STEALING LUMBY: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
STEALING LUMBY
BY GAIL FRASER

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Back in the 1950s, Lumby had a brief moment of fame when renowned artist Dana Porter made two of its picturesque barns the subject of his greatest painting. In Stealing Lumby, the town is jolted from its comfortable obscurity once again when the famous painting disappears and the national media comes a-calling in an effort to solve the mystery. Things go from bad to worse when one of the barns itself goes missing; some see dollar signs in all the attention but others just want to get things back to the way they've always been. There is, after all, the Summer Solstice Moo Doo Iditarod to plan for. All of Lumby's quirkiness comes alive again in this delightful sequel to The Lumby Lines. Faithful readers will recognize old friends, enjoy meeting new ones, and relish all the antics as the story unfolds-as pieces of the stolen barn show up in the strangest of places, a schooner goes sailing down Main Street, and the famous artist considers recreating his masterpiece in a way that amazes all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

IF YOU MISSED THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DELIGHTFULLY TALENTED AUTHOR, GAIL FRASER, GO HERE TO READ WHAT I ALREADY POSTED ABOUT HER.

REVIEW:

If this is your first encounter with the town of Lumby, then THE LUMBY LINES, the first book in the Lumby series, can help to set the stage as it tells readers that “One could describe Lumby as one would describe, with unreserved fondness, their own small town in our vast and diverse country: quaint, with enough quirk to make it interesting.” All that and the charming characters that are so expertly introduced by author Gail Fraser, make up this picturesque village of delightful and unique inhabitants.

In STEALING LUMBY, we find many of the same characters that introduced the series in THE LUMBY LINES. Pam and Mark are back as the newest citizens who remodeled an abbey to turn it into an inn; as well as Charley, the 90 year old romantic who loves to read; Hank, the flamingo; Brother Matthew, the monk from the monastery; and many others. However, STEALING LUMBY focuses more Katie who owns the barns that are featured in a famous work of art, Adam Massey, the reporter, and Dana Porter, the artist who 40 years ago paints "The Barns of Lumby". And it is with this painting that Gail Fraser centers her main theme of the story around.

As we found with Fraser, she has a main plot and several sub-plots going all at once. This story mainly deals with how this painting, "The Barns of Lumby" that was on display in the famous American Museum of Art in New York is missing. Very well revered by art critics the world over for its realism, the painting being gone is a major news story. With this comes the paparazzi and media to try and get anything on the story when it breaks. Of course, the population of Lumby doesn’t take kindly to all these strangers descending on their peaceful little village.

As if that isn’t enough, at the same time, a barn that was in the painting disappears--yes, an actual physical building, a barn, basically vanishes! All that is left is the foundation and the shocked people of Lumby. The media, of course, takes this as an extra bonus to add to the mystery of the missing painting. How this mystery plays out along with all the subplots, is one of the best things about Gail Fraser’s writing.

As for the subplots, I‘ll give you these hints: Mark and Pam have trees for bees as well as various animals, all of which they are clueless about handling; nearly blind Jeremiah with his horse and buggy and a “gas” problem; Brother Matthew’s economic enterprises which happen to revolve around rum; and I can’t leave out the moose that wanders around town with a problem that nobody seems able to deal with! Gail Fraser brings all this to conclusion that will keep you guessing, laughing, and most of all reading to see what more this little berg can produce in the way of entertainment. Personally, I am seeing a pattern I liken to the Harry Potter books in which I thought from the first rather sweet and innocent Harry story to the last, they seemed to become a little more sophisticated, grittier, and more mature with each new story. I am wondering if by the time we get to book five this summer for Lumby if the town will turn from Lumby to Las Vegas! We shall see as tomorrow’s book is LUMBY’S BOUNTY.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO CAITLIN AND GOOD PEOPLE AT
FSB ASSOCIATES AND AUTHOR GAIL FRASER,
I HAVE THE ENTIRE SET OF THE FIRST
FOUR BOOKS TO GIVE AWAY. HERE IS WHAT
YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN THE SET...AND
POSSIBLY THE NEW BOOK WHEN IT COMES
OUT THIS SUMMER IN JULY!

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:
The last 2 days, and over the next 2 days,
you will learn all about the four books
in the series individually and be able
to gather entries for the entire set.

FIRST
You MUST GO AND ENTER HERE
to be eligible to win
the set of four LUMBY books.

SECOND
You MUST ENTER EACH DAY for
the four books to be eligible for
the set. You only HAVE to enter
the "MANDATORY ENTRY" parts
but can gain more chances with
the bonus entry questions.

THE LUMBY LINES, yesterday's
book, can be found here in case
you missed that one!

Here goes...

+1 ENTRY-MANDATORY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THINK, OR FOUND INTERESTING, ABOUT THIS SECOND LUMBY BOOK FROM READING THE SYNOPSIS AND MY REVIEW

+1 MORE ENTRY: GO TO GAIL FRASER'S WEBSITE AND VISIT HER LAZY GOOSE STORE WITH THIS DIRECT LINK. CHECK ALL YOU CAN BUY AND NAME ONE THING YOU MIGHT LIKE TO HAVE IF YOU COULD.

+1 MORE ENTRY: TWEET OR RETWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: STEALING LUMBY DEALS WITH A FAMOUS PAINTING. NAME A FAMOUS ARTIST WHOSE WORK YOU ADMIRE.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, APRIL 25!

GOOD LUCK

BONUS!!!!

IF THERE ARE 200 OR MORE QUALIFIED
ENTRIES TO WIN THE SET, I WILL
PERSONALLY PURCHASE A SECOND
SET TO GIVE AWAY!