Special Edition: New Year's Giveaway -- Review & Giveaway

Sylvia Day's upcoming release PRIDE AND PLEASURE, available January 25th

I was hooked at "the cover".

Yes, I’m still a sucker for a gorgeous cover. Guess you can tell I’m not an e-reader yet. Soon, I hope, but as of this post, I’m still a paper book gal. And, boy was I sucker-punched by the cover of Sylvia Day’s, PRIDE AND PLEASURE.

No, really…I could just sit and stare. (Okay, I did just sit and stare…)

When I finished ogling, I turned the book over and read...

Wealth has its dangers…

There are disadvantages to being an heiress, as Eliza Martin knows well. Fortune hunters flock to her, acquaintances lie and pander, and lately, someone is engineering “accidents” to propel her to the altar. But Eliza will not be bullied, and she will get to the bottom of this plot. All she needs is a man to infiltrate her assemblage of suitors and find the culprit. Someone not easily noticed; a proficient dancer, quiet, and even-tempered.


…so do certain men

Thief-taker Jasper Bond is entirely too large, too handsome, and too dangerous. Who would believe that an intellectual like Eliza would be seduced by a man of action? But the combination of her stubbornness and the mystery makes the case one Jasper can’t resist. Client satisfaction is a point of pride and it’s his pleasure to prove he’s just the man she needs after all…

Oh… My…

I had to open the book and read the first sentence:

As a thief-taker, Jasper Bond had been consulted in a number of unusual locations, but today was the first in a church.

Well, damn. Now I’m hooked. I’m going to have to stop what I’m doing and read until I lose interest.

Several hours and half the book later…no, I’m not freaking kidding…I had to stop reading because I was hungry, I had to pee and the employees at my local McDonald’s where I’d sat down for breakfast several hours prior were shooting me is-she-ever-going-to-leave? glances.

As I closed the book and slunk out of the fast food restaurant, I wondered if the rest of the book would hold up. I often find the second half of novels otherwise well done, lacking.

Sometimes the characters don’t live up to their promises in the beginning. (See my Brava Blog post today for more on promises.) Sometimes the plot peters-out or fragments. Sometimes the story just drags.

None of that happened in PRIDE AND PLEASURE. I read the second half as quickly as the first, with just as much interest. Past the mid-point, Sylvia amped the suspense plot, complicated the romance and kept the pace kicking along.

There are so many well crafted storytelling elements in PRIDE AND PLEASURE, I decided to use the novel as the subject of my first regular column at Savvy Authors, a monthly article reviewing fiction novels from a writer’s perspective and spotlighting effective use of craft. So, if you’re interested in developing your writing to the level of this National Bestseller, Sylvia Day, stop by Savvy Authors February 2nd for my debut column.

Of course, I also suggest picking up a copy of PRIDE AND PLEASURE for yourself, because my description would never transcend the experience of reading it yourself.

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble.com
Borders.com
Books-a-Million.com
IndieBound.com
BookDepository.com

Read an excerpt: HERE.

Or you can enter to win a copy: Follow me on Twitter: @joanswan & send me a tweet with #newyear in the message. (Tweet Here)

Contact Info:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Tomorrow, A special day for WRITERS! Margie Lawson will be here with a mini-lesson and lecture packets to give away!