Showing posts with label @MargAnnSpence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label @MargAnnSpence. Show all posts

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Book Review: Lipstick on the Strawberry by Margaret Ann Spence

Note: This is my review on the book LIPSTICK ON THE STRAWBERRY. I have posted more details about the book here.

Review

Rating: 4 Stars
Lipstick on the Strawberry is a nice enjoyable read. A part of the story was spent on food and kitchen, but there are other parts of the story that will keep even non kitchen fanatics entertained.
The story is written from the first person point of view, so we are mainly in the heroine's head. Camilla is British but is now living on American soil, having followed her husband over to his country. Unfortunately, their marriage didn't last long, so she focused all her time and attention into her catering business. I enjoyed reading about the food she cooked and the challenges she faced in her business.
I find Camilla's character really believable--she sure knows food and her way around the kitchen, definitely much more than me. She was also quite down to earth and reacted in an understandable manner on various stresses in the story. As a character, Camilla exhibited growth with regard to her relationships with her siblings as certain truths came to light and her realization as to where she wanted to be near toward the end of the book.
I also enjoyed reading on her relationships with Billy and Jake. Her relationships with both were also written well. In fact, I couldn't wait to find out who she'd end up with, as both men were nice and seemed equally entranced with her.
Lastly, I find the mystery in the story quite good. However, perhaps my only reservation is that I didn't think it deserved the center stage attention that the author seems to want to give it. Perhaps if there were more meat/conflict, it would've made the story better.
Overall, a nice read. A 4 star rating for me! Well done!

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Release Blitz + Giveaway: Lipstick on the Strawberry by Margaret Ann Spence

NEW BOOK RELEASE
From Award Winning Author
Margaret Ann Spence
Can a father's hidden life threaten a daughter's chance at love?
Lipstick on the Strawberry
LIPSTICK ON THE STRAWBERRY
Margaret Ann Spence
Genre: Romance, Women's Fiction
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Publication Date: July 5, 2017
Estranged from her English family, Camilla Fetherwell now lives in the United States and owns a successful catering business. Returning home for her father's funeral, she reunites with her first love, Billy, whom she hasn't seen since her father broke up their teenage romance. Billy seems eager to resume their love affair. But after one blissful night together, things take a turn.
Camilla suspects her father may have led a secret life, and when Billy reveals something he, too, has discovered, her apprehension grows. Billy holds her heart, but their relationship might be tainted by what her father hid. A reunion seems impossible.
Her life feels as splattered as her catering apron. As she watches her food stylist make a strawberry look luscious with a swipe of lipstick, Camilla wonders if a gloss has been put over a family secret? Can she and Billy survive what's underneath?
Lipstick on the Strawberry won FIRST PLACE, Romantic Elements Category in the 2015 Beacon Contest sponsored by First Coast Romance Writers.

Purchase Links

Available now for $5.99 only. Grab your copy today.

An Excerpt from the Book

Take an inside look at Lipstick on the Strawberry with this intriguing excerpt from the book.
My fingers searched the back of the drawer and felt something glossy. I pulled, and saw in my hand a colored photograph of a woman who looked to be about the age I was now. She had hair the color of fallen leaves. Only the woman’s shoulders were visible below the head, she was wearing a scarf of blue and green, which reflected the color of her laughing eyes. In the background was the blurred green of a field. I flicked the photo over. The penciled initials N.B. were the only notation.
A cold prickle ran down my back as I stared at it.
I tucked the photo into my pocket. How peculiar was it to find this woman’s image stuffed in the back of a drawer? Daddy had gone to pains to hide the picture.
In one hand, I lifted the plastic bags of trash, picked up the passport in the other, and went to find Tilda.
“Would you mind if I went home and rested?” I asked. “I feel a headache coming on.”
“Yes, of course. What did you find in there? Oh, good, Daddy’s passport. I’d like to keep that. How thoughtful of you. Anything else of interest?”
I turned so Tilda couldn’t see and fingered the pocketed photo. The letters N.B. intrigued me. Was this just the acronym to remind our father of something important? Or did it mean something else?

Giveaway

WIN $20 AMAZON GIFT CARD
Lipstick on the Strawberry Giveaway Graphic
Contest runs from July 6 - 12, 2017.

About Margaret Ann Spence

Margaret Ann Spence
Margaret Ann Spence was born in Australia and has made the United States home for many years. In Lipstick on the Strawberry she takes as backdrops Boston, Massachusetts and Cambridge, England, cities she's lived in and loved. ` Lipstick on the Strawberry won First Place, Romantic Elements Category, in the 2015 Beacon Contest, sponsored by the First Coast Romance Writers.
Official website: http://margaretannspence.com
Connect with Margaret Ann Spence on social media:
Lipstick on the Strawberry Tour Graphic
For more information, visit the Lipstick on the Strawberry Book Page at Book Unleashed.

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