OK, so I'm rarely in jeopardy, but I write woman-in-jeopardy novels—otherwise called "Modern Gothics"—and this is my blog. It will probably have lots of time between posts, but I'll try not to bore you. Welcome.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Lauren Willig Giveaway



Yep, I'm at it again :-)

This time it's my friend Lauren Willig who has a new book out, and since I know many of you like her books, too (as I do), I'm going to give away one new signed copy.

Here's a peek at what the novel is about:

A page-turning new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig, about a woman who inherits a house in England… and the mysterious past that comes with it.
2009: When Julia Conley hears that she has inherited a house outside London from an unknown great-aunt, she assumes it’s a joke. She hasn’t been back to England since the car crash that killed her mother when she was six (and gave her nightmares that have lasted into adulthood). But when she arrives at Herne Hill to sort through the house—with the help of her cousin Natasha and sexy antiques dealer Nicholas—bits of memory start coming back. And then she discovers a pre-Raphaelite painting, hidden behind the false back of an old wardrobe, and a window onto the house’s shrouded history begins to open…

1849: Imogen Grantham has spent nearly a decade trapped in a loveless marriage to a much older man, Arthur. The one bright spot in her life is her step-daughter, Evie, a high-spirited sixteen year old who is the closest thing to a child Imogen hopes to have. But everything changes when three young painters come to see Arthur’s collection of medieval artifacts, including Gavin Thorne, a quiet man with the unsettling ability to read Imogen better than anyone ever has. When Arthur hires Gavin to paint her portrait, none of them can guess what the hands of fate have set in motion.  

Photo by Christina Courtenay
Again, you should know that I know Lauren, and while I've never trudged through a blizzard with her as I did with Beatriz Williams (Lauren wisely stayed at home for that one), I have shared the odd panel and coffee and chat with her. Here we are only last month in New Orleans at the RT Booklovers Convention, doing our "Call My Bluff" historical words and phrases game. (Left to right: Beatriz, Lauren, Molly O'Keefe, Deanna Raybourn, and Me).

So I'm admittedly biased, but I can also honestly recommend her writing to you, because it's very, very, (very) good.

If you want to sample it yourself, you can read an excerpt from THAT SUMMER here at Lauren's website.

You have until midnight EST this Sunday, June 7, to enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below telling me:

If YOU could inherit a house anywhere, where would it be located?

I'll choose one name at random when the contest closes. Best of luck!

(NOTE: If you have trouble leaving a comment because you don't have any of the ID's listed, just leave one as "Anonymous" and put your name in the comment itself, so I'll know how to get in touch with you if you win).



12 comments:

  1. I love the panel photo! I would love a house just outside London

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    1. Congratulations, mk! The Random Number Generator selected your comment as the winning one! Please email me at susanna(underscore)kearsley(at)yahoo(dot)ca and let me know your address so Lauren and I can get your book mailed off to you!

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  2. Hallo, Hallo Ms. Kearsley!!

    I was just speaking to Ms. Raybourn (Deanna Raybourn) about how I had not minded being a day late for the bookaway she hosted for Ms. Willig earlier today! I went ahead and rounded up all the books between the two of them, and a few other authors I've been meaning to read for the past year -- whereupon I found that it will take approx. 51 days to reach my queue for "That Summer" to reach me! Laughs. I do not mind the wait, of course, but then, as I was sorting out my Bloglovin feeds & how best to use the feeds as they come into me through that platform, I found your lovely post here! :) Clearly, it is the best RSS Reader for me!

    I love how half the story is hinged to one timesscape vs the other, as I think you know I'm in love with time slips since you were brought in on that conversation a few weeks back! :) It was quite lovely seeing a photograph taken of all of you by Ms. Courtenay from NOLA last month! I was celebrating in a small way of your wicked convention through the Storify archive for my chat! :) I am hoping to go next year,...

    To see how both timescapes are knitted together through the artwork is going to be the best part of the story for me! That and how well the times will hold together! Now, then you where to inherit a house!? If everything were equal and you could quite literally relocate without any hitches, I'd elect to live in Newfoundland on the coast! The Newfies love story-tellers, are quick to make friends, thrive on community ties, and are genuinely caring about those they have only recently met, as it is the new friend they were not expecting to find! :) Love their spirit and the fact you can spend 4+ hours in a pub hearing the living history of a group of new friends sounds like the best way to bade my time whilst sorting out where all the particulars are located; such as a farmers market and petrol station! :)

    They have a searing hugging close landscape which befits the wildness of its nature, but when I read that they have a gathering of birds as well as other wildlife, I felt enchanted! The cliffs, the rocky coast, the hardiness of the people, and the open minds towards those who are from away!? What is not to love!? Plus it is deepened by Gaelic ancestral roots, and a thirst for sea and adventure! I'd love to snuggle into an inherited house there! Book me! :)

    Thank you for offering this bookaway!

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  3. Scotland. Is Slains available?

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  4. Tuscany, Italy or somewhere in South England

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  5. Every summer my family spends a relaxing, magical, rejuvenating week on Crescent Lake in Wolfeboro, NH. It's a beautiful tree-lined lake with crystal-clear water, on the outskirts of a quaint little town with shops and restaurants. My dream would be to inherit a house on that lake, so we could live there year-round instead of only visiting once a year.

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  6. The English countryside, Cape Cod or Southwest Kansas.

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  7. Love your books and I'm also a Lauren Willig fan. You ladies can write!! would love to win this book. Thanks for the offer. Leah Smith (smithln2si.edu)

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  8. Allegheny Mountains, of Virginia...a two-story farmhouse, a babbling brook and lots of time to enjoy sitting on the porch!
    patucker54 at aol dot com

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  9. Since I live in the middle of a huge landmass (Iowa), I think I'd like to have a house on the shore somewhere. Maybe the NW coast. A small house, up on a hill, with steps down to the beach.

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