Kelly's Review and Giveaway!: TREASURE ME!

It's my birthday! Well, soon, in two weeks or so. But to celebrate, I am doing my very first giveaway with an author that I just adore and I know you will too! So first, my review, then at the bottom of this post, you can read about the give-a-way.

TREASURE ME
By Christine Nolfi
Published by: Christine Nolfi
First Printing: April, 2011
ASIN: B004XMOP91
Amazon; Goodreads

Concept: “Petty thief Birdie Kaminsky has arrived in Liberty, Ohio to steal a treasure hidden since the Civil War. She’s in possession of a charming clue passed down in her family for generations: Liberty safeguards the cherished heart.

The beautiful thief wants to go straight. She secretly admires the clue’s author, freedwoman Justice Postell, who rose above the horrors of slavery to build a new life in Ohio. According to family lore, Justice left South Carolina at the dawn of the Civil War. Heavy with child, she carried untold riches on her journey north. As Birdie searches for the treasure, she begins to believe a questionable part of the story: a tale of love between Justice and Lucas Postell, the French plantation owner who was Birdie’s ancestor.

If the stories are true, Justice bore a child with Lucas. Some of those black relatives might still live in town. Birdie can’t help but wonder if she’s found one—Liberty’s feisty matriarch, Theodora Hendricks, who packs a pistol and heartwarming stories about Justice. Birdie doesn’t know that investigative reporter Hugh Schaeffer will trip her up—as will her conscience when she begins to wonder if it’s possible to start a new life with stolen riches. Yet with each new clue she unearths, Birdie discovers a family history more precious than gems, a tradition of love richer than she could imagine.” (Concept provided by Author.)

Review: I did not read the concept of this book before I started to read it. I just jumped in. It starts out with an introduction of sorts to Birdie, a thief of the pick-pocket variety, and one who wants to turn over a new leaf, on the right side of the law this time. She journeys to the small town of Liberty, Ohio. Don’t you love the name of this town? I just imagine 4th of Julys in a town like that. There’s a treasure there that’s been left behind by a family member as described in the concept above. The story of the treasure and starting life over in a small town is a little cliché for me. The REAL story here though is in the characters who are SO endearing. My personal favorite (and I would imagine this has been said before) is Theodora Hendricks, a woman after my own heart. People will say she totes a gun and a cell phone, but I’m telling you, her most powerful weapon is her stories. I cannot forget Finney either – just another character at the Second Chance Grill. And don’t you love THAT? The Second Chance Grill in Liberty, Ohio? C’mon. This is great stuff right?

There’s a love story going on between Birdie and Hugh and if sexual tension is your thing, then this book has it. Sometimes you might find yourself wanting to smack Hugh upside his male head because he’s so frustrating but the fact that I wanted to do that, told me that Ms. Nolfi hit her mark inside my reader’s heart. Without realizing when or how it happened, I was hooked. Great job, Ms. Nolfi. Great job.

I think I read somewhere that this was Book One in a trilogy but that Book Two is a prequel? I’m not sure on that but if there are more of these books, I want them and you should want them too! Run on over to Amazon and pick this up. It’s a heartfelt read and one that you will find yourself enjoying.

What I liked: The ladies of the Second Chance Grill (in fact, that could be the name of the book). Or better yet call it, Liberty, Ohio and include the whole town. Enchanting. I want to pull up a glass of iced tea and sit down with them on a summer afternoon.

What I disliked: There were an awful lot of characters in this book to keep up with. Everyone plays their part, so I guess it’s okay, but somehow, I didn’t need that many to confuse me. I know this sounds silly considering I just said that the supporting characters were what I liked so much about the book but trust me when I say there were just a tad too many.

My rating: 4 feathers



NOW, on to the giveaway! Christine has generously offered an ebook of Treasure Me (read it now before her next book comes out!). To enter, please leave your email address in the comments here so we have way of contacting you if you win. We will draw a winner from Random.org and send you an e-mail as well as passing on your e-mail information to Christine so she can send you her book. How simple is that?

Christine's second book, Second Chance Grill, is due out soon, in a few weeks soon. Look at that, Christine listened to me and my suggestion about the name of her book! Its about time someone did! hehehe (I'm kidding, she named way before I suggested it.) I'm hoping that Christine may want us to follow up on our review of Treasure Me with a review of Second Chance Grill. ::crossing fingers::

The giveaway will run from today, June 14th through Saturday, June 25 (my birthday! YAY!). A winner will be drawn and announced on the 26th. Good luck!!!

Kelly
for Book Lover's Hideaway



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.