Hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading

Today’s question:
What is the most recent book you purchased, or brought home from the local library? What made you pick it? Have you started reading it, right away, or will you wait for a bit?

My answer:
Since I started reviewing, my purchases and trips to the library aren’t as frequent as it was before blogging.  However, the last book I purchased was Web Of Tyranny, by Laurel-Rain Snow, author and blogging peer.  I have been following Laurel-Rain for the past 3 years and have had her book on my TBR list since finding her blogs.  I have wanted to read her novel for a very long time and hope that once I get caught up with some of my requested reviews, I can pick it up and enjoy.

What about you?  What was the last book you either purchased or checked out of the library.

November is being hosted by Edgy Inspirational Romance

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of A girl and her books and is now on tour.
According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering p

lace for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.”
Click on title for synopsis via IndieBound and Amazon  (I am an IndieBound Affiliate)

Wed:  A Bullet For Carlos by Giacomo Giammatteo from Author for PICT
Sat:   Dancing at the Shame Prom, Amy Ferris & Hollye Dexter, Editors from Seal Press for WOW 

Boy do I have a treat for you today!!!  If I know my followers, I know a lot of you are going to enjoy  today’s guest.   I want to thank Jihan, from The Hachette Book Group for giving me the opportunity of hosting today’s guest, New York Times Bestselling Author, Roxanne St. Claire!!

ROXANNE ST. CLAIRE

Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty novels. She currently writes romance for Grand Central/Forever, including the popular “Guardian Angelinos” series and also penned an eight-book award winning series called The Bullet Catchers. Next year, Delacorte Press will release her first Young Adult novel, which has been optioned as a feature film.  She resides in Florida.
Visit her website: www.roxannestclaire.com

 GUEST POST

It’s Raining Kisses!  Roxanne St. Claire

As I write this, I’m watching Hurricane Sandy dump buckets of rain on the east coast of Florida and that makes me want to…kiss.  What can I say?  I’m a romance writer.  And I am celebrating the release of Barefoot in the Rain, a book with a few hot kisses in the rain.

A real kiss in the rain is probably not as glamorous as in books and movies.  I mean, what a mess, right?  Your hair is matted, you mascara smears, I bet it’s cold with all that water pouring over you!  But that’s why we call it fiction, folks!  I did a little research and have come up with my five favorite “rain kisses” in the movies…and there is no shortage of them!  To compile my list, I got some ideas from my Facebook fans (thanks, guys!) and my own memory.  My five favorite rain kisses, in order…

5. Four Weddings and A Funeral.  This kiss makes the list because Hugh Grant is so adorable in this movie and the kiss is amazing.  Andie MacDowell’s line (“Is it raining? I hadn’t noticed.”) does fall into the cheeseball category, but bruised Hugh gets high marks for his one of a kind grovel and a lopsided proposal.

4. The Notebook.  This one’s so visually stunning, it made the movie poster!  Also, the hero’s line is sheer perfection.  “It wasn’t over.  It still isn’t over.”  Then Ryan Gosling does a perfect snag and crush kiss and we all melt in the rain.  Nice.

3.  Spider Man – This one got a lot of votes as a memorable romantic moment in an otherwise high-action film.  Naturally, Spidey has to do it upside down.  Would we expect any less?

2. Breakfast at Tiffanys – I recently watched this with my daughter, expecting her to hate this blast to the past in this 1960’s classic.  But she fell in love with Audrey Hepburn (who wouldn’t?) and we were both teary during the incredible “the end” kiss in the rain with George Peppard.  Of course, the cat steals the scene!

1. A Cinderella Story — the “touchdown” kiss.  This is my all time favorite but not because it’s the most swoonworthy of all kisses.  As rain kisses go, it’s very chaste and sweet , like the film itself.  I chose this kiss for #1 because  I. Love. This. Movie.  I find it completely charming and simply cannot bear to pass up Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray when I’m channel surfing.  The movie is in my personal top ten rom com flicks, so the adorable kiss during the first drop of rain following a California drought it definitely delicious for me.

Bonus:  Not a rain kiss but since we’re in Barefoot Bay, that secluded and romantic inlet that is the setting for all four books in the series, how about a great beach kiss, too?  My favorite is from the classic  From Here to Eternity…is that not the best sandy kiss ever?  Wet enough to qualify for Rain Kisses, this one Iands a special place of honor on our list.

What’s on YOUR rain kiss list? Leave a comment below and one winner gets a “Barefoot Bundle” — copies of Barefoot in the Sun and, of course, this week’s brand new release, Barefoot in the Rain!

ABOUT THE BOOK

THANKS TO JIHAN, FROM THE HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I HAVE
TWO (2) COPIES TO GIVEAWAY. U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

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IN ORDER TO BE INCLUDED IN THE GIVEAWAY*
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ADDRESS IN THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: FROM READING THE SYNOPSIS,
WHY DO YOU THINK SHE MADE A PROMISE TO “STAY AWAY”?*

*U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY*
*NO P.O. BOXES*

 **PER PUBLISHER**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
WON THIS BOOK FROM ANOTHER
SITE, SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE MAY
HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN
AND READ THIS BOOK.
THANK YOU.

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….of Phoenix by A.J. Scudiere

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An email has been sent to the winners and they have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.  Thank you to all that entered.

…..of Spooktacular Giveaway Blog Hop

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An email has been sent to the winner and will need to respond within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.  Thank you to all that visited and entered.

I have seen today’s guest’s book around cyberland, so when Lauren from Blue Dot Literary contacted me, I knew I would love to have the author stop by to tell us about it.  So without further ado, Mr. Paul Batista!

PAUL BATISTA

Paul Batista, novelist and television personality, is one of the most widely known trial lawyers in the country. As a trial attorney, he specializes in federal criminal litigation. As a media figure, he is known for his regular appearances as guest legal commentator on a variety of television shows including, Court TV, CNN, HLN and WNBC. He’s also appeared in the HBO movie, You Don’t Know Jack, starring Al Pacino.

A prolific writer, Batista authored the leading treatise on the primary federal anti-racketeering statute, Civil RICO Practice Manual, which is now in its third edition (Wiley & Sons, 1987; Wolters Kluwer, 2008). He has written articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The National Law Journal.

Batista’s debut novel, Death’s Witness, was awarded a Silver Medal by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). And his new novel, Extraordinary Rendition, is now being published—along with a special reissue of Death’s Witness—by Astor + Blue Editions.

Batista is a graduate of Bowdoin College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Cornell Law School. He’s proud to have served in the United States Army. Paul Batista lives inNew York City andSag Harbor,New York.

GUEST POST

WHY MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM BUSY LAWYER TO NOVELIST?

More basically, why exit from a business with a good regular paycheck to a business where the financial rewards are uncertain?  Why exchange a suit for a casual shirt and jeans?  I get asked these questions a lot, and they are in fact questions I ask myself.

Let’s start with a disclaimer.  I haven’t entirely abandoned the practice of law.  This is work I’ve done for more than thirty years, and old habits die hard. Besides, I like it. More important is the fact that the legal work I do provides fuel for the novels I write.  A criminal case or even a civil lawsuit involves a story, a narrative.  Part of the function of a lawyer is to shape the narrative — not to fabricate facts but to tell a story.

Creating fiction, however, does give me a license to do more than just shape the narrative of a case.  In writing a novel I have the ability and the incentive to weave imagined events together, to create personalities and personal histories, to generate intrigue and conflict.  In practicing law, I’m confined by facts — and those facts can be extremely interesting given the nature of the work I do — but there are no such constraints in writing fiction.

There’s another factor.  Law is a highly regulated business.  No matter how independent you may be as a lawyer, there are people known as judges.  They require you to do specific things on their schedule, not on yours.  They want you to do things their way, not necessarily yours.  They tend to have outsized personalities — wearing a robe can transform a guy or gal who in civilian clothes is demure and shy into a muscled-up action figure.  And there are also clients.  They get to call you in the middle of the night.

The external controls on fiction-writing are different.  Sure, an editor can set “deadlines” but those are more goals and aspirations rather than drop-dead dates.  You can be disbarred for missing a judge-imposed deadline if you do that too often.  The worst a publisher can do is get mad at you.

But the most important reason for transforming myself into a novelist from a practicing lawyer is the beauty of transformation.  The stuff of a novelist’s life is different from the stuff of a lawyer’s life.  Creating novels is a liberating experience; you can let loose your imagination.  I find I can have a passion and a drive that, even though I’ve loved practicing law, I can’t completely tap into in a courtroom. You hear commencement speakers constantly delivering to young graduates the trite mandate to “follow your passions.”   As you move through life and hit the jarring realities of jobs, families and obligations, you can get cynical about those conventional admonitions to follow your passions, live out your dreams, and fulfill your talents.

But those inspirational messages do have meaning, at least for yours truly. Even a lawyer can break out of the constraints of the life he or she has lived.  There is something invigorating, even for a seasoned adult, in taking risks and having the courage to give up security and embrace something unknown, strange, exciting — fresh.

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Ali Hussein—suspected terrorist and alleged banker for Al Qaeda—is finally transported from Gitmo to theUSmainland to stand trial, many are stunned when Byron Carlos Johnson, pre-eminent lawyer and the son of a high-profile diplomat, volunteers as counsel.  On principle, Johnson thought he was merely defending a man unjustly captured through Rendition and water-boarded illegally. But Johnson soon learns that there is much more at stake than one man’s civil rights.

Hussein’s intimate knowledge of key financial transactions could lead to the capture of—or the unabated funding of—the world’s most dangerous terror cells. This makes Hussein the target of corruptUS intelligence forces on one side, and ruthless international terrorists on the other.  And, it puts Byron Carlos Johnson squarely in the crosshairs of both.

Pulled irresistibly by forces he can and cannot see, Johnson enters a lethal maze of espionage, manipulation, legal traps and murder. And when his life, his love, and his acclaimed principles are on the line, Johnson may have one gambit left that can save them all; a play that even his confidants could not have anticipated. He must become the hunter among hunters in the deadliest game.

Written by no-holds-barred-attorney Paul Batista, Extraordinary Rendition excels not only as an action thriller, but as a sophisticated legal procedural as well; tearing the curtains away from the nation’s most controversial issues.

Provocative. Smart. Heart-pounding. A legal thriller of the highest order.

Purchase Links:        Amazon               B&N

Watch for my review in the near future.

THANKS TO LAUREN, AT BLUE DOT LITERARY,
I HAVE ONE (1) COPY OF THIS LEGAL THRILLER TO
GIVE AWAY.   OPEN TO U.S. and CANADA RESIDENTS.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or
Barnes & Noble. I am an  IndieBound affliate.
I am providing link(s) solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

*USE THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM BELOW
IN ORDER TO BE INCLUDED IN THE GIVEAWAY*
BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL

ADDRESS IN THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: FROM READING THE SYNOPSIS,
WHAT MAKES YOU WANT TO READ THIS BOOK?*

*U.S. AND CANADA RESIDENTS ONLY*
*NO P.O. BOXES*

 **HONOR SYSTEM**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
WON THIS BOOK FROM ANOTHER
SITE, SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE MAY
HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN
AND READ THIS BOOK.
THANK YOU.

YOUR JAVA SCRIPT MAY NEED TO BE UPDATED
IF YOU AR EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY
USING THE RAFFLECOPTER ENTRY FORM

a Rafflecopter giveaway