Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: e-e-burke

The 2022 Laramie Book Awards Short List for Americana Fiction
The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the Americana and Westerns fiction genre. The Laramie Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring Americana themes, First Nation stories, early North American History, cowboys & cowgirls in the Wild West, pioneering, and Civil War, and we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Laramie Americana Long List to the 2022 Laramie Book Awards SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2022 Laramie Book Awards novel competition for Americana Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Short List authors and their works!
- Jerry E. Bustin – Outlaws, Renegades, and Prickly Pear Jam
- Pamela Nowak – Necessary Deceptions: The Women of Wyatt Earp
- Shanna Hatfield – Distracting the Deputy
- Bruce Gardner – Seeing Glory: A Novel of Family Strife, Faith, and the American Civil War
- E. Alan Fleischauer – JTs World
- Susan Higginbotham – John Brown’s Women: A Novel
- Debra Whiting Alexander – A River for Gemma
- T.K. Conklin – Guarded Hearts
- Larry Boucher – Ferris Station
- Larry Boucher – The Scout
- Ed Davis – The Last Professional
- E. Alan Fleischauer – How the West Was Won then Lost …. Decimation
- Sophia Alexander – Tapestry: A Lowcountry Rapunzel
- Gail Hertzog – Crossing the Ford
- Dena Smallwood – Syrie
- Betty Willis – Texas Quest
- Shanna Hatfield – Holiday Hope
- Susanna Lane – Imperfect Promise
- Eileen Charbonneau – Ursula’s Inheritance
- Harriet Cannon – Exiled South
- Margaret Arross – El Viento
- Daniel Greene – Northern Blood (Northern Wolf Series Book 3)
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

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Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 LARAMIE Awards is Tom Sawyer Returns by E.E. Burke

Click here to see the 2021 Laramie Book Award Winners for Americana Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions for the 2023 Laramie Book Awards for Americana Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

For our other Historical Fiction Awards, please see the following:
Winners will be announced at the 2022 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

CAC23 – Turn it up to 11! April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at info@ChantiReviews.com.
December 29, 2022
The 2022 Laramie Book Awards Long List for Americana Fiction – a division of the 2022 CIBAs
The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the Americana and Westerns fiction genre. The Laramie Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring Americana themes, First Nation stories, early North American History, cowboys & cowgirls in the Wild West, pioneering, and Civil War, and we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Laramie Americana entries to the 2022 Laramie Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for the 2022 Laramie Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2022 Laramie Book Awards novel competition for Americana Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Jerry E. Bustin – Outlaws, Renegades, and Prickly Pear Jam
- Pamela Nowak – Necessary Deceptions: The Women of Wyatt Earp
- Shanna Hatfield – Distracting the Deputy
- James W McDonopugh – A Distant Ridge
- Bruce Gardner – Seeing Glory: A Novel of Family Strife, Faith, and the American Civil War
- David Nix – Dead Man’s Hand
- E. Alan Fleischauer – JTs World
- Susan Higginbotham – John Brown’s Women: A Novel
- Debra Whiting Alexander – A River for Gemma
- T.K. Conklin – Guarded Hearts
- Larry Boucher – Ferris Station
- Larry Boucher – The Scout
- Ed Davis – The Last Professional
- E. Alan Fleischauer – How the West Was Won then Lost …. Decimation
- M.J. Hayes – Son of the Mountain
- Sophia Alexander – Tapestry: A Lowcountry Rapunzel
- Gail Hertzog – Crossing the Ford
- Dena Smallwood – Syrie
- Betty Willis – Texas Quest
- Shanna Hatfield – Holiday Hope
- Susanna Lane – Imperfect Promise
- Eileen Charbonneau – Ursula’s Inheritance
- Harriet Cannon – Exiled South
- Margaret Arross – The Priest and the Charlatan
- Margaret Arross – El Viento
- Daniel Greene – Northern Blood (Northern Wolf Series Book 3)
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 LARAMIE Awards is Tom Sawyer Returns by E.E. Burke

Click here to see the 2021 Laramie Book Award Winners for Americana Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions for the 2023 Laramie Book Awards for Americana Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

For our other Historical Fiction Awards, please see the following:
Winners will be announced at the 2022 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

CAC23 – Turn it up to 11! April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at info@ChantiReviews.com.
October 5, 2022
Part Two of The 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards (#CIBAs) Overall Grand Prize and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners
We are deeply honored and excited to continue to announce the 2021 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs) with our second of three official postings.

The winners were recognized at the CIBA ceremony held on June 25th, 2022 In-Person and broadcast live via ZOOM at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.

The CIBA announcements were made LIVE with Chanticleerians flying in and watching from around the globe and North America.

We cheered on the CIBA winners with our drink of choice, whether in-person or Virtual!

Btw, Kiffer’s favorite Champagne!

We want to thank all of the CIBA judges who read each and every entry and then comment, rate, and rank within each of the 25 CIBA Divisions. Without your labors of love for books, the Chanticleer International Book Awards would not exist. THANK YOU!

We want to thank all of the authors and publishers who participated in the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs). Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increasing exponentially. We added a new level to the judging rounds in 2021—the premier Level of FINALIST per each CIBA Division. The CIBA judges wanted to add the Finalist Level of Achievement as a way to recognize and validate the entries that had outstanding merit but were not selected for the very few First Place Award positions within each genre division.

This post will recognize the First Place and Grand Prize Winners for the Laramie, Chaucer, Goethe, Hemingway, Chatelaine, Mark Twain, and Somerset Awards.

For the Cygnus, Ozma, Paranormal, Global Thrillers, M&M, Clue, Little Peeps, Gertrude Warner, and Dante Rossetti Book Awards, please click here for Part 1.

For the Journey, Hearten, Nellie Bly, I&I, Mind & Spirit, Harvey Chute, Military & Frontline, Series, and Shorts Book Awards, place click here for Part 3

Coveted Chanticleer Blue Ribbons!

We are honored to present the

2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards

Grand Prize Winners

The 2021 CIBA Winners!

The LARAMIE Book Awards for

American, Western, Pioneer, Civil War, and First Nation Novels

The Grand Prize Winner is

TOM SAWYER RETURNS by E.E. Burke
- Chris Bennett – Road to the Breaking
- George T. Arnold – Wyandotte Bound
- Pamela Nowak – Never Let Go
- David Fitz-Gerald – The Curse of Conchobar: A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series
- Glen Craney – The Cotillion Brigade: A Novel of the Civil War and the Most Famous Female Militia in American History
- T.K. Conklin – Outlaw’s Redemption
The CHAUCER Book Awards for

Pre-1750s Historical Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

TOO SOON THE NIGHT by James Conroyd Martin
- John A. Martino and Michael P. O’Kane – Olympia: The Birth of the Games
- Janet Wertman – The Boy King
- Wendy J. Dunn – Falling Pomegranate Seeds: All Manner of Things
- Rebecca D’Harlingue – The Lines Between Us: A Novel
- Patricia Bracewell – The Steel Beneath the Silk
- James Hutson-Wiley – The Travels of ibn Thomas
The GOETHE Book Awards for

Post-1750’s Historical Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

AFTER THE RISING by Orna Ross
- Ron Singerton – The Refused
- Drema Drudge – Victorine
- Lee Hutch – Molly’s Song
- Adele Holmes, M.D. – Winter’s Reckoning
- Mike Jordan – The Freedom Song
- Michelle Rene – Maud’s Circus
The HEMINGWAY Book Awards for

20th Century Wartime Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

EO-N by Dave Mason
- Murray Pura & Patrick E. Craig – Far On The Ringing Plains
- Marian Exall – Daughters of War
- Marina Osipova – Too Many Wolves in the Local Woods
- Richard Alan Schwartz – The Soldier: A Novel of the Vietnam War Era
- Jerena Tobiasen – The Emerald, Book II of The Prophecy
The CHATELAINE Book Awards for

Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

THE LONG DESERT ROAD by Alex Sirotkin
- Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Breath, Book One in the Desert Hills Trilogy
- Valerie Taylor – What’s Not Said — A Novel
- Evie Alexander – Highland Games
- Tina Sloan – Chasing Cleopatra
- Kana Wu – No Secrets Allowed
- Emma Lombard – Discerning Grace
- John W. Feist – The Color of Rain
The MARK TWAIN Book Awards

for Humor and Satire

Grand Prize Winner is

CERTIFIED by Roger Wilson-Crane
- Charlie Suisman – Hot Air
- Elizabeth Crowens – Babs and Basil, and the Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
- Lou Dischler – My Only Sunshine: Getting Straight with the Bomb
- Andy Becker – The Kissing Rabbi: Lust, Betrayal, and a Community Turned Inside Out
- Anne Pfeffer – Binge
The SOMERSET Book Awards

for Literary, Contemporary, and Mainstream Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

LIES IN BONE by Natalie Symons
- Alex Sirotkin – The Long Desert Road
- Robert Gwaltney – The Cicada Tree
- Judy Keeslar Santamaria – Jetty Cat Palace Cafe
- Kent Politsch – Beebe and Bostelmann, a historical novel
- Douglas Green – A Dog of Many Names
- Barbara Linn Probst – The Sound Between the Notes
- M. J. Simms-Maddox – The Mysterious Affair at the Met
Congratulations to ALL!

We will email each winner with more information about their prize packages and more information.

Be sure to FOLLOW and LIKE us Facebook and on Twitter @ChantiReviews

Not seeing your Division? Try the links below!

For the Cygnus, Ozma, Paranormal, Global Thrillers, M&M, Clue, Little Peeps, Gertrude Warner, and Dante Rossetti Book Awards, please click here for Part 1.

For the Journey, Hearten, Nellie Bly, I&I, Mind & Spirit, Harvey Chute, Military & Frontline, Series, and Shorts Book Awards, place click here for Part 3

And the OVERALL GRAND PRIZE for the 2021 CIBAs!

Stay Tuned for Part 3 which will announce the Overall Grand Prize Winner!

We are now accepting entries into the 2022 and 2023 Chanticleer International Book Awards.

Click here for more information and submission deadlines: https://test.chantireviews.com/contests/

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please email us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com — We will try our best to respond within 3 business days.

Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 2021 CIBA Winners! – The Chanticleer Team
July 12, 2022
The LARAMIE 2021 CIBA WINNERS for Americana Fiction
The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the Americana and Westerns fiction genre. The Laramie Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring Americana themes, First Nation stories, early North American History, cowboys & cowgirls in the Wild West, pioneering, and Civil War, and we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

The 2021 LARAMIE Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the LARAMIE Grand Prize Winner were announced by Jacquie Rogers on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether and broadcast via ZOOM webinar.

This is the OFFICIAL 2021 LIST of the LARAMIE BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the LARAMIE Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in celebrating the following authors and their works!
- Chris Bennett – Road to the Breaking
- E.E. Burke – Tom Sawyer Returns
- George T. Arnold – Wyandotte Bound
- Pamela Nowak – Never Let Go
- David Fitz-Gerald – The Curse of Conchobar: A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series
- Glen Craney – The Cotillion Brigade: A Novel of the Civil War and the Most Famous Female Militia in American History
- T.K. Conklin – Outlaw’s Redemption
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 LARAMIE Awards is:

Tom Sawyer Returns

E.E. Burke

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

The 2022 LARAMIE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 10 year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2022 LARAMIE Book Awards are open until the end of July. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in August. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for participating in the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards!
June 30, 2022
Chanticleerians in the News! E.E. Burke spotlighted by The Mark Twain House & Museum
When your mission is to Discover Today’s Best Books, you come across good news regarding authors!

…And we have great news about E.E. Burke!

E.E. Burke, Author of Tom Sawyer Returns, is being honored by The Mark Twain House & Museum

A Chatelaine Finalist and current Laramie Short Lister (good luck in the following CIBA tiers!), E.E. Burke describes herself as a history geek and a sucker for a good love story. She has recently released a new edition of her bestselling series, Steam! Romance and Rails, which combines Western action and adventure with romance and suspense. Another five-star series, The New Adventures, features a re-imagining of two beloved American characters in Tom Sawyer Returns and Taming Huck Finn.

The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, CT, sponsors spotlight programs with authors, many of whom are Pulitzer Prize winners, NYT bestsellers, and today’s leading literary voices. Burke credits the discovery of her work to reviews, which inspired the musem director to read her books and ask her too appear in their Valentine’s program, “Romancing Mark Twain.” Tune in to hear about what isnpired her to write these Mark Twain spinoffs and learn a little bit more about how Twain’s life influences writers today. You can sign up for this free event (Tuesday, February 15, 7pm EST) here!

Curious to learn more?
E.E. Burke just advanced to the Short List for the Laramie Awards! Good luck to all our authors!

VIRTUAL and IN-Person – June 23 – 26, 2022! Register Today!

FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 10th annual conference and discover why!

Featuring: International Best Selling Authors: Cathy Ace and Robert Dugoni along with A+ list film producer Scott Steindorff.
February 15, 2022
TOM SAWYER RETURNS by E.E. Burke – American Historical Romance, Historical Fiction Western, Western Historical Romance

Tom Sawyer Returns is the second book in The New Adventures series by author E.E. Burke.

Readers join a now grown up and far more independent Becky Thatcher as she maneuvers her complicated life in Civil War era Mississippi. Tom has long since left, and Becky is engaged to Union Captain Alfred Temple, who offers her all the safety and security she needs in such uncertain times. But does she love him? Actually love him?

Becky soon discovers that her heart may have other plans.

When an injured Tom Sawyer bursts through her door and collapses onto the kitchen floor, Becky and her father – Judge Thatcher – take him in, care for him, and find out that he may have stumbled into the house for reasons more than the simple rekindling of a lost flame. With Judge Thatcher caught up in a twisted ploy posed by the rebels, Becky must partner up with Tom in order to save her father. But with Tom’s memories nowhere to be found, and his aptitude for ending up smack dab in the middle of trouble, the two find themselves venturing down a twisting road of discovery, mystery, and uncertainty.

Set in a divided world rife with danger and history, E.E. Burke takes characters so close to the heart of Americana and gives them new life.

Fans of Mark Twain’s original work will appreciate the attention to detail and the care in which the story is crafted, paying homage to the original tales of Tom Sawyer and his wild adventures. But this continuation sees a deeper, more intimate portrait of Becky Thatcher – a girl grown into a woman, who’s come into her own confidence and whose sharp mind sees her through many perilous situations.

While the title of the book may be Tom Sawyer Returns, don’t let that fool you – Becky Thatcher is the heart of this book, the backbone, the brains.

Both her and Tom have grown significantly since their childhood days, and Burke expertly takes two kids written nearly 150 years ago and turns them into adults whose life experiences have been shaped by the Civil War; two individuals who are fiercely independent, yet whose attitudes and opinions have been molded by the world they live in. They jump off the page as not simply characters, but as fully realized people. People with complexities, fears, and failures.

Not only does Tom Sawyer Returns take the reader on an adventurous ride filled with plots and ploys, but it also provides a beautiful romance that blooms amidst the thorns of trouble.

E.E. Burke writes with a balance of delicacy and sharpness, showing the true nature of love – that it is something tangled and complicated. As the reader follows Becky and Tom, they’re never made to doubt the pair’s attraction, but to instead find comfort knowing that while their combined history may complicate their feelings for each other, love will still prevail in end. As it always does, and as it always will continue to do.

December 29, 2021