Book Review and Giveaway: Bon Bon Voyage by Nancy Fairbanks

on January 21, 2011

** this giveaway is closed **

Have you ever checked out the paperback bin at your local Dollar General?

If you're like me, you're probably 50/50 on finding really good books out the $1 pile! This book was definitely one of the keepers!

Synopsis: When El Paso, Tex., food writer Carolyn Blue takes a gourmet cruise, even if she must share a cabin with her mother-in-law, she has to admit it's a terrific Mother's Day present: passage on the Bountiful Feast, sailing to the Canary Islands. The pumpkin soup is tasty and the tilapia, with black bean and corn relish, scrumptious on the cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona, but things turn sour when another passenger, Mrs. Gross, goes missing. Was she accidentally left behind when the cruise ship docked? Or could something more sinister be afoot? Carolyn's determination to get to the bottom of things lands her in hot water. The frequent first-person narrative shifts among Carolyn and other central characters and fans will relish the many dessert recipes sprinkled throughout.

You can read an excerpt on Nancy's Website!

About the Author: Nancy Herndon is a US lecturer in English, and the author of historical romances under the pseudonym Elizabeth Chadwick, and mysteries under the name Nancy Herndon and Nancy Fairbanks. Originally from St Louis, she now lives in El Paso, Texas, with her husband, a University professor. She studied at University of Missouri and Rice University and did doctoral work in English at New York University. From 1989 she published historical romances and short stories under the pseudonym Elizabeth Chadwick. She then wrote seven comic police procedural mysteries, with protagonist, Texan Elena Jarvis, under her married name, Nancy Herndon. Her current series is the Carolyn Blue Culinary mysteries, written under her maiden name, Nancy Fairbanks

Review: This Fairbanks's eighth culinary mystery, featuring Carolyn Blue. i finished the book in 3 days- it is a very quick read! The series is not going to win literary prizes, but are very enjoyable quick reads, and perfect for those long winter days. The recipes are excellent and she includes one at the end of all the chapters in this book, as part of Carolyn's columns that she sends to her paper. It's a neat technique and I found myself looking forward to them! Some have said the switching back and forth between characters is confusing, but I had no problem keeping up, and it enlived the book to me, as the characters were more fleshed out.

In fact my only quip with the book was that the publisher did NOT proof the cover art! The cruise is supposed to be in the Canary island region off Africa. Yet the cover has penguins on it....SIGH...at least they got the bons bons that started off the cruise right! I admit bad covers are a pet peeve with me-it usually only takes reading the cover flap to realize when a cover art is wrong....

But I know one of you will like this book very much!

Giveaway:

Winner will receive this copy of Bon Bon Voyage!

Mandatory Entry:

Go to Nancy's website, and tell me one of the titles

of the other Carolyn Blue series books!

(must be done of extra entries do NOT count)

Extra Entries:

Make sure I have an email address, with your comment, so I can contact you, if you win!
If I don't have a way to contact you, you will forfeit your win!

USA / Canada

3 day winner's rule : Winner has 3 days to acknowledge they won prize,
and confirm address, if no contact, then new winner will be picked in their place.

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Contest will end on February 6th, at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random Number (random.org) on February 7th, and emailed. As soon as winner's info is received, I will mail the book to them during the following week!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I bought this book for personal use and donated it for this giveaway. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it either.