Book Review & Giveaway: The Great Christmas Bowl

Recently I received a copy of Susan May Warren's THE GREAT CHRISTMAS BOWL to read and review here on my blog. I'm sure it's no coincidence that the book is being promoted at this particular time with the holiday season quickly approaching, and the book's message is very timely and appropriate.

The book's main character, Marianne, is a woman I and most of my lady readers can relate to in our own lives. Marianne is a typical busy wife and Mom who unintentionally lets the busyness of life overshadow the real meaning of the Christmas season.

All the time she thinks she's working towards making Christmas special, she's forgetting the real reason for the season, until some life-changing events make Marianne realize that Christmas is about Jesus, not about rituals and tradition.

If you'd like to win a copy of this book, just leave a comment on this post. This giveaway will be open until noon Central Standard Time on Wednesday, September 30, 2009, at which time I'll use a random number generator to choose a winner.

Please NOTE: This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only. Please be sure you have a working link or a valid email address with your entry comment.

I'll announce the winner on Wednesday or Thursday.

Best of luck to everyone!

***Pssst! If you don't want to wait to see if you win a copy of the book, or if you don't win and want a copy, you can get this book on sale for only $5.99 by clicking HERE or any of the other links for the title of the book. There's also a great contest you can check out at the bottom of this post.***

About The Great Christmas Bowl:

Marianne Wallace is focused on two things this holiday season:
planning the greatest family Christmas ever and cheering on her
youngest son’s team in their bid for the state championship.
Disaster strikes when the team loses their mascot-the Trout. Is it
going too far to ask her to don the costume? So what if her husband
has also volunteered her to organize the church Christmas tea.
When football playoffs start ramping up, the Christmas tea starts
falling apart. Then, one by one her children tell her they can’t come
home for Christmas.

As life starts to unravel, will Marianne remember the true meaning of
the holidays?

About Susan:

Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of twenty-four
novels with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill. A four-time Christy
award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of
the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Book of the Year.
Her larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim
with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and
retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences
around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook:
From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!.
She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting
service that helps authors discover their voice. Susan makes her home
in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in
football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and
desperately missing her college-age son!) A full listing of her
titles, reviews and awards can be found at: www.susanmaywarren.com

Link to Buy the Book:

http://www.christianbook.com/great-christmas-bowl-susan-warren/9781414326788/pd/326788?event=AFFp=&

The Great Christmas Bowl website:

http://thegreatchristmasbowl.blogspot.com/

The website features a note from the author, fun updates from Big Lake
Gazette, info on how to host your own Great Christmas Bowl Tea to
benefit a local ministry or charity and a fun Recipe Exchange contest!

CONTEST:

Be a part of the Great Christmas Bowl recipe exchange!
Susan loves getting recipes from friends, and sharing the delicious
cookies, soups, breads and other fun fixings that go with celebrating
the Christmas season. More than that, she loves the crazy stories
about favorite Christmases – serious, touching, funny…whatever. Find
the recipe contest here:
http://thegreatchristmasbowl.blogspot.com/2009/07/recipe-exchange.html

Will you share your story and recipe with Susan and the readers of the
Great Christmas Bowl? She will post your story and recipe on the FRONT
PAGE of the Great Christmas Bowl website, and send you a link when it
goes up so you can tell all your friends. Then, at the Great Christmas
Bowl party (December 5th, 10am, online! Details TBA) she’ll make the
entire cookbook available for download!

For every recipe/story you submit (up to 3), you will be entered in a
drawing to receive one of SMW’s collections (Noble Legacy, Team Hope,
Heirs of Anton, Deep Haven Series, Josey series, or THE ADVANCED COPY
of Sons of Thunder – Susie’s brand new epic World War 2 novel, due out
in January 2010!)

Go – run, get your recipe, then come back here and click on the link
below to share your Christmas memories!

http://www.litfusegroup.com/latest/current-blog-tours/91-the-great-christmas-bowl-blog-tour