Book Review/ Giveaway: Ms. Julia Renews Her Vows by Ann Ross

** this giveaway is closed ***

Well as you are all aware, I've been down with a really nasty stomach virus! As such, I did not get a chance to finish my last thoughts on this review and hit post, so the giveaway that was slated for June 21st, never posted. BUT, I figure late gifts are ALWAYS welcome right?

So I figure we'll just sneak in one last Birthday Bash giveaway! Shhhh, our secret!!




 
Synopsis:  Southern flower Miss Julia re-materializes in her droll 11th adventure, and this time out, the busybody is as busy as ever: she wraps up some business from Miss Julia Delivers the Goods by making sure thrice married rogue Mr. Pickens settles down with Hazel Marie, who is pregnant with their twins. She also contends with the return of rival doyenne Francie Pitts and puts on her detective hat to clear the name of her friend and hired help, Etta Mae Wiggins, who's accused of burglary and assaulting Francie. Meanwhile, Sam, Julia's long-suffering husband, has the audacity to suggest marriage counseling. Worse, the shrink is a man from her past—Dr. Fred Fowler, a Christian psychologist with thirty years of experience in rekindling the flame of Christ-like love in limping marriages. Can feigning the flu save her from a confrontation and, gasp, rekindle their passion? And does Francie have designs on Sam? Ross answers these questions in trademark tart fashion. Series fans will have a ball, but those unfamiliar should definitely start with an earlier volume.


About the Author: Ann is the mother of two daughters and one son, and the grandmother of four grandsons (including twin boys) and two granddaughters, both of whom are her namesakes. When her children were in college, she decided to complete her own education, enrolling in the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Literature. Reluctant to return to an empty nest, she continued her education by enrolling in the English Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned both the Master's and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Afterwards, she taught Literature and the Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Ann's writing career began in the early eighties when two mysteries were published as original paperbacks: THE MURDER CURE and THE MURDER STROKE. A few years later, her first hardcover book was published: THE PILGRIMAGE, an adventure story set in the nineteenth century. All three books are now out of print, but occasionally a used copy of THE PILGRIMAGE appears on Amazon.com for sale. The publication of the first Miss Julia book, MISS JULIA SPEAKS HER MIND in 1999, set Ann on a full-time writing career.

Inspiration for the escapades of Ann's much-loved character, Miss Julia, comes in all manner of ways -- a chance remark by a friend or family member, an incident she happens to see, in a dream, or by being reminded of something in her past experiences. It is always deeply satisfying to her when scenes in the book she is working on suddenly seem to fit together to make a good story. She does not outline or make detailed plans before starting a story. She does, however, have a general plot in mind before beginning to write, but this usually entails only the conflict and the final resolution, with few ideas of how they will be worked out. So, with just the beginning and the end of a book decided on, Ann relies on the characters themselves to fill in the middle with first one subplot after another. This, she says, is the joy of writing -- when a character suddenly does or says something unexpectedly, leading her to funny and surprising 'mini-scenes' that seem to delight readers. Ann was once asked by an interviewer how she knew when something she'd written was good. She replied, "I know it's good when I fall off my chair laughing." From that response, we can be sure that she enjoys writing about her characters as much as we enjoy reading about them.

Review: I loved this book! It could be because after the 3rd 'Bless her heart", I knew I had to give it away during this blog bash (I stopped counting at 15 of 'em, bless her hearts), or because EVERYTHING in the book is SO small town Southern that your teeth hurt from laughing so hard, or that the characters will remind you of real people in your town, or just because it's pure fun! Anybody that is Southern Baptist, or very familiar with them, will wonder if Mrs Ross attended their services and took notes for sure! The book reads so quickly- the dialogue just humms along! Ms. Julia VERY much reminded me of Julia Sugarbaker from Designing Women , brought to 2010 (just with a new cast of sidekicks, and old ones in new characters!) . A very fine update indeed Mrs. Ross! The book is a very quick read and perfect for reading on vacation or by the pool.

The Giveaway

ONE Winners will win a this review copy of Miss Julie Renews Her Vows!

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. 

 
Please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for Subscribing:

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10. Blog about this giveaway (4 entries)

BONUS:   Enter this post link in a Giveaway Linky on another site (5 entries)** MUST provide link to the Giveaway Linky!

Contest will end on July 10th, at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random Number (random.org) on July 11th, and emailed. As soon as winner's info is received, I will l mail them their book during the next week.

Disclosure / Disclaimer:  I received this book, free of charge, for review purposes from Harper Collins. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. I was not told how to review it either.