Sovay by Celia Rees is about a girl living in England during the French Revolution. Her family is very much embroiled in politics in both France and England. When her brother and dad both turn up missing, Sovay is forced to take extreme measures to find out where they are. She puts on her brother’s clothes and robs a stage coach. It starts out innocently at first, but soon escalates into something bigger as Sovay has made an enemy of a very influential person in England. She soon finds that Sir Robert Dysart’s influence extends into France, where her father is sick, Sovay and her brother are hiding because they can’t return to England, and where she finally finds her true love.

I really had a hard time getting into this book, because there were too many people to keep track of. Once I got to know who everybody was, I found the book easier to follow and overall, much more enjoyable! There were a lot of twists in the plot that made me constantly wonder where the story line was going. The plot was very well done, but I would have liked it to be a little less confusing in the beginning. It also helped knowing a little about the timeline during the French revolution while reading, so you could understand exactly what they were referring to during the story.

You can read the first chapter here.

Rating:

Title: Sovay

Author: Celia Rees

Format: Paperback

Page Nos.: 404

ISBN: 978-1599904832

Publisher: Bloomsbury Teen

Release Date: June 2010

Available for purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble,

Reviewer: Jillian

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.

Austenprose is celebrating Georgette Heyer for the month of August.  They are posting 34 reviews and one lucky commenter will win all 34 books reviewed here.

A Girl Reads a Book posted about the Canadian Teen Choice Awards, go here and vote for your favorites. I was interested to see that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Hunger Games are both in the all time favorite categories.

Karen Essex, author of Dracula in Love, a retelling of the classic novel has posted an excerpt here.

Julia Quinn, author if the Bridgerton Series, has announced a novel in three parts,  The Lady Most Likely, will be available in December with Eloisa James, author of  A Kiss at Midnight and Connie Brockway, author of So Enchanting.

Interviews:

Elizabeth Hoyt, author of Wicked Intentions, at Reviews By Martha.

Contests:

Reviews By Martha is giving away five copies of Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt, contest ends Sept. 30th.

Dear Author is District 5 on the Mockingjay Blog Tour, they are giving away a unique messenger bag, contest ends August 18th.

Eloisa James is giving away a copy of her book Your Wicked Ways, contest ends August 31st.

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The amazing Jackie at Literary Escapism does an incredible regular posting about news, interviews, and contests regarding the paranormal and urban fantasy blogging world. I have looked around and not found its counterpart in the historical romance world so I thought I would provide that to the readers of Novel Reaction.

What happens when the world as you know it ends, for the second time?! Do you have the courage to pick up the pieces and find happiness in a world that is not your own? Abby, known as Glowing Sun by the Native American tribe that took her in and raised her after her white family was killed by fever, has witnessed the massacre of her tribal family and now has no where to go except with Wade Sawyer.

Wade, a cowboy who found God after traveling down the path of drunkenness, finds himself having to return the absuive father who raised him and sent him down the path of drink.  But his father has been injured, his ranch is not being worked and Wade must come to terms with his past.

I love Abby’s strength and refusal to show weakness.  After witnessing the slaughter of her tribe Abby decides to travel with Wade, a cowboy who saved her before but only until she decides to go somewhere else.  She slowly accepts some of the habits of what she considers the crazy white people, even going so far as to wear a gingham dress but she refuses to give up her knife and pulls it on anyone she considers a threat.  Slowly, both her and Wade begin to realize that  true strength is found in quietly standing up for oneselves in the face of adversity and not in forcing your will on others. Several of the characters found in this third book of the trilogy were in the first two books.  Wildflower Bride was a great read with Abby beliveably struggling to find her place in the world, she doesn’t really belong with the tribe but she doesn’t fit in with the white either and I want to read the rest of the trilogy.

Mary Connealy

Montana Marriages Trilogy:

Montana Rose

The Husband Tree

Wildflower Bride

Rating:

Title: Wildflower Bride

Author: Mary Connealy

Format: Paperback, ebook

Page Nos.:  320

ISBN: 1602601445

Publisher: Barbour Books

Release Date: May 2010

Available for purchase: Amazon.com

Reviewer: Jessica

**I received a copy of this book from Net Galley but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.

This past spring I attend the Online Book Bloggers and Publishers Conference and you can read about it here. Let me just repeat that it was an amazing experience that has helped me so much as a blogger! In addition, I met some amazing bloggers and authors who I continue to follow, read and learn from. It was worth every penny I paid (which was not a whole lot) and I learned more than I can measure from the conference.  That being said, I am SOOOOO excited for the two day conference that will be online on August 6th and 7th. Now for the really exciting part, I am going to be participating as a moderator. **sqquuueee** Yep, little ‘ol me will be talking and moderating some great panels and get to talk with some of the wonderful people I have gotten to know online over the past several months. So mark your calendars, pay your dues, and plan on being edified (not by me but by the other amazing individuals who will be speaking at the conference).

Goals of the Conference
Authors and Bloggers are both working together online to reach out to readers and spread the word about the books we read and love.  We all face challenges with online promotion that can be alleviated by working together.  By streamlining the process of co-operative work between Authors and Bloggers we can move forward using social media and online outlets to expose more readers to more books.

How it Works -
Never been to an online conference? – Well here is how ours works.  It is hosted through a private Ning.  The panels are audio using Blog Talk Radio and each has a corresponding chat room so listeners can discuss the topic together.  Panels can be heard live and will accept callers and questions.  After they can all be listened to in archive on the Ning till the end of the month. There is a $15 registration fee and spaces are limited.  This 2 day event is a great resource to network and meet fellow book lovers.

We have the tentative schedule for the BBA Online Conference with the announcement of panelists to be added soon.  Friday Night and all day Saturday August 6&7 radio panels and live discussions.  A complete listing of the panels scheduled can be found at Book Bloggers and Authors Website here.