And the winners are:
Woman of Substance Virtual Book Review Tour Only:
The winner of the Book Reviewer random draw is: Teena in Toronto.
The winner of my two week VBRT random draw after 143 comments is:
Anas who posted on the very first day at Teena in Toronto.
On Feb 13 – March 1 I had one book spotlight post at Sensuous Promotions for Moving On, A Prairie Romance.
The winner is: Debra Jayne East
CONGRATULATIONS WINNERS AND THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING AND COMMENTING.
If you don’t start you can’t finish.
http://www.readyourwrites.blogspot.ca/2013/03/woman-of-substance-review-giveaway.html#comment-form
Kim said, “Woman of Substance is categorized as being a woman’s fiction/sweet romance book. For me, Woman of Substance is simply about realizing that it isn’t what a person looks like on the outside. It’s about realizing that the true heart, soul, spirit and beauty of a person is what’s on the inside.
Rating: 4”
I have been so very fortunate through this Virtual Book Review Tour. My ratings and comments have varied therefore it is indicative that the reviewers Goddess Fish Promotions provides are not simply there to give a good rating and leave. They take the responsibility seriously. I have placed the names of the commenters in a random draw computer program and have the winners and I will post those on the next page. I’m so excited.
In this excerpt from Woman of Substance Ruth used a scene where Robbie disguised as Robin meets Frank for the fist time:
“As the geese began to paddle to the shore, she said, “The geese trust you.”
He teased the bread into crumbs with bony fingers. “These here birds know me. I like to be outside. I live over there.” He turned toward a seniors’ care home, where she’d often seen men and women sitting on benches and in wheelchairs around the front door.”
The geese are important to Frank and a touchstone for Robbie. Later in the story Jake asks Robbie if she suggested that Frank was a goose whisperer.
On a body of water on the Saskatchewan prairie you will see geese.
Today I am over at Devotional Thoughts http://www.mydevotionalthoughts.com/2013/02/goddess-fish-woman-of-substance-by.html
[Ruth’s] My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“First of all, this book is to be appreciated since there is no profanity nor sex scenes. That alone makes me want to recommend this book fairly highly. When I take into the account the clever story line, I hold this book in even higher esteem. This is a book that is targeted at adults aged 25-40, but it would be suitable for young adults as well if the topic interests them.” . . .
However later she does say that “As clever as I found the story, I felt like I wanted more. I felt like I didn’t know any of the characters very well. Robbie shared the most, and Jake did to an extent as well. But the supporting cast left a lot of unanswered questions. I felt that I couldn’t truly connect with the characters since I felt that their background was not too detailed.”
I appreciate Ruth’s thoughts which she shared with readers. Each reviewer has expectations for a story and by passing on their assessment they assist readers’ choices.
Drop on over to Ruth’s blog, besides reviewing books she has many give- aways.
Photo provided by Horton Group, http://www.HortonGroup.com through Stock.xchng photo http://www.sxc.hu/
Today Woman of Substance is reviewed by Andrea Coventry over at Uplifting Reads: http://upliftingreads.blogspot.ca/2013/02/woman-of-substance-by-annette-bower.html
Andrea **My thoughts**
“Being a larger woman, I found myself relating to Robin a bit more than Robbie. I have heard all of the same things, only much more brutally than Robin ever has to experience. I also related to Jake’s struggle in saying goodbye to his grandfather, having recently lost both my grandmother and my father. This story became much more personal to me than I had thought it would when I signed up for the tour.”
I appreciate Andrea sharing her experiences as a larger woman and also the loss of important members of her family.
When I wrote Woman of Substance I wanted to explore loss. Loss comes in so many ways and even the loss of preconceived ideas are beliefs that may be hard to relinquish and in that letting go we grieve.
But the loss of someone important in our lives is another concept all together. The immediate time of the loss is followed by the business of the details, followed by the knowledge that memory of love, and the impacts that have been made on our lives,
Holding hands through the generations
Stop by Uplifting Reads and if you don’t want to share a comment, take a moment and read the other comments and my answers. Perhaps you too will be nudged into joining Robbie/Robin, Jake and Frank on their journey.
image courtesy of pixelstar on stock.xchng http://bestsellerlabs.com/7-free-photo-libraries/
Moving Forward
Way back when, February 4-8 to be precise, I began a virtual book review tour with Woman of Substance through Goddess Fish Promotions. I had a bit of a rocky start with a three star review but I took a deep breath and knew that as readers reviewers have differing opinions and read in different ways. The rest of the week showed four and a half stars etc. The grades are fleeting. Made it through the first week. Saw my sales on Amazon bump up. I can’t tell what is happening on B&N,Kobo or Soul Mate Publishing’s site. Thank goodness, I could spend all day just checking to see if a book is purchased on every site.
I decided on a different strategy this time around. Rather than bombard my Facebook public, my twitter followers, my mailing list and my blog followers with constant prompts about reviews, I broke the two weeks with two weeks in between. I think it works well.
The benefit of a virtual book is that the bricks and mortar store cannot remove the book that isn’t selling right off the press.
Yesterday was the first day of my second week of my virtual book review tour. The first review was on Opinionated Consumer http://reviews.brooklynberrydesigns.com/2013/02/woman-of-substance-book-review.html
I did as I have done when I open the link, I peak for the grade, stars, flowers, crowns, but there wasn’t a grade. There were Brooke’s thoughts: “I was pleasantly surprised to see that this is a Canadian author, and loved that it look place in Regina, Saskatchewan. I loved that the book was interesting and exciting, but still clean enough I could recommend it to my 16 year old niece and not blush. The plot was realistic and the story entertaining.” . . . You will have to click through to Brooke’s blog and read the rest.
Today, I am over at Welcome to My World of Dreams reviewed by Judy Thomas. http://www.jhthomas.blogspot.ca/2013/02/book-review-woman-of-substance-by.html Again, I peaked through my fingers, again no stars, flowers, crowns but Judy’s insights. “With a fascinating look at falling in love with the inner person, instead of just the outside, Ms. Bower has penned a touching and powerful romance with Woman of Substance.” . . .
Book reviewers amaze me with their dedication to reading many books and their talent to provide readers with information which allows them to decide if the book is right for them.
There are so many choices out there and thank goodness because we all read differently.
Drop by Brooke’s review and then search her page for her Brooklyn Berry Designs page and carry on to her Canadian Blogs etc. You never know what you will discover.
After that control plus click onto Judy Thomas’s page read her other reviews and her work. Again you will discover something that will be just what you might need at the exact moment you need to find it.
Thank you for stopping by my blog page.