Review + Giveaway - To Tempt a Rake by Cara Elliott

TITLE:    To Tempt A Rake
AUTHOR:    Cara Elliott
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 350 pages
PUBLISHED:   Forever Romance, 2011
ISBN#:   978-0-446-54130-5

HOW I GOT IT:   Received from Publisher for Review and Blog Tour

FROM GOODREADS:    Kate Woodbridge has spent most of her life sailing to exotic ports around the globe, acquiring an expertise in botany, along with a few less ladylike skills. So when a deathbed promise to her parents brings her to London to seek reconciliation with her grandfather, the imperious Duke of Cluyne, she feels like a fish out of water. Her outspoken views and fiery temper tend to set off sparks in Society-especially with the rakish Conte of Como.

A devil-may-care rogue, Marco finds the alluring and mysterious Kate a tempting target for his flirtations. But when murder strikes at the duke's country house party he begins to suspect that she's hiding a dark secret. He has his own clandestine reasons for offering to help her prove her innocence . . . And so begins a journey of dangerous deception that leads from England to the glittering ballrooms of Vienna, where Marco and Kate must duel with a deadly villain . . . and their own explosive attraction.

MY TAKE:    Cate Elliott has yet another hit on her hands with this third installment of her "Circle of Sin" series.  To Tempt A Rake reads very well as a stand alone novel, but fits quite well in the progression of the series.  You definitely do not have to read the first two to delve into this book, but for your own enjoyment ~ you should..

Kate and Marco are quite the pair.  She's an extremely well educated young woman who was raised by free-thinking, globe-trotting parents.  On her deathbed, Kate's mother made Kate promise to reconcile with her estranged grandfather, the Duke of Cluyne.  Their relationship is strained to say the least, as he is a very strict, very proper duke who has no idea what to do with the free-spirited granddaughter he's getting to know.

Marco is also known as the Comte of Como; an Italian who uses his charm and outstanding good lucks to breeze his way through life.  Kate sets him on his toes as she doesn't fall under his spell immediately and spurns him ~ in the beginning.  Their relationship is a lot of fun to follow along with and fall into with them.  They set sparks off each other and seem to find mystery and danger at every turn.

This is a fun book to spend an afternoon with.  That is exactly what you will do as it is another one that keeps you turning the pages until you're done.  Cara Elliott knows how to write characters that you will care about and have fun on their adventures with.

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Cara Elliott and Hachette Books are generously offering THREE of you a chance to win a copy of To Tempt a Rake for your very own!  The simple rules are below:

• Read Cara Elliott's Guest Post and tell us ON THAT POST your response to the question I posed to her
• Then, leave a comment on THIS POST with your email address
• Drawing closes 2/18/11 midnight California time.
• Winners will be notified by email and have 72 hours to respond
• Open to residents of the US and Canada, NO PO BOXES
• One prize (this title) per household, no matter how many times you win here or on other blogs/sites

Good luck and if you can't wait to see if you've won, you can find it at the stores below:
Amazon, The Book Depository, IndieBound, Powell's Books

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Guest Post - Author Cara Elliott

Please welcome the fabulous Cara Elliott, author of "To Tempt A Rake" here today as she answers a question that many of us ponder, especially with Valentine's Day approaching.  Take it away Cara....

Romance today vs. romance in the past. Is romance still alive?

Oh, I think romance is definitely alive today! I know, I know, a lot of people think the idea has lost its allure, but I beg to differ. No matter where you are, just look around and you’ll see couples going through the age-old rites of holding hands or canoodling in a quiet corner. Laughing, flirting, sharing secrets crushes with a best friend—I’ll bet you things haven’t changed all that much over the years.

I write books set in Regency England, so I have lots of Jane Austen-type of scenes, involving glittering balls, fancy dresses, and dashing Mr. Darcys. It’s fun to create a fantasy world, with elegant parties and sumptuous country houses. I love to do research and discover all the little details of everyday life in the early 19th century. But the most important thing I’ve learned from reading diaries and first-person accounts from the era is that even though the clothing and the society was very different from that of today, the emotions, the needs, and the yearnings were just the same.

Love and courtship has always been a fundamental part life throughout the ages. It simply takes on a different spin through the different time periods. Whether we wear silk ballgowns and satin slippers, or skinny jeans and Doc Marten boots, we all want to be swept off our feet and fall madly in love. How that happens is infinitely unique, and infinitely romantic!

The Lady herself - Cara Elliott

(BIO from the Hachette site)

I started creating books at the age of five, or so my mother tells me. And she has the proof — a neatly penciled story, the pages lavishly illustrated with full color crayon drawings of horses and bound with staples — to back up her claim. I have since moved on from Westerns to writing about Regency England, a time and place that has captured my imagination ever since I opened the covers of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

I have a BA and an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University and now work as the creative director of a lifestyle sporting magazine, a job which lets me combine my love of the printed word with my love of art. I’m very fortunate in that my work allows me to travel to interesting destinations around the world — however, my favorite spot is London, where the funky antique markets and used book stores offer a wealth of inspiration for my stories.

Cara, thank you for taking the time to visit and share this enjoyable post.

To learn more about Cara and her fantastic Circle of Sin series, check out these links:

 Facebook,  Cara's website, and Twitter.

Be sure to come back later as we will also have a review of her latest book, "To Tempt A Rake" as well as a GIVEAWAY!!

   

Visit the other participating blogs for more reviews and fun goodies:

1/31/2011 http://brokenteepee.com Giveaway

1/31/2011 http://www.libslibrary.blogspot.com/ Giveaway

1/31/2011 http://www.renees-reads.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

1/31/2011 http://threeboysandanoldlady.blogspot.com/ Giveaway

1/31/2011 http://onebookshy.blogspot.com/ Feature, Review, Giveaway, Guest Post

1/31/2011 mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com Feature, Review, Guest Post

1/31/2011 http://booksandmakeup.blogspot.com/ Feature, Giveaway, Guest Post

1/31/2011 http://cuzinlogic.wordpress.com/ Feature, Giveaway

1/31/2011 http://simplystacie.net/ Giveaway

1/31/2011 http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/ Giveaway

2/1/2011 http://maryinhb.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/1/2011 http://bookofsecretsblog.com/ Feature, Giveaway, Guest Post

2/1/2011 http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/1/2011 http://bookswithcoffee.wordpress.com/ Feature, Giveaway

2/4/2011 http://asthepagesturn.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/4/2011 http://teddyrose.blogspot.com/ Giveaway

2/4/2011 http://throuthehaze-reads.blogspot.com/ Review

2/7/2011 http://www.rexrobotreviews.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/7/2011 http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/7/2011 http://www.masoncanyon.blogspot.com/ Giveaway, Q&A

2/7/2011 http://www.saveyspender.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/7/2011 http://chrissysworldofbooks.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/8/2011 http://www.urbangirlreader.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/8/2011 http://paranormalromanticsuspensereviews.blogspot.com/ Giveaway

2/8/2011 http://www.becksbookpicks.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/9/2011 booksoulmates.blogspot.com Review, Giveaway, Q&A

2/9/2011 http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/9/2011 http://novelreaction.com/ Feature, Review, Giveaway, Guest Post

2/10/2011 http://simplyali.blogspot.com/ Giveaway, Q&A

2/10/2011 http://bookslikebreathing.blogspot.com/ Review

2/10/2011 justjenniferreading.blogspot.com Review, Giveaway

2/11/2011 http://thefictionenthusiast.blogspot.com/ Review, Giveaway

2/11/2011 http://dkay401-challenges.blogspot.com/ Review

 

 

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Weekly Wrap 013011

The first part of this feature is inspired by The Story Siren's "In My Mailbox" posts.  Let me show you the books that I've come across in one way or another for the past week. 

I had another lovely week of great books showing up!  Some unexpectedly :)

       

Thank you BelleBridge Books, Harlequin Teen, Robert Parry, LitFuse & Hachette

~~~~~

     

Thank you to A Moment with Mystee for The Winter Sea

The two Micheal Scott audiobooks were won at BookTrib

Thank you to Dren and Marq for the great contest!  I chose Crescendo as my prize :)

~~~~~

      

Yes, I am still on a book buying ban...BUT, at 25 cents each (even the hardbacks) I could not resist.. $1.25 for 5 gems is reasonable ~ hubby even agreed! bought at thrift store

~~~~~

 

Swapped at Paperbackswap

~~~~~

Thank you author Tara Maya

~~~~~

The second part of this post is to show you what happened here in the last week and give you an idea of what is scheduled (so far) for next week. 

Last Week

Open Giveaways


How to Marry a Duke - ends 1/31
Sins of a Highland Devil - ends 1/31
My Immortal Assassin - ends 2/7


Notorious Pleasures - ends 2/14
One World One Heart  - ends 2/17

Reviews

Notorious Pleasures
All That's True
At Hidden Falls
A Stitch Before Dying
The Unfinished Song: Initiate

Next Week

Join us as we interview

Elizabeth Hoyt, author of NOTORIOUS PLEASURES

On BlogTalkRadio

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2 PM ET

Publisher: Vision, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing

BlogTalkRadio/HBG Program:

Elizabeth Hoyt joins us again on the Grand Central Publishing BlogTalkRadio channel, this time for her latest book, NOTORIOUS PLEASURES. Elizabeth Hoyt is a USA Today bestselling author of historical romance. She also writes deliciously fun contemporary romance under the name Julia Harper. Elizabeth lives in central Illinois with three untrained dogs, two angelic but bickering children, and one long-suffering husband. Please visit her websites for chapter excerpts, book extras, and author appearances: http://www.elizabethhoyt.com/ and http://www.juliaharper.com/.

Call-in with your questions during show time to participate in the live interview @ (646) 378-0039

Listen-in or chat on the Grand Central Publishing channel on BlogTalkRadio.

If you would like your questions to be read on air by the host or if you would like to give advanced notice of your participation during the live call, email anna.balasi@hbgusa.com.

Other links:
About NOTORIOUS PLEASURES
Listen to an Excerpt
Check out ElizabethHoyt.com
“Like” Elizabeth Hoyt on Facebook
Follow @ElizabethHoyt on Twitter

Scheduled Reviews (so far)

    

 

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Deadly Heat & Deadly Lies Set - ends 2/13