Tag: Vetsch Erica

The Cactus Creek Challenge + Giveaway

Random Retro Read

Anything he can do, I can do better.

At least that was what Cassie Bucknell thought before she pinned on Ben Wilder’s badge and took to patrolling the streets of Cactus Creek, Texas. Cassie has been in love with Ben since primer school, but Ben treats her like a little sister. When they are picked to swap jobs for a month as part of the annual Cactus Creek Challenge in their Texas hometown, the schoolhouse is thrown into an uproar, the jail becomes a temporary bank vault, and Cassie and Ben square off in a battle of wills that becomes a battle for their hearts.

My Review:

published in 2015

Romantic comedy meets the Wild West. Such a fun read! I mean, how can you possibly resist reading sentences like this one:

“He almost petted her on the head since she looked so cute and disgruntled, but he figured she’d take to that about as well as a rattlesnake to having his teeth brushed.”

Seriously, this book needs to be read just for the clever word choice that’s guaranteed to generate a chuckle, never mind the impossible situations Cassie and Ben find themselves in! Plus there’s a second romance brewing in the heart of Cactus Creek and those poor souls are just as challenged as Cassie and Ben. It’s a wonder everything works out so well! That’s thanks to the cunning brilliance of the author. She’s created a fast-paced plot with plenty of action, not to mention a bevy of notorious secondary characters, that all conspired to keep me turning pages, grinning right to the very end. Sweet perfection.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a gently read paperback copy and open to any reader anywhere in the world so, yay, an International Giveaway!

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Cactus Creek Challenge, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday May 30 2026

Children of the Shadows + Giveaway

Detective Daniel Swann and debutante Juliette Thorndike once again team up to solve a dangerous mystery–while trying to keep their growing romance secret.

Someone is preying upon the street children of Regency London. They seem to think no one will notice when urchins go missing–and even if they are noticed, who will care?

Daniel needs to do something about the missing children. But with recent revelations about his past and an unexpected, somewhat unwelcome inheritance to deal with, this is a terrible time to dive back into the seedy underbelly of the crime world. Nevertheless, he’s still a Bow Street runner, and his partner Lady Juliette is sensitive to the plight of these wayward youngsters. They’re on the case, searching shadowed alleys and coal-drenched streets to find the missing.

But the tangle of expectation and the dynamics of power cannot be easily ignored, even if there are children in danger. When Daniel’s past threatens to overwhelm his future, he will need a miracle and the help of his friends to both apprehend the villain and unravel his tangled family web. And it may be that his new responsibilities demand that he leave the children of the shadows to their terrible fate–or lose everything.

Erica Vetsch’s popular Regency mystery series concludes with a bang, sure to satisfy readers who have hung on every page since book one.

My Review:

Of Note: because I think the Thorndyke & Swann Regency Mystery series should be read in order, the giveaway will be for one of three books. Look for more details in red underneath the Giveaway Opportunity heading.

Still fan-girling over this series. It’s the perfect blend of Regency and mystery with enough cloak and dagger stuff going on to keep an avid reader on the edge of her seat all the way through. Plus, the romance has heated up in this third book, though it’s not without some unique challenges. We can’t make things too easy for Daniel and Juliette, can we? 🙂

You definitely want to read the books in this series in order because the first two contain quite a bit of back story on our characters plus there are some over-arcing issues that carry on into this third novel. Daniel is a Bow Street Investigator and Juliette is apprenticing in the family spy biz (for the Crown, of course!) which makes things very interesting…and somewhat complicated. As does the mystery unique to this third novel. I hesitate to say much more for fear of posting spoilers so I’ll end with this:

A page-turning extravaganza of lush storytelling and layers of intrigue made ‘Children of the Shadows’ an unputdownable read.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

Winner’s choice of any of the three Thorndyke & Swann Regency Mysteries:

#1 The Debutante’s Code

#2 Millstone of Doubt

#3 Children of the Shadows

PLEASE INDICATE WHICH BOOK YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN IN YOUR COMMENT OR EMAIL

This giveaway is for a print or ebook copy. Winner’s choice.

US – available in print or ebook — winner’s choice

Canada – available in print or ebook or audible (if available) — winner’s choice

International – ebook copy if you have a US Kindle account.

If you would like a chance to win one of  Thorndyke & Swann Regency Mysteries, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday March March 16 2024.

DON’T FORGET TO ADD THE TITLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN IN YOUR COMMENT OR EMAIL.