Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: eleanor-tatum

  • SPOTLIGHT on CHATELAINE and Its Hall of Fame Authors – Romance Novels & Romantic Fiction in all its Forms!

    SPOTLIGHT on CHATELAINE and Its Hall of Fame Authors – Romance Novels & Romantic Fiction in all its Forms!

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is seeking today’s best books featuring romantic themes and adventures of the heart, historical love affairs, perhaps a little steamy romance, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    Find out more about the stunning beauty that Dante Rossetti painted, Jane Morris, at the end of this blog post.

     

    Do you have a romance novel or manuscript ready for readers?

    Do you want to see how it stands up to others in its category?

    Then don’t delay! The CHATELAINE Book Awards division is accepting submissions from both recently published and complete manuscripts in romance and romantic fiction. But this year we’ve moved our deadline – to keep you on your toes!

    The new deadline for the Chatelaine Awards is AUGUST 31, 2020! 

    That’s right, the last day for submissions into the 2020 Chatelaine Book Awards is August 31, 2020. So, if you love Piña Coladas – and getting caught in the rain… I mean, if you like writing about those things, and other things having to do with matters of the heart, including these:

    The Chatelaine Awards Categories are:|
    Contemporary Romance
    Historical Romance
    Adventure & Suspense
    Romantic Steamy/Sensual (Not Erotic)
    Inspirational/Restorative

    Send them in today! What are you waiting for?

    Click here for more information and submission form! 

    Don’t Delay! Enter Today! 

    Insiders’ Tip: Other genre divisions of the Chanticleer International Book Awards have romance categories as well. Multiple submissions of the same work to a variety of  CIBA writing competitions divisions are accepted. Check out our divisions here. 

     

     

     

     

    Please join us in congratulating and reading these top works in this diverse range of all reads Chatelaine: Romance, Chick-Lit,  Women’s Fiction, Inspirational, Suspenseful, and, of course, Steamy and Sensual in the
    CHATELAINE HALL of FAME!

    Nicola Slade took home the Chatelaine Grand Prize Ribbon in 2018 for The House at Ladywell.

    Congratulations to the 2018 CHATELAINE Book Awards for Romantic Fiction  First in Category Winners!

     

    Leigh Grant’s MASK OF DREAMS  took home the Chatelaine Grand Prize Ribbon for 2017.

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2017 CHATELAINE Awards:

     

     

     

     

     

      M.A. Clarke Scott’s The ART of ENCHANTMENT took home the 2016 Chatelaine Grand Prize.

     

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2016 CHATELAINE Awards:

     

    Nicole Evelina’s DAUGHTER of DESTINY took both the Chatelaine Grand Prize and the OVERALL Grand Prize winner for 2015.


     

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2015 CHATELAINE Awards:

     

    Janet Shawgo’s FIND ME AGAIN won the 2014 Chatelaine Grand Prize.

    Find Me Again Janet Shawgo

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2014 CHATELAINE Awards:

    Kate Vale’s CHOICES was awarded the 2013 Chatelaine Grand Prize and took home the OVERALL Grand Prize for best book of the year!

     

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2013 CHATELAINE Awards:

    • Historical Romance: The Lily and the Lion by Catherine T. Wilson & Catherine A. Wilson
    • Southern Romance: Swamp Secret by Eleanor Tatum
    • Mystery: The Hourglass by Sharon Struth
    • Jane Austen Inspired: Pulse and Prejudice by Colette Saucier
    • Paranormal: Crimson Flames by Ashley Robertson
    • Christian Inspirational Romance: Chasing Charlie by C. M. Newman
    • Restorative: A Path through the Garden by Nancy LaPonzina
    • Classic Bodice Ripper: To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield by Bronwen Evans

     Who will win the CHATELAINE Book Awards Blue Ribbons for 2020?

    The judging rounds will commence in August! Submit your works today!

    The last day for submissions into the 2020 Chatelaine Book Awards is August 31, 2020. Winners will be announced at our CAC21 conference – scheduled for April

    Click here for more information and submission form! 

    Don’t Delay! Enter Today! 

    And remember our Insiders’ Tip: Other genre divisions of the Chanticleer International Book Awards have romance categories as well. Multiple submissions of the same work to a variety of  CIBA writing competitions divisions are accepted. Check it out here!

    A little information about the Chatelaine Book Awards icon:

    Romance Fiction Award

     

    We feel that Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Pre-Raphaelite painting of Jane Morris (muse and wife of William Morris) in a Blue Silk Dress captures the many moods of the Chatelaine division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.  Jane Morris (nee Jane Burden—little is known about her childhood but that it was poor and deprived) was known for her keen intelligence. William Morris fell in love with her when she sat for him as a model. She was privately tutored to become a gentleman’s wife upon their engagement. It is said that she was the inspiration for George Bernard Shaw’s character Eliza Dolittle of My Fair Lady fame. The Blue Silk Dress was painted in 1868 by Rossetti and it currently resides in the Society for Antiquaries of London.  She was 29 when Rossetti painted it. Rossetti and Jane Morris became closely attached until his death in 1882. To read more about the fascinating Jane Morris, click on this Wikipedia page.

  • An Editorial Review of “Swamp Secret” by Eleanor Tatum

    An Editorial Review of “Swamp Secret” by Eleanor Tatum

    With a cast of quirky, lovable characters and a unique, small-town setting of southeastern North Carolina country, Swamp Secret, by Eleanor Tatum, delivers an engaging tale of mystery, suspense, and romance. Readers will enjoy revisiting old friends and meeting new ones in this delightful sequel to Swamp Run.

    Suspecting that trouble might be brewing, Sheriff Earl Cunningham orders Deputy Alex Turner to be present at a local town hall meeting. Alex, who had been planning a relaxing evening watching sports on his friend’s large-screen television, is not amused—until he meets Councilman Eugene McLaurin’s niece from Chapel Hill, the lovely Dr. Jillian Royal. Jillian, a medical researcher working on a groundbreaking study into childhood obesity, is instantly attracted to the handsome deputy.

    As it turns out, Sheriff Cunningham was right to be concerned: The locals are up in arms over the exorbitant water bills for the properties surrounding the local lake that is the area’s most popular tourist attraction. Ex-Marine Stephen Kinney has organized a protest at the town meeting, which he disrupts by hinting at corruption and graft by the local council members and demanding answers about missing county revenues from the local liquor store chain. Jillian’s uncle becomes uncharacteristically belligerent—so angry, in fact, that he drops dead of a heart attack.

    A grieving Jillian and Alex both suspect that something was indeed troubling her normally level headed, ethical uncle. When they question her Aunt Muriel, she admits that her husband had brushed aside similar questions about the water bills from her sister Mildred who lives at the lake, saying that she “not concern herself” and that he “would take care of the problem.” Are the lake residents’ suspicions well-founded? Are liquor store revenues lining the pockets of council members and others in their sleepy  town? Or are they just troublemakers?

    The mystery deepens when Police Chief Joseph Sutton from Swamp Run fame breaks up a meeting at Mildred’s house on the lake to discuss the water bills, citing an obscure crowd-control ordinance that forbids more than four cars to be parked at one house on the lake without a permit. He wonders if the sheriff is merely concerned about his re-election, or is he a party to rampant graft? And what—if anything—does his connection to the mysterious Mr. Malacouti have to do with recent events? As more lives are put at risk, Jillian must use her medical investigative skills to help Alex unravel the mystery.

    Clever dialogue, humor, and a healthy dose of romance between Alex and Jillian will surely delight romance readers. Providing a deft balance of romance and mystery, Tatum plants intriguing clues and steadily builds suspense in a way that had this reviewer eagerly turning the pages to discover who is embezzling town funds and endangering the lives of its citizens.

    Swamp Secret by Eleanor Tatum earned First Place for Southern Romance Category, the 2013 Chatelaine Awards, a division of Chanticleer Blue Ribbon Writing Competitions. We look forward to reading the sequel!