Crochet Stories: E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker by Lindsay Smith

source: free review copy via NetGalley
title: Crochet Stories: E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker by Lindsay Smith
published: Dover Publications (November 18, 2015)
pages: 96
genre: crochet/crafting
rated: 4 out of 5

Description
Experience the enduring charms of the holiday classic in an entirely different way! This version of the beloved tale is illustrated with full-color images of crocheted characters. Each chapter of the adventure ― from the Christmas Eve party to the fierce battle between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King to the visit to Toyland and beyond ― features complete instructions for crocheting charming representations of the story’s personalities and props.

Twelve easy-to-follow patterns depict Marie and her Nutcracker, the Mouse King, the enchanted clock, a Christmas tree surrounded by wrapped gifts, and other festive figures. Well-illustrated instructions specify yarn colors, materials, gauge, and abbreviations for stitches; a Techniques section offers guidance to crocheters. All patterns specify yarns that are readily available in craft stores. The ideal gifts for all Nutcracker enthusiasts, these amigurumi figures are keepsake treasures that will brighten every holiday season.

My thoughts:
First off, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and I hope you are all enjoying the holidays with your loved ones. I thought today was a good day to post my thoughts on this crochet pattern book.

Lindsay Smith has created twelve patterns inspired by the beloved classic story, The Nutcracker.
What I like here is that the patterns are easy to follow and the presentation is very well done. How cute are these little holiday themed creations? The characters are introduced before each crochet pattern with snippets from the book, which I thought was a nice touch. There is a Technique section at the end of the book to help guide you as well.

How to Seduce a Scot by Christy English Book Tour/Giveaway

When I was contacted by Sourcebooks for a review request and possible tour stop for Christy English I happily said yes. This is one of the authors whose work I have enjoyed in the past, having read The Queen’s Pawn and Much Ado About Jack.
The folks over at Sourcebooks have provided me with some fantastic books throughout my book blogging years and I was tickled pink to hear from them again.

My review for How to Seduce a Scot , which I enjoyed very much, will be up shortly.
In the meantime…onto the tour post and read on for how to enter to win a copy of the book…

Details:
How to Seduce a Scot by Christy English
First in her new Broadswords and Ballrooms series
ISBN: 9781492612872
Release date: December 1, 2015
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

The Unidentified Redhead (Redhead Series #1) by Alice Clayton

source: free review copy courtesy of the publisher
title: The Unidentified Redhead
author: Alice Clayton/Twitter
published: Gallery Books (October 15, 2013)
genre: chic lit/humor
first line: “You do realize I have seen you naked before, right?”
pages: 318
rated: Romantic and entertaining
3 1/2 out of 5

blurb:
WATCH OUT, HOLLYWOOD!

Grace Sheridan is back. Ten years after discovering that looks and talent are a dime a dozen in Los Angeles, she’s wriggling into a pair of badass jeans and ready to show the film industry that there’s way more to her than just a head of gorgeous red curls. And Hollywood’s newest Brit super-hunk Jack Hamilton certainly sees a lot to like. Grace is trying to restrain herself from jumping a man who is nearly a decade her junior, but Jack is making it clear that he personally has zero problems with that idea.

While Grace and Jack are still swapping innuendo-loaded quips and text sex though, the paparazzi have caught up with them, headlining the “unidentified redhead” who’s been photographed trysting at a restaurant with the heartthrob of the year. Now Grace is in stuck in a double bind. She’s head over heels in lust with Jack, but there’s her own career to think of as well. A sizzling romance with the newest “it” boy may garner her industry attention . . . but is it the kind of attention she’s always dreamed of?

my thoughts:
I was in the mood for something light and funny so I finally grabbed my review copy of Alice Clayton’s The Unidentified Redhead.

The book centers around thirty three year old Grace Sheridan and her love interest Jack. Grace has lost weight, gotten herself together and is now an aspiring actress living with her best friend Holly in Los Angeles. Holly is a casting agent and her latest client is hottie twenty four year old British actor named Jack Hamilton.

There is flirting straight off the bat when Grace and Jack meet at a party and even though Grace keeps telling herself he is too young for her, the two become involved.

The Duchess War by Courtney Milan

source: purchased
title: The Duchess War (The Brothers Sinister)
author: Courtney Milan
published: September 10, 2013
pages: 283
genre: historical romance
first line: Robert Blaisdell, the ninth Duke of Clermont was not hiding.
rated: totally worth it

blurb:
Miss Minerva Lane is a quiet, bespectacled wallflower, and she wants to keep it that way. After all, the last time she was the center of attention, it ended badly—so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. Wallflowers may not be the prettiest of blooms, but at least they don’t get trampled. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention. But that is precisely what she gets. Because Robert Blaisdell, the Duke of Clermont, is not fooled. When Minnie figures out what he’s up to, he realizes there is more to her than her spectacles and her quiet ways. And he’s determined to lay her every secret bare before she can discover his. But this time, one shy miss may prove to be more than his match…

my thoughts:
I have had The Duchess War sitting in my Nook for a little while now after purchasing it on recommendation from SBTB. They are fans of Courtney Milan over there and it is one of my “go to” blogs for romance recommendations and great reviews.

The Duchess War is my first time reading this author and this is book 1 in The Brothers Sinister series.
For some reason, it took me forever to get through this book. I refused to give up on it and read it over the course of a few weeks in between other reads. I can’t pinpoint why it took me that long, I may just have not been in the mood for it.It is actually a good historical romance, nicely written too. It is smart and sexy. Smexy. Some of these characters are having discussions about science and Darwinism.

A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison

source: Free review copy courtesy of Library Thing
title: A Small Indiscretion
author: Jan Ellison Twitter
published: Random House (January 20, 2015)
genre: fiction
pages: 318
first line: London, the year I turned twenty.
rated: 4 out of 5 stars 

blurb:
At nineteen, Annie Black trades a bleak future in a washed-out California town for a London winter of drinking and abandon. Twenty years later, she is a San Francisco lighting designer and happily married mother of three who has put her reckless youth behind her. Then a photo from that distant winter in Europe arrives inexplicably in her mailbox, and an old obsession is awakened.

Past and present collide, Annie’s marriage falters, and her son takes a car ride that ends with his life hanging in the balance. Now Annie must confront her own transgressions and fight for her family by untangling the mysteries of the turbulent winter that drew an invisible map of her future. Gripping, insightful, and lyrical, A Small Indiscretion announces the arrival of a major new voice in literary suspense as it unfolds a story of denial, passion, forgiveness—and the redemptive power of love.

my thoughts:
I found A Small Indiscretion to be a quiet and intense novel centered around a woman whose actions in her youth continue to carry on into her adulthood and affect not only herself, but her loved ones also.

The story goes to and from past and present as you are drawn into Annie Black’s life. Author Jan Ellison slowly drew me in, I did not know where Annie’s story was going but I wanted to find out.

Annie is a married mother whose son is in a horrible car accident and is in a medically induced coma when she begins to write down her story, which is essentially a confession, for him.