Blog Tour & Book Giveaway: Marian's Christmas Wish

Marian's Christmas Wish

by Carla Kelly; Cedar Fort, Inc.

2011 Christmas Books & Things, pg. 8

Order from a local Independent LDS Bookstore 

Stores are listed on the right of the blog

About the Book:   Miss Marian Wynswich is a rather unconventional young lady. She plays chess, reads Greek, and is as educated as any young man. And she's certain falling in love is a ridiculous endeavor and vows never to do such a thing. But everything changes when she receives a Christmas visit from someone unexpected--a young and handsome English lord. 

About the Author:  Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars.

The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)

The Kellys recently (last year) retired, and moved from North Dakota to Utah, where they have relatives.

Kay's Kritique:  I loved this book!  Marian's Christmas Wish is a delightful combination of historical fiction (1815 England) with a lot of humor, some romance and a little mystery thrown in for fun.  16 year old Marian or "Mare" as she is lovingly called by her family -- sometimes innocently and sometimes not -- constantly gets herself into the funniest predicaments that had me laughing out loud so many times throughout the book.  While the book's setting is Christmas, it would be an enjoyable, fun read any time of the year.  This was the first book I've read by Carla Kelly and will be definitely looking for more.  Easy to give this one 5 Stars.

Other Reader Reviews: 

Review by Rebecca:  Absolutely loved, loved, loved this one! It's so much better than the blurb makes it sound--not that there is anything at all wrong with the blurb, mind you--but there is so much more to the story than the blurb lets on. This book has it all. There's family drama, tragedy, and humor. There's an odious suitor to give Mr. Collins a run for his money. There's diplomats and peace treaties and a not-so-diplomatic chess game. There's French spies and English spies and the threat of a posting in--horrors!--the Americas. Throw in a despicable brother-in-law, a vicar who imbibed a wee bit too much in the name of courage, and a younger brother who nearly poisoned the hero, and you've got one book that is nearly impossible to put down! . . . I've totally neglected things I was supposed to get done this weekend in order to finish reading this book--and plan on doing the same again in the future, because this one is definitely going on the "keeper" shelf!

Cici's Review:  I bought this before I knew what it was about because I just like Carla Kelly's writing and she never disappoints. She has a delightful way of showing character interactions. Her historical details reveal elements of the past that are not generally known. And her plot lines demonstrate ingenuity. She applied all of these aspects and more in this fun, energetic Regency romance. There just can't be too much Carla Kelly--it's not possible!

Giveaway Details:

I'm giving away 1 Copy of Marian's Christmas Wish if the  winner lives in the US/Canada or if an International winner they will receive an eBook copy.

Super Simple to Enter:

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to SIX extra entries by:

1 for "Liking" us on Facebook - Click the "Like" button on this blog.
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List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011
Winner will be announced Monday, Dec. 12, 2011

Thanks for stopping by. 
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here.

Click Here for all the Marian's Christmas Wish Blog Tour Stops