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Monday, October 1, 2012

Unclaimed Legacy ~ Giveaway and Review

 

Ever since Mother's Day my husband and I have been searching Ancestry.com to try and figure out just how far our own family tree goes back in time. Rumor has it from my husbands side of the family that his distant relative may have been William Clark from the famed Lewis and Clark expedition and that is just where I found myself today after reading Deborah Heal's latest novel, Unclaimed Legacy.

In this sequel to Time and Again: Charotte from Miles Station, we revisit Merri and Abby who have come across quite an unusual computer program that has been installed on Merri's computer called Beautiful Home. With it, they can log into the program in old homes and take a virtual trip back into time and view what life was like for the people who lived in that particular home. Now that they haven't been able to get it to work in the Miles Station home any longer, they think the program has malfunctioned or gotten a virus.

They consult with John Roberts, a young man that helped them out in the first book and whom Abby has a bit of an attraction for to help them fix their computer. He brings along a friend who tells them there is no such program called Beautiful Home and offers to de-bug their computer anyway. Since they can't get the computer program to work anymore they set out to work with a neighborhood boy by the name of Michael who has speech problems and is being bullied at school. When they meet his mother, who is deaf, they make the connection that Michael's speech problem can be fixed by working with a speech therapist by the name of Lucy.

Since Lucy is so busy, she asks Abby and Merri to house sit for her and take care of her young dog named Dr. Bob. While there she reminds them of some older ladies named Beulah and Eulah Edwards, twins who live next door and who are a bit intrusive, harmless and eccentric. She advised them, not to eat anything they cook, since most of the time it's not edible and to help them out whenever they can. It's not until they stay over night that the computer program for Beautiful Home once more is working but this time it's there current residence that has a bit of history to reveal on its own.

This is where to story gets interesting and the reader is taken on a fictional time travel of sorts where the author, Deborah Heal has taken pieces of real life history and woven them into the story to create a fantastic story geared to keep the reader entertained and on the edge of their seat through the whole book. I've been delighted to be given a sneak peek into this sequel due out this year for young adults and have to say I adored every single bit of this. It has just the perfect blend of history and action packed suspense to keep young adults glued to the pages as they work with the characters Abby, Merri and John to uncover a crime from history and a mystery of a secret intruder who stakes out the Shake Rag Corner Stage Coach Inn in the late night hours searching for something.

I received an Unclaimed Legacy compliments of Deborah Heal for my honest opinion and being both a lover of historical fiction and young adult books, I think she has mastered a home run here. This one easily rates a 5 out of 5 stars for me and one I anxiously await our coming school year to have my 13-year-old daughter pick up as both a part of literature and history. I think that's what makes this book so incredible is its ability to translate a love of reading with a fascination for history and I hope it will work it's way to the top of the best seller lists for young adults.

Author Bio:










Deborah Heal is the author of the young adult novel Time and Again. She lives in Waterloo, Illinois, where she enjoys reading, gardening, and learning about southern Illinois history. She is married and has three grown children, three grandchildren, and a canine buddy named Scout (a.k.a. Dr. Bob). Currently, she is working on book three in the Time and Again trilogy.

You may learn more about the author by visiting her website: www.deborahheal.com, her Facebook Fan Page, and Goodreads. Her books may be purchased on Amazon.com.

For more information on this unique and wonderful series of books by Deborah Heal, please click on the links below:


You can visit Deborah's website by clicking here or you can follow her on Facebook by clicking here. 

Now the best part, Deborah is provided a giveaway copy from her first book, Time and Again to one lucky reader of my blog. Here is an excerpt from that book:

“No…There’s no way that would work. I mean no one could invent a software program that could do that. No way.”

“What are you talking about?” Merrideth said, staring at her.

Abby didn’t answer, but taking the mouse from Merrideth, she placed the cursor on the View icon on the menu bar and clicked. “This is so similar to my brother’s architecture program,” she began, “that maybe we’ll be able to …”

When she clicked on Flip, both girls simultaneously gasped. “…do this,” Abby said with satisfaction.
The screen view had rotated on its vertical axis and now they were seeing the back side of Colonel Miles’ house. White sheets on a clothesline snapped in the wind. A young woman in a long blue dress and bonnet was stooping to pull a wet sheet from the wicker basket at her feet. A gray cat came out of the barn and, stepping delicately through the wet grass, cautiously bypassed the flapping sheets to lay in the sun on the back step.

After a moment of stunned silence, Merrideth said, “It’s her! It’s Charlotte.”

 If you'd love to read my review on Time and Again, simply click here.

Here are your guidelines:

1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. Like Deborah's book, Unclaimed Legacy and Time and Again on the Amazon page. Simply click the like button next to the title.

3. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. No P.O. Boxes please.

4. Become a follower of Deborah's on her Facebook Fan Page, by clicking here, for an extra chance to enter.

5. Leave a comment below telling me why you'd love to win a copy of this book. Don't forget your email address so I can notify you if you're the lucky winner of this giveaway. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

I will notify the winner of the giveaway on October 9th via email so make sure you enter as many times as you want before the 9th!

For more reviews check out the blog schedule below:

Oct 2nd http://www.mybookaddictionandmore.com/be-featured
Oct 3rd http://justanotherrabidreader.info/
Oct 4th: http://justanotherrabidreader.info/
Oct 5th: http://itstimetoreadmamaw.blogspot.com
Oct 8th: www.dianeestrella.com
Oct 9th: http://www.ekfamilybooks.blogspot.com/
Oct 10th: http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/
Oct 11th: http://robyn-campbell.blogspot.com/ Putting Pen to Paper
Oct 12th: http://itstimetoreadmamaw.blogspot.com
Oct 15th: http://www.christianchicksthoughts.blogspot.com/p/book-reviews.html
Oct 16th: http://www.christianchicksthoughts.blogspot.com/p/book-reviews.html
Oct 17th: http://labornotinvain.blogspot.com/
Oct 18th:http://gabina49.wordpress.com/about/
Oct 19th: http://kerrificonline.blogspot.com/
Oct 22nd: http://hottbooks.com/
Oct 23rd: http://myguiltyobsession.blogspot.com/
Oct 24th: http://christianbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/
Oct 25th: http://thelifeandtimesofwanda.blogspot.com/
Oct 26th: http://thelifeandtimesofwanda.blogspot.com/
Oct 29th: http://hottbooks.com/
Oct 30th: http://allisonsbookbag.wordpress.com/
Oct 31st: www.bloomingwithbooks.blogspot.com
Nov 1st: www.abookloverslibrary.com
Nov 2nd:http://armsofasister.com/
Nov 5th: http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/
Nov 7th: http://faerytalesarereal.blogspot.com/
Nov 8th: http://ctfdevourer.blogspot.com/2012/08/time-and-again.html
Nov 17th: http://edgychristianfictionlovers.ning.com
Nov 23rd: http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/




4 comments:

  1. I am a follower and email subscriber. I friended the author on facebook. I would love to read this book because I love reading about history and the book sounds really good. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did all the things you said: joined your blog, liked both books, joined Deborah's facebook.

    I would love to win this book because I have always loved stories about time travel.

    Thanks, Becky
    ischu9@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the likes and good luck. Be sure to stop by my website for the virtual party going on there to celebrate Unclaimed Legacy's release. http://deborahheal.com/virtual-book-launch-party/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have great news! Unclaimed Legacy will be free for Kindle on Amazon Oct. 29-Nov 2!

    I hope you'll take advantage of this FREE event! Not only to do you get a free copy of my book Unclaimed Legacy, I also benefit with royalties and a rise in ranking for my books.

    Don't forget to go back to post a review of Unclaimed Legacy after you finish reading it.

    And did you know that even if you don't own a Kindle, you can read it on your computer?

    If you haven't read Time and Again, book one in the series, you'll want to before you read Unclaimed Legacy. The cheapest way to get a copy ofTime and Again is to order it from my website (until my supply is gone).

    http:www.deborahheal.com
    http:www.facebook.com/DeborahHeal

    ReplyDelete

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