Blog Tour, Book Review and Giveaway: Barely a Lady by Eileen Dryer

From the Publisher's Website:

Olivia Grace has secrets that could destroy her. One of the greatest of these is the Earl of Gracechurch, who married and divorced her five years earlier. Abandoned and disgraced, Grace has survived those years at the edge of respectability. Then she stumbles over Jack on the battlefield of Waterloo, and he becomes an even more dangerous secret. For not only is he unconscious, he is clad in an enemy uniform.

But worse, when Jack finally wakes in Olivia's care, he can't remember how he came to be on a battlefield in Belgium. In fact, he can remember nothing of the last five years. He thinks he and Olivia are still blissfully together. To keep him from being hanged for a traitor, Olivia must pretend she and Jack are still married.

To unearth the real traitors, Olivia and Jack must unravel the truth hidden within his faulty memory. To save themselves and the friends who have given them sanctuary, they must stand against their enemies, even as they both keep their secrets.

In the end, can they risk everything to help Jack recover his lost memories, even though the truth may destroy them both?

About the Author:

Born and raised in Brentwood, Missouri and a product of Catholic Schools, she lives in St. Louis County with husband Rick and her two children. She has animals but refuses to subject them to the glare of the limelight.

Dreyer won her first publishing award in 1987, being named the best new Contemporary Romance Author by Romantic Times. Since that time she has also garnered not only five other writing awards from Romantic Times, but five RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America, which secures her only the fourth place in the Romance Writers of America prestigious Hall of Fame. Since extending her reach to suspense, she has also garnered a coveted Anthony Award nomination for her last paperback, Bad Medicine. She has over three million books in print world wide, and has made regular appearances on the Waldenbook and B.Dalton bestsellers list, and now the USA Today list.

A frequent speaker at conferences, she maintains membership in Romance Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and, just in case things go wrong, Emergency Nurses Association and International Association of Forensic Nurses, for which she is the unofficial mascot.
Eileen is an addicted traveler, having sung in some of the best Irish pubs in the world, and admits she sees research as a handy way to salve her insatiable curiosity. She counts film producers, police detectives and Olympic athletes as some of her sources and friends. She's also trained in forensic nursing and death investigation, although she doesn't see herself actively working in the field, unless this writing thing doesn't pan out.

My Opinion:

The story opens in Belgium just as Napoleon is about to meet his erm, Waterloo. Mrs. Olivia Grace is attending a ball as de facto governess to two young English ladies whose mother is hoping to snare them a husband.  She is trying to stay in the background because she is harboring secrets.  At the ball she is befriended by a Duchess and her companion, Grace just in a nick of time! For she has been recognized by her enemy - Gervaise.

The Duchess takes her into her home where they start caring for the wounded from the battle of Waterloo. Grace's father is a military leader and doesn't return so she asks Olivia to go with her to find him on the battlefield.  While out searching Olivia finds her ex-husband's valet calling her. Her ex-husband, the VERY British Earl of Gracechurch is almost dead in a French uniform! Just what is going on?  They manage to get him back to the Duchesses house and find he has limited amnesia.  He remembers Olivia but not the fact that he divorced her. Nor does he know why he was in a French uniform.

The story plays out well and there are good guys and bad guys enough to make the book interesting. The romance part was fun and the book easy to read. The plot was a bit different from a typical romance book so that was nice and the ending was satisfactorily happy.

I am honored to say that Ms. Dreyer stopped by to comment on my review! She also wanted everyone to know that she has a contest going on at her blog, Eileen Dryer - so go check it out. The layout is beautiful!

Barely a Lady is available at Amazon.com
















Guess what?! I have 5 copies to give away thanks to The Hachette Book Group. How do you win?
It's easy! But first some rules:

US and Canada only
No PO Boxes

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Go HERE and tell me your favorite FUN FACT. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

1. Follow my blog publicly. If you already follow, just say so. And thank you.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway(one per day) - @BrokenTeepee and Hachette Books are giving away 5 copies of Barely a Lady by Eileen Dryer@http://tinyurl.com/258x2wr #giveaway

3. Blog about this giveaway with a link back to Broken Teepee (this is good for 5 entries so leave 5 comments)

SEE THE EXTRA ENTRIES PAGE FOR ADDITIONAL WAYS TO ENTER.



 All entries need to be in by 9PM MDT on July 15th when I will go to Random.org to choose the winners. They will have 48hrs to respond or I will choose new winners. Good luck everyone.

Disclosure:  I received a gratis copy of Barely a Lady from The Hachette Book group. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by the receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.




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