Guest Post: Julianne Donaldson (Author of Edenbrooke) + Giveaway

This week I am excited to have Julianne Donaldson stopping by the blog as part of the Edenbrooke Blog Tour. Hope y'all will give her a warm welcome. Y'all can check out my review of Edenbrooke (post was a little long to include it here).

About the author:

Julianne Donaldson grew up as the daughter of a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. She learned how to ski in the Italian Alps, visited East Berlin before the wall came down, and spent three years living next to a 500-year-old castle. After earning a degree in English, she turned her attention to writing about distant times and places. She lives in Utah with her husband and four children. Edenbrooke is her first novel.

My love of reading was born with "Go Dog, Go" as a preschooler, and once I discovered the magic of reading, I couldn’t find a reason to stop. As a child I enjoyed reading all kinds of books, but the first time a book really changed me was when I was in the fourth grade and read "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L’Engle. I’m still enveloped in a kind of other worldly sensation whenever I think of that book. How it carried me away!
At that point my reading changed, and I began to look for stories that would give me that same feeling of being carried away into another world. A good storyteller can do that to you, no matter what genre they write in. Some of my favorite storytellers (and my favorite of their books) include Mary Stewart ("Nine Coaches Waiting"), Jane Austen ("Persuasion"), Scott Westerfeld (the "Leviathan" series), Nancy E. Turner ("These Is My Words"), Kate Morton ("The Forgotten Garden"), Martine Leavitt ("Keturah and Lord Death") and Georgette Heyer ("Frederica").

Of course, there are countless more I could name. But every good book I have read has added something to me, both as an individual and as a writer. It would be hard now to pick out exactly who shaped me most as a writer. I only know that I am grateful for every good storyteller who has written a "carry-me-away" kind of story. They have all inspired me to try to do the same.

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson, March 27, 2012. Published by Shadow Mountain.

Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she’ll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry.

From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will Marianne be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke.

A Proper Romance is Shadow Mountain Publishing’s brand of clean, smart, engaging, romantic stories that will never embarrass the reader.

Giveaway:

1 ARC of Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson. Open to residents of the US.

Fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter and leave a comment on the guest post (extra points for commenting on my review). Please, do not leave personal info in the comments.

a Rafflecopter giveaway