On Tour: Wishing on Buttercups by Miralee Ferrell, Book Spotlight and a Giveaway!

Wishing on Buttercups

Wishing on Buttercups by Miralee Ferrell
Series: Love Blossoms in Oregon #2
Paperback and Kindle Edition, 416 pages
Published February 1st 2014 by David C. Cook

Can Love Survive When Secrets Collide?

She’d kept her secrets safely hidden—those from her past, and those in the present. Some things, Beth Roberts knows, a lady simply doesn’t share, even in the 1880’s West. The townspeople would never understand. No one ever has.

Jeffery Tucker, a handsome young writer, has kept his own secrets. He doesn’t have a right to pry into Beth’s affairs but finds himself strangely drawn to her and intrigued by the whiff of mystery surrounding her.

Beth knows that one day someone will unravel the threads of her past. And when two men from her past arrive, the truth might just hurt . . . Beth’s future and her heart.

As shadowy memories surface, Beth sketches the scenes she sees and is shocked by what—and who—her illustrations reveal. Dare she risk her heart again?

About the author

Miralee Ferrell is a speaker, accredited counselor, and former ACFW chapter president who has published multiple contemporary and historical romance novels since starting to write in 2005. She enjoys horseback riding, gardening, and family gatherings around their eleven-acre property in Washington State’s beautiful Columbia River Gorge.

Miralee has had eight books release, both in women’s contemporary fiction and historical fiction, with another 5 under contract. She’s an award-winning author of Western fiction, and her newest novel, Wishing on Buttercups released February 1, and is the second in a series set in Baker City, Oregon, 1880s.

Connect with Miralee

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway Time!!

This giveaway is a little different from other giveaways I've had here at The Book Bag. To be eligible to win a paperback copy of Wishing on Buttercups, you must leave a question for Miralee.

Miralee would love to answer questions concerning her books, writing, publishing career, pets, or her hobbies. Feel free to only leave a comment, but if you would like to be entered in the contest, we ask that you come up with a question. Then, you can return to The Book Bag if you want to, and interact with her again.

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Other stops on the tour - visit them all for more opportunities to win!

February 10th - A Book Lover's Retreat

February 11th - Shelley's Book Case

February 12th - For the Love of Literature

February 13th - The Book Bag

February 15th - HomeSchooling4boyz

February 17th - Buzzing about Books

February 18th - Stuck on Books

February 19th - The power of words..

February 20th - My Recent Favorite Books

February 22nd - Melina's Book Blog

February 24th - The Front Porch

February 26th - My Devotional Thoughts

February 28th - Diana's Tea Time Reviews

February 28th - Create with Joy

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

On Tour: Blossom Street Brides by Debbie Macomber and a Giveaway!

Blossom Street Brides

Blossom Street #10 

Blossom Street Brides by Debbie Macomber
Series: Blossom Street #10
Hardcover, 336 pages
Expected publication: April 8th, 2014 by Ballantine Books

#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber has won the hearts of millions of readers with her moving and inspiring stories. Now wedding bells are ringing in the tight-knit community that gathers around A Good Yarn, a store in a pretty Seattle neighborhood. Knitters come to the store to buy yarn and patterns but somehow they leave richer in friendship and love.

Lauren Elliott has waited years for her long-term boyfriend, Todd, to propose, yet he seems more focused on his career than their relationship. When Lauren learns that her younger sister is pregnant before she herself even has an engagement ring, she feels overjoyed yet disheartened. Knowing she can’t put her future on hold, Lauren prepares to make a bold choice—one that leads her to a man she never dreamed she’d meet.

Newly married to her second husband, Max, Bethanne Scranton is blissfully in love. But with Max’s job in California and Bethanne’s in Seattle, their long-distance marriage is becoming difficult to maintain. To complicate matters, Bethanne’s cunning ex will do anything to win her back.

Lydia Goetz, too, is wonderfully happy with her husband, Brad, though lately she worries about the future of A Good Yarn. As she considers how to bring in business, she discovers that someone has beaten her to the punch. Baskets of yarn are mysteriously popping up all over town, with instructions to knit a scarf for charity and bring it into Lydia’s store. Never before has her shop received so much attention, but who hatched this brilliant plan?

As three women’s lives intersect in unexpected ways, Lydia, Lauren, and Bethanne realize that love heals every heart, and the best surprises still lay ahead.

My thoughts about Blossom Street Brides ~~ 

Blossom Street Brides is the 10th book in the Blossom Street series. I want to know how I have missed the other 9 books?? Seriously, I just read my very first Debbie Macomber book in October. It was a Christmas story, Starry Night: a Christmas Novel. I fell in love with the characters and the story-line, and loved how easy it was to read and get lost in it all.

Even though this is book #10, and the first in the series that I have read, I didn't feel like I was missing something. Debbie wrote such a beautiful, flowing story that I immediately felt right at home with the place and the characters. I have no idea if the characters in this story are regulars in her series or not. I am thinking they probably are, but it didn't really matter. There was enough depth to the character development to keep me satisfied.

Debbie's stories have such a gentle feel to them. It's hard for me to explain what I mean by that but I found myself just wanting to stay in that world and hoping that Lydia, Lauren, and Bethanne would want to be my friend too. I am definitely going to be talking another stroll down Blossom Street and I am excited to meet the other people that call that street home.

About the author

Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 170 million copies of her books in print worldwide. Macomber brings to life the compelling relationships that embrace family, community and enduring friendships, filling her readers with a sense of love and hope.

Macomber is the author of more than 100 novels, most recently the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Starting Now, and The Inn at Rose Harbor; two bestselling cookbooks; numerous inspirational and nonfiction works; two acclaimed children’s books and the Mrs. Miracle Christmas novels. She is also the author of beloved and bestselling series of novels set in Cedar Cove, Washington (such as 16 Lighthouse Road, 204 Rosewood Lane, 311 Pelican Court) on which Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove, Hallmark Channel’s first dramatic scripted television series, is based. She is the recipient of a RITA® award; an RT Book Reviews Lifetime Achievement Award, and is a multiple winner of both the Holt Medallion and the B. Dalton Award. In 2010, the Romance Writers of America presented Macomber with their prestigious Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. Her next novel to be published will be Rose Harbor in Bloom (August 13, 2013).

In addition to her bestselling novels, Macomber owns her own tea room, Victorian Rose Tea Room & yarn store, A Good Yarn, named after the shop featured in her popular Blossom Street novels. She and her husband, Wayne, serve on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, and she was recently named World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative.

A devoted grandmother, Debbie and her husband Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington State (the town on which her Cedar Cove novels are based) and winter in Florida.

Connect with Debbie

Website | Goodreads | YouTube | Pinterest

Book Tour Schedule for 
Blossom Street Brides

January 20th - Melina's Book Blog

January 21st - My Recent Favorite Books

January 22nd - Creative Madness Mama

January 23rd - The Book Bag

January 24th - Jax's Book Magic

January 25th - Shelley's Book Case

January 26th - Tidbits of Experience

January 27th - Griperang's Bookmarks

January 28th - Deco My Heart

January 30th - A Book Lover's Retreat

Giveaway Time!! 

I have 3 'Special Early Editions' (ARC) of Blossom Street Brides for 3 lucky winners!

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Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

On Tour and a Giveaway! A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer

A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer

Hardcover, 224 pages

Published October 29th 2013 by Ballantine Books

Known for her heartwarming observations of family life, New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer showcases her beloved Nantucket’s snowy off-season in this emotionally gratifying and utterly entertaining story.

Holidays on this Massachusetts island are nothing short of magical, from the jolly decorations on the Brant Point lighthouse to the much anticipated Christmas Stroll, in which merrymakers promenade through quaint streets adorned with Yuletide cheer. The season’s wonderful traditions are much loved by Nicole Somerset, new to Nantucket and recently married to a handsome former attorney. Their home is already full of enticing scents of pine, baking spices, and homemade pie.

But the warm, festive mood is soon tempered by Nicole’s chilly stepdaughter, Kennedy, who arrives without a hint of holiday spirit. Determined to keep her stepmother at arms’ length—or, better yet, out of the picture altogether—Kennedy schemes to sabotage Nicole’s holiday preparations. Nicole, however, is not about to let anyone or anything tarnish her first Christmas with her new husband.

Nancy Thayer's wonderful tale reminds us that this is the season of miracles. Before the gifts are unwrapped, surprise visitors appear, and holiday joy comes to all, both naughty and nice.

My thoughts about A Nantucket Christmas ~~

Ahhh, another warm, wonderful Christmas story. I love this time of year when all the Holiday stories are highlighted and available to read. It really gets me in the mood to enjoy the season. Reading this story made me want to travel to Nantucket to experience the magic of the season at this place that sounds so fabulous.

Nicole just wants to have a nice, quiet Christmas with her new husband and family. As you can guess, that's not what she gets. I really connected with Nicole because I, too, like to imagine that a nice, quiet Christmas is possible. But Kennedy, her new husband's daughter, comes to Christmas with an agenda - to get her mom and dad back together. She does what she can to sabotage any kind of relationship with her new stepmother.

I loved the character of Nicole. I also loved Kennedy's young son, Maddox. What a warm, innocent, loving little boy. Throughout the book, we also see the world through the eyes of a once loved, now forgotten dog. That aspect of the story was a nice touch to all the drama, and hustle and bustle everyone else was experiencing, as well as giving us a look at unconditional love. I loved the dog too!

A Nantucket Christmas is a beautiful holiday story with wonderful characters. It was just the right thing for me to read to escape my busy life and to remind me of what is important, not only this time of year, but all year long.

About the author

Nancy Thayer has a B.A. and M.A. in English literature from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Before settling down to write and have children she taught English at various colleges and traveled, living in Paris, Amsterdam and Helsinki. In 1981 she was a Fellow at the Breadloaf Writers Conference. She has lived on Nantucket Island year round for twenty-five years with her husband Charley Walters. They have two children and two grandchildren.

Nancy Thayer is the author of nineteen novels, including Summer House, The Hot Flash Club series, Moon Shell Beach, Stepping, and Three Women At The Water's Edge.

Her books concern the mysteries and romance of families and relationships and the humorous adventures of growing older.

In 2008, Redbook magazine chose her novel Moon Shell Beach for their "Hot Summer Read." Nancy's work has been translated into more than 14 languages, including Polish, Hebrew, Russian, and Serbo Croatian. Her novels have been condensed or excerpted in several magazines, including Redbook, Good Housekeeping, England's Cosmopolitan, Holland's Viva, and South Africa's Personality.

She has published a commissioned three-part mystery novella in Redbook, and short stories in literary reviews in the United States, Canada, and Spain. Her first novel, Stepping, was made into a 13-part series for BBC Radio. Her ghost novel Spirit Lost was produced as a movie by United Image Entertainment. Her novel Everlasting was a Main Dual selection of the Literary Guild in 1991.

Connect with Nancy

Website | Blog | Facebook

Check out the other stops on MB's Book Tour

for A Nantucket Christmas

November 1st My Home of Books

November 2nd A Book Addict's Musings

November 3rd Melina's Book Blog

November 6th My Recent Favorite Books

November 7th Griperangs Bookmarks

November 8th The Book Bag

Giveaway Time!! 

This giveaway is for the advanced uncorrected proof that I received from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. It looks different from the finished product but it reads just fine. I know you will enjoy it!

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Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!