Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a fun weekly meme, simply grab the book you're currently reading and open to a random page. Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. Try and avoid spoilers. Share the Title, Author and page number. Leave your teaser/link in the comments section below.

My Teaser:

"Love no matter the hurt, else any chance you have at being loved -- regardless how small or seemingly hopeless -- will be lost."

The Awakening by Tamara Leigh

Age of Faith, Book Seven

Location 3828

Medieval Historical

Author's Corner

Welcome to Author's Corner hosted by Bookworm Nation, Katie's Clean Book Collection and KJ's Book Nook! Once a month we will feature either a favorite author or new to us author. We will share the author's bio, one of our favorite books of theirs and a review. Each of us will be featuring a different author each month so there will also be links to each of our posts.

For this month's Author's Corner I am going to choose...

Tamara Leigh

Tamara Leigh holds a Masters Degree in Speech and Language Pathology. In 1993, she signed a 4-book contract with Bantam Books. Her first medieval romance, Warrior Bride, was released in 1994. Continuing to write for the general market, three more novels were published with HarperCollins and Dorchester and earned awards and spots on national bestseller lists.


When not in the middle of being a wife, mother, and cookbook fiend, Tamara buries her nose in a good book—and her writer’s pen in ink. In 2012, she returned to the historical romance genre with Dreamspell, a medieval time travel romance. Shortly thereafter, she once more invited readers to join her in the middle ages with the Age of Faith series that includes The Unveiling, The Yielding, The Redeeming, The Kindling, and The Longing. Lady at Arms and Lady Of Eve, the 1994 Bantam Books bestsellers originally titled Warrior Bride and Virgin Bride, are the first of her early medieval romances to be rewritten as “clean reads.” Baron Of Godsmere, the first book in her new series, The Feud, will be available Winter 2014/2015.

Tamara lives near Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, sons, and a Doberman that bares its teeth not only to threaten the UPS man but to smile.

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If I remember right, I came across Ms. Leigh's books when I saw my friend Tara review one on Goodreads. They totally sounded like something I would enjoy and Tara offered to loan me a few to try out.  The first book I read of hers was called The Unveiling, the first book in her Age of Faith series. I was immediately impressed with her writing style, and her ability to write a medieval historical without sounding like a history book. She's able to really transport you back to the time period, where you feel like you're right there along side the characters. The storylines and characters are always complex and the romance always swoony! She's easily my favorite medieval author, I download them on release day and devour them soon after. 

My favorite of hers is probably Lady at Arms. I remember my friend Tara lent me a few of Ms. Leighs books, but after reading them I had to buy copies for myself. They're ones I'll want to read over and over again. 

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Which authors do you love? Who are some of your favorites?

Be sure to check out 

KJ's Book Nook

and
Katie's Clean Book Collection

to see their author picks for December!

2016 Swoony Award Winners

 

2016 was a busy year for me and I wasn't able to spend as much time on the Swoony Awards as I would have liked, add to that a little behind-the-scenes drama and my heart wasn't quite into the awards this year. I still love the Swoony Awards and I'm deciding whether I will continue doing it for 2017. Anyway, I wanted to give the results for 2016 for all those who have participated and we did get a lot of great books on the list (Click here to view the full 2017 list).

 

 

Best Novel of the Year

& Best Regency

The Painters Daughter by Julie Klassen

 

 

Best Contemporary Romance

Her One and Only by Becky Wade

 

Best YA Contemporary Romance

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

 

Best Novella

One Enchanted Christmas by Melissa Tagg

 

Best New Adult Contemporary

Double Play by Ranee S Clark

 

Best Western Historical

The Sheriffs of Savage Wells by Sarah M Eden

 

Best Medieval Romance

Baron of Emberly by Tamara Leigh

 

 

Best High Fantasy

Painting Rain by Annette K Larsen

 

Best Dystopian

Escape to Eden by Rachel McClellan

 

Best Mystery

Always Watching by Lynette Eason

 

Kathy's Choice

The Fall of Lord Drayson by Rachael Anderson

 

Kathy Jo's Choice

A Season to Love by Nicole Deese

 

Katie's Choice

Just a Kiss in the Moonlight by Cindy Roland Anderson

 

Heidi's Choice

My Fair Gentleman by Nancy Campbell Allen

 

 

 

 

 The 2017 Swoony Award list is up and you can start adding books (books published December 1 2016 - November 30 2017) Pease feel free to join our groups (Goodreads and Facebook) and follow us on Twitter (@swoonyawards)! Help us spread the word about good, clean, swoony romance books!

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

Baron of Emberly by Tamara Leigh

Baron of Emberly by Tamara Leigh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I always look forward to a new Tamara Leigh medieval book! This is the second book in the series, it had been awhile since I read the first one, but didn't feel lost when I picked this one up. It's probably better to read them in order though.

Lady Thomasin has accepted that she will wed her family enemy, Baron Mangus Verdun. I liked Thomasin quite a bit and Mangus as well. I really grew to love his character as the book progressed. I really liked them together, I also liked that their relationship was based on more than just looks. I liked that Thomasin was "plain" but because beautiful to Mangus. Her inner beauty really shown threw. Lots of swoony moments!

There is a bit of a mystery that carries over from the first book, but thought it stood well on its own. Ms. Leigh always amazes me at how she is able to transport me to the medieval setting so effortlessly. I always get sucked in and have a hard time putting down her books. I look forward to the final book in the series, I have my suspicion on who the "bad guy" is and am dying to see if I am right!

Content
Romance: Pretty clean, PG13. Couple is married, any intimacy is closed door/fade-to-black. Maybe a handful of fade to black or implied intimacy
Language: None
Violence: Mild, nothing overly descriptive
Religious: Mild, nothing preachy just true to the times

View all my reviews

Baron of Godsmere by Tamara Leigh

On the eve of the deadline to honor the king’s decree of marriage, the fair Elianor of Emberly takes matters into her own hands. Determined none will suffer marriage to the man better known as The Boursier, she sets in motion her plan to imprison him long enough to ensure his barony is forfeited. But when all goes awry and her wrathful enemy compels her to wed him to save his lands, she discovers he is either much changed or much maligned. And the real enemy is one who lurks in their midst. One bent on keeping the feud burning.

4.5

Tamara Leigh has become my go-to author for medieval romance. She has a captivating way of writing that sucks you into the story and has you falling in love with her characters. I love her medieval because they feel so authentic, without being boring or feeling like a history lesson.

Elianor suffered through a horrible first marriage. Although she was only married for two years, they were years filled with constant abuse. She is now a widow and learns she is to be wed to The Boursier (Bayard), who has a horrible reputation. Bayard also suffered from a bad first marriage and is not happy when the kind orders him to marry, given the choice of two brides, either Elianor or Thomasin, to try and find peace between the three warring families. Elianor will do just about anything to avoid another abusive marriage. Without thinking through her actions she sets in motion a plan that will change all their lives and have outcomes she may soon regret.

I liked Elianor. She had a horrible past and while it was a big part of the story, it was never overly detailed or felt too heavy. I actually liked seeing how strong she was and how all her abuse didn't break her. Bayard and Elianor's relationship is complex and has many layers. They both have preconceived notions and have to overcome their pasts before they can ever focus on a future. I loved how Bayard handled Elianor, he has an amazing amount of patience.  I ended up really enjoying their story and watching their relationship unfold. They had great chemistry and while it was fun watching them butt heads, it was even better when it slowly turned to respect and love. They easily made it to my Favorite Couple shelf.

There is a bit of a mystery throughout the story and one that will probably continue through the series. The book wraps up nicely without too many cliffhangers (which I love), but left me excited to read the next book. Ms. Leigh has woven an intense love story and one I'd recommend.

Content
Romance: Pretty clean, mild innuendo and fade to black intimacy
Language: None
Violence: Mild
Religious: Mild-Moderate, felt true to character and time period, not preachy
Read Again: Yes!

Dreamspell by Tamara Leigh

A TIME TO LIVE. A TIME TO DIE. A TIME TO DREAM. Sleep disorders specialist Kennedy Plain has been diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. When her research subject dies after trying to convince her he has achieved dream-induced time travel and her study is shelved, she enlists herself as a subject to complete her research. But when she dreams herself into 14th-century England and falls into the hands of Fulke Wynland, a man history has condemned as a murderer, she must not only stay alive long enough to find a way to return to her own time, but prevent Fulke from murdering his young nephews. And yet, the more time she spends with the medieval warrior, the more difficult it is to believe he is capable of committing the heinous crime for which he has been reviled for 600 years. Baron Fulke Wynland has been granted guardianship of his brother’s heirs despite suspicions that he seeks to steal their inheritance. When the king sends a mysterious woman to care for the boys, Fulke is surprised by the lady's hostility toward him--and more surprised to learn she is to be his wife. But when his nephews are abducted, the two must overcome their mutual dislike to discover the boys' fate. What Fulke never expects is to feel for this woman whose peculiar speech, behavior, and talk of dream travel could see her burned as a witch

I love the new cover for this one. I grabbed a copy of this a couple years ago when it was on sale, I started it but for some reason didn't connect with it and put it aside to try another time. Now that I have read Ms. Leigh's other medieval stories I had to give this a try again and I am so glad I did. I enjoyed it so much more this time around.

Kennedy Plain is a doctor who studies dreams and sleep patterns. One of her patients comes to her and tells her he is able to travel back through time in his dreams. The time-travel aspect I had a hard time wrapping my mind around. In this case, they were able to travel through time after they had deprived themselves of sleep for so long and then I guess went into an extremely deep sleep, awakening in the past. Not only did they travel back in time, but they physically went from our present Las Angeles to Medieval England. I can suspend belief enough to accept time travel, but I usually like it if the traveler comes and goes from the same location (i.e. leaves LA our time and arrives in LA in the past). Not sure why it matters to me, but it makes it easier for me to buy into I guess.

Anyway, I ended up really enjoying this one. I liked Kennedy's story and how the past and present worked into the story. I loved the ending. Kennedy arrives in the past and takes on the identity of Lady Lark, it takes her a long time to realize she wasn't just dreaming. She is rescued by Baron Fulke Wynland, who she thinks is a bad guy from things she read in our present time. I thought Fulke and Lark/Nedy had a fun relationship. I liked how it progressed from "enemies" to friends to true love. There is a mystery going on, took me a little while to figure out who the "bad guy" was. 

I had a hard time putting this one down and stayed up way too late to finish it. I had to keep reading to find out what would happen next. As usual, Ms. Leigh was able to weave in the historical details without making it feel like a history lesson. I do wonder about some of their practices though (view spoiler) A fun read and one I would recommend.

Content
Romance: Clean, mild innuendo
Violence: Mild-Moderate
Religious: None-mild, nothing preachy just true to the time period

Source: Kindle Freebie, 11/2012