Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

“Today’s Best Books” featuring CBR’s Winning Titles and Authors
We are proud to announce Chanticleer Book Reviews Today’s Best Books Listing! — coming soon

These titles and authors have been vetted through CBR’s Blue Ribbon Writing Competitions and/or CBR Editorial Reviews.

We are developing the Best Books project due to the numerous inquiries that we have received from agents, publishers, book sellers, and librarians who are interested in works that have been vetted by Chanticleer Book Reviews and Blue Ribbon Writing Competitions.

CBR’s “Today’s Best Books” listing will feature the winning titles of each year’s Blue Ribbon Genre Award Winners.*

The Best Books listing will be featured in its own drop down menu on www.ChantiReviews.com homepage.

The top level page will consist of each year’s Grand Prize Blue Ribbon Winners with a link to their reviews. The CBR grand prize winners will have a special designation.

We will have links from each year’s contest winners. It will be organized by genre, then by:
1. Overall 1st Place Genre Winner
2. 1st Place Category Winners for the Genre
3. Finalists Listing for the Genre
Additionally, each genre’s first place category winners will have a CBR digital Blue Ribbon affixed to the winning title’s review page. We encourage authors and publishers to link to their respective CBR review pages.

We are also working toward integrating Today’s Best Books with the Chanticleer Book Shelves (featured at participating independent book stores and media outlets). Chanticleer Book Reviews is presently working with a book distributor (required for the Chanticleer Book Shelves project) to work with CBR authors who do not have a distributor.**

The next step is linking the CBR Blue Ribbon Award Winners to CBR’s next project: Chanticleer’s Book Club. More information forthcoming.

*There are only two ways to secure a listing in CBR’s Best Books Listings and participate in CBR’s Book Club:
1. Participate in a CBR Blue Ribbon Writing Competition and place as a Finalist, Category Winner, or Overall 1st Place.
2. Receive a 5 Starred Editorial Review from Chanticleer Book Reviews
Chanticleer Book Reviews & Blue Ribbon Writing Competitions — Discovering Today’s Best Books!

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**As always, the author/publisher may choose not to participate in any of of CBR’s promotions.* All that is needed is an emailed notification.

Join the Chanticleer Community of Writers today!

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January 11, 2014
Category Winners for the Laramie Awards for Western Fiction 2013
Chanticleer Book Reviews is proud to announce the First Place Category Winners for the 2013 Laramie Awards, a division of the Chanticleer Blue Ribbon Writing Competitions.

The Laramie Awards recognize emerging new works and outstanding authors in the genre of Western Fiction.

The Overall First Place Genre Winner for the Laramie Awards 2013 is:

Dale B. Jackson, Unbroke Horses

Congratulations to the Laramie Awards 2013 1st Place Category Winners:

Mystery: Double or Nothing by Meg Mims

Action/Adventure: Haunted Falls by Ken Farmer & Buck Stienke

Historical Fiction: Because of the Camels by Brenda Blair

Civil War: Ford at Valverde by Anita Melillo

Prairie Pioneer: They Rode Good Horses by Dale B. Jackson

Literary Western: Unbroke Horses by Dale B. Jackson

First Novel: Confessions of a Gunfighter by Tell Cotten

Best Manuscript: “Lick Creek” by Deborah Lincoln
- First Place Category Winners of the Laramie Awards for Western Fiction 2013 competed for Overall 1st Place and the Laramie Awards BEST BOOK 2013.
- 1st Place Overall Genre winners will then compete for the position of Chanticleer Book Reviews Grand Prize Blue Ribbon 2013 and CBR’s BEST BOOK 2013.
- The deadline for submitting entries to the Laramie Awards 2013 was July 31st, 2013.
- The submissions deadline for the Laramie Awards 2014 was July 31st, 2014.
- The deadline for the Laramie Awards 2015 is July 31st, 2015.
Chanticleer Book Reviews & Media congratulates the Laramie Awards 2013 Finalists. Thank you for participating in CBR’s Blue Ribbon writing competitions.

Chanticleer Book Reviews & Media retains the right to not declare “default winners.” Winning works are decided upon merit only. Please visit our Contest Details page for more information about our writing contest guidelines.

CBR’s rigorous writing competition standards are why literary agencies and publishers seek out our winning manuscripts and self-published novels. Our high standards are also why our reviews are trusted among booksellers and book distributors.

Please do not hesitate to contact Info@ChantiReviews.com about any questions, concerns, or suggestions about CBR writing competitions. Your input is important to us.

Thank you for your interest in Chanticleer Book Reviews writing competitions.
January 9, 2014
New Year, New Upgrades at Chanticleer

We hope that everyone North and South of the Equator enjoyed the Holidays!

We’ve been busy here at Chanticleer’s office during the holidays upgrading the CBR website.

We moved CBR’s website from just “The Cloud” to “The Extended Cloud.”

What does this mean to you, Members of the Chanticleer Community?

It means that CBR’s site is “everywhere” in The Cloud” (dispersed throughout servers across the globe). You can now access the Chanticleer website superfast–in two seconds from just about anywhere on the planet.

Italy– 2 seconds, France — 2 seconds, Malta — 2 seconds, NYC–2 seconds, Brazil–2 seconds, Germany–2 seconds, Iceland–2 seconds, U.K.– 2 seconds, California — 2 seconds, Spain–2 seconds, Canada–2 seconds, Sweden–2 seconds, India–2 seconds, Seattle–2 seconds, Amsterdam–2 seconds,

You get the picture?!

Give it a try and let us know if CBR’s website is loading fast for you in your corner of the globe.

This is to support new upgrades for the Chanticleer Community–the Chanticleer International Community of Writers….

And Chanticleer’s BEST BOOK Selections — the newest project that CBR has to promote Today’s Best Books!

We’ve got some great promotional opportunities in store just for the Chanticleer Book Reviews Community for 2014!

We wish each of you a Happy, Healthy New Year and may you meet all your writing goals!

More information forth-coming about Discovering Today’s Best Books at Chanticleer Book Reviews and Writing Competitions!

Now this is something to CROW about!

January 6, 2014
An Editorial Review of “Cities of Sand and Stone” by David and Neil Yuzuk

Loaded with grim brutality and remorseless betrayals, Cities of Sand and Stone will appeal to fans of action and temerarious exploits. A crooked police captain, Russian crime bosses, the harshness of Brooklyn’s mean streets lorded over by N.Y. Mafia kingpins and the brutal Florida underworld meet one Michael Frakes, an Iraq military hero who is the polar opposite: thoroughly rule-bound, honest, and brave police officer of Florida’s Beachside P.D.

This mobster story defies specific categorization with its journalistic style and omniscient point of view. David A. Yuzuk and Neil L. Yuzuk, the father and son team who authored the Beachside P.D. series, cast the worst type of men bent on destruction in this prequel to the series. In the opening chapters, readers will learn about the historical and biographical information of these brutal characters—some who are probably psychopaths. Initially, without a main narrator, it may be a challenge to sort out who is a principal character and who has a minor role, so tracking characters may be mildly difficult in the beginning. But do hang on, as the story will come into focus.

When the New York Mafia becomes concerned about goings-on in South Florida, they send down one of their own (the dangerously violent Angelo Tedeschi) to infiltrate the Beachside P.D. as an undercover officer working for Frakes.

To intensify the brewing storm, enter Viktor Matyushenko, a Muscovite intent on expanding his empire into the new world– even if it means taking on the N.Y. Mafia–to become a force to be reckoned with in Florida’s underground. Vicious brutality and betrayals are prominent in this story: as reflected by the number of bodies and the amount of blood spattered throughout the hard-hitting pages. The bad guys and the good guys’ mettle are tested to the max as the ante increases on all fronts.

Fans of Mafia tales and police procedurals will appreciate the authenticity from the authors’ experience with military and law enforcement. Readers are informed of the costs and brands of the mobsters’ clothing to descriptions of a wide range of weapons, blow-by-blow combat tactics, and police procedures and jargon.

If you enjoy your novels with an intricate story line, lots of hard-hitting action, gritty dialogue, and authentic detailing, then the Beachside P.D. series by the talented Yuzuk father and son team is for you. “Cities of Sand and Stone” (2012) is the prequel to the first two books in the series: “The Gypsy Hunter” (2011) and “The Reluctant Knight” (2011).

January 3, 2014
Pamela Beason, author of “The Only Witness”

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Pamela Beason

“One of the best things that happened to me in 2011 was getting a GRAND PRIZE in the first Chanticleer nationwide contest for my novel THE ONLY WITNESS.”

Editor’s Note: Pamela Beason is an award winning author of six books and she is also a private detective. She is listed in the Seattle Times for being a top-selling author at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. Her Summer Westin Mystery series (Endangered, Bear Bait, Undercurrents) is published by Penguin, Berkley Prime Crime. She self-published The Only Witness, Shaken, and Call of the Jaguar.

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January 1, 2014
Bernadette Pajer, author of “The Professor Bradshaw Mystery Series”

“Thanks, Chanticleer, for all you do to help the world of books!”

January 1, 2014
Nancy LaPonzina, author of “Nardi Point”

“I’m so excited! Thanks so much for recognizing “Nardi Point” and placing it in such good company with all Blue Ribbon Winners! Thank you for all that you have done for “Nardi Point.””

January 1, 2014
Michael Hurley, author of “The Prodigal”

“Chanticleer Reviews has quickly risen to the ranks of the premier, respected trade reviews in the industry. Their opinion is highly valued by independent and traditional publishers alike. They have been a wonderful resource for me as an unknown, indie author trying to obtain recognition for my work. The review that I received from Chanticleer was directly responsible for a movie option deal I received from my first novel.”

January 1, 2014
Liese Sherwood-Fabre, author of “Saving Hope”

“Thank you so much for selecting my novel Saving Hope as the first place winner for mystery/thriller. This recognition and validation means a lot to me.”

January 1, 2014
Janet K. Shawgo, author of “The Look For Me” series

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Janet at Barnes & Noble

Dear Chanticleer Book Reviews,

As a new author sending your first book to contest is like stepping off the edge of a cliff on your first rappel or hanging on for your first zip-lining across treetops. It is an experience. You hope that you will be acknowledged for the time and love you have placed in your writing. However, until the names are released, it is still an unknown.

I found out about Chanticleer through Romance Writers of America. I took a deep breath and entered “Look For Me” into the CBR Blue Ribbon Awards for Published Novels. To be a Finalist was wonderful, but to win First Place was fireworks! The exposure in winning a contest gives your work credibility and exposure you would not have otherwise. I have been blessed with increasing sales and my work continues to be acknowledged. I can never thank you for all the support that “Look For Me” has received from CBR.

I want to thank everyone at Chanticleer Book Reviews for the honor of being selected as a first place winner in the historical fiction category. Am I entering the second book in my series? You bet I am!

Sincerely, Janet K. Shawgo, author of the Look For Me series.

Editor’s note: Ms. Shawgo sent us this photo of her and her CBR Blue Ribbon the morning of a Look For Me series book signing at Barnes & Noble. Authors, you will be glad to know that she sold out of all her copies at the signing. She has entered the second of the series, Wait For Me, into CBR’s Historical Novels contest 2013. We wish her much success!

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January 1, 2014