’t abide the unfriendly Cal, a man with all the charm of a wet towel. But with no other prospects and a deep love for all things canine, she takes the job caring for Tippy.

As Gina travels through Cal’s world with Tippy in tow, she begins to see Cal in a different light. Gina longs to show Cal the God-given blessings in his life that have nothing to do with baseball or fame. When her longing blooms into attraction, Gina does her best to suppress it. But Cal is falling in love with her too…

Discover the charming story of Tippy, the dog who brought a family together.

Learn more and purchase a copy.

{MORE ABOUT DANA MENTINK}

Dana Mentink lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third and fourth grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with her husband, two daughters, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle, and a feisty parakeet.

Find out more about Dana at http://www.danamentink.com.

Advance Reader Copy of The Cautious Maiden Sign-Up Form

The Cautious Maiden is book 4 in my award-winning Everstone Chronicles series from Whitaker House, however all the books are written to be read as stand alone novels as well.  

{More About The Cautious Maiden}

Violet Hawthorne is beyond mortified when her brother Ezra turns their deceased parents' New England country inn into a brothel to accommodate the nearby lumberjacks; but when Violet's own reputation is compromised, the inn becomes the least of her worries. In an effort to salvage her good name, Violet is forced into an engagement with a taciturn acquaintance; Vance Everstone. As she prepares for a society wedding, Violet learns that her brother had staked her hand in marriage in a heated poker game with the unsavory Rowen Steele, and Ezra had lost. Now Rowen is determined to cash in on his IOU. With danger stalking her and a new fiance who hides both his emotion and his past, Violet must decide who to trust and who to leave behind.

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{What Early Reviewers are Saying....}

“THE CAUTIOUS MAIDEN is a deeply absorbing love story—literally impossible to put down. Rich with historical detail, the reader is transported into America’s Gilded Age where the relationship between Vance and Violet sizzles with undeniable romantic tension. Crandall deftly infuses the plot with equal measures of intrigue, conflict, heart pounding romantic moments, and character growth to form a captivating page turner. The depth of honesty and redemption found within The Cautious Maiden is as refreshing as it is brave. Readers who enjoy romance, history, and stories brimming with hope will not want to miss this brilliant work.”

 – Jessica Keller, multi-published romance author

Click HERE for more pre-reader endorsements!

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{To Request an Advance Reader Copy of The Cautious Maiden for Reviewing Purposes...}

Click https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kL51_5J8vhDCcLE6cjX-spNl4k-BJOF12Etm8JX1pMQ to request either a paperback or digital Advance Reader Copy of The Cautious Maiden from Whitaker House! 

Click HERE to pre-order your official copy!

Click HERE to add my books to your reading list on GoodReads!

Click HERE if you'd like to support my Thunderclap Campaign advertising the need for blogger book reviewer ARC readers! I only NEED 5 more! :D

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{More About Me!}

Dawn Crandall is an ACFW Carol Award nominated author of The Everstone Chronicles from Whitaker House. The award-winning series currently consists of three books: The Hesitant Heiress, The Bound Heart and The Captive Imposter. The next "Everstone" book, The Cautious Maiden, will release October 4, 2016. 

Dawn is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary. Apart from writing books, Dawn is also mom to a precious little boy (born March 2014), is expecting her second baby (June 2016), and also serves with her husband in a pre-marriage mentor program at their local church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

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{The Everstone Chronicles}

Giveaway! Winner's choice of my paperback books + an Everstone mug!

Listed just below is a fun interview I did with Annie from Just Commonly this week--it was actually a three day event with reviews of all three of my currently released books included. AND there's a giveaway for winner's choice of my paperback books and an Everstone mug! ❤️

http://justcommonly.blogspot.com/2016/04/day-3-author-interview-with-dawn.html

And if you'd like a chance to review my October release from Whitaker House, you can request either a digital or paperback advance reader copy here-->

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kL51_5J8vhDCcLE6cjX-spNl4k-BJOF12Etm8JX1pMQ

And if you'd like to sign up to support my Thunderclap (to advertise this chance to review The Cautious Maiden) on May 13th, here's the link for that--> 

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/39303-the-cautious-maiden-arcs

Jen Turano’s Playing the Part

{MORE ABOUT PLAYING THE PART} (Bethany House, March 2016)

Can they accept who they are behind the parts they play in time to save the day?

Lucetta Plum is an actress on the rise in New York City, but is forced to abandon her starring role when a fan's interest turns threatening. Lucetta’s widowed friend, Abigail Hart, is delighted at the opportunity to meddle in Lucetta’s life and promptly whisks her away to her grandson’s estate to hide out.

Bram Haverstein may appear to simply be a somewhat eccentric gentleman of means, but a mysterious career and a secret fascination with a certain actress mean there's much more to him than society knows.

Lucetta, who has no interest in Abigail’s matchmaking machinations, has the best intentions of remaining cordial but coolly distant to Bram. But when she can’t ignore the strange and mysterious things going on in his house, it’ll take more than good intentions to keep her from trying to discover who Bram is behind the part he plays.

{MY REVIEW}

 

Playing the Part is the third book I’ve read by Jen Turano; the first two being her debut novel and the free accompanying novella that went before it. From that point in my life, I knew she’s kept writing books, but I also started getting my own book contracts and having babies at the same time! So I haven’t had nearly as much reading time! 

 

Although Jen and I both write historical romance, hers would definitely be categorized as including almost what would be considered slapstick humor compared to what I write. However, there are readers out there who want a little bit of everything, so that’s okay.  From what I’d heard early on about Playing the Part, it sounded interesting and like something I wanted to try.

 

I did end up enjoying this book more than her debut—and I know there are about five or so books in there that she’s written in between then and now—and I do believe the other reviewers who have mentioned that it is her best book yet. It was very entertaining, the characters are well-matched, believable and the romance was sweet. With a fine mix of intrigue and humor, this book has just the right balance—as the author has proven before—and will delight a huge range of readers.

 

Jen Turano’s Playing the Part has a rating of 4.41 out of 5 stars (from 263 ratings) on GoodReads. I was given a copy of of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This book released from Bethany House on March 1, 2016.

 

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.    

 

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1RQM4QD

 

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{MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR}

Jen Turano, author of the Ladies of Distinction series and the A Class of Their Own series, is a graduate of the University of Akron. She is a member of ACFW and lives in a suburb of Denver, Colorado.

Website | Facebook

 

 ENTER TO WIN HERE!