Win MONARCH by Michelle Davidson Argyle

Most of the books I read are YA, however I do read adult novels too and my latest grown-up pleasure was Monarch by Michelle Davidson Argyle.

Personally, holding Monarch in my hands was a thrill in itself. See, I read some of Michelle’s story years ago while she was still writing and revising parts of it. I remember sneaking onto Gmail messenger at work so that Michelle and I could chat about her manuscript. Fast forward a couple years and it’s a real published book with a fantastic yet kind-of-creepy-but-in-a-cool-way cover. How exciting!

But not as exciting as the story itself.

Talk about a page-turning cozy thriller. Cozy thriller? I know. Such an oxymoron but Michelle pulled it off. The few thriller books I have read seemed to mostly rely on action and shock value to keep the reader engrossed, but Michelle went above and beyond great action scenes. She made Monarch cozy by creating a cast of characters I genuinely cared about. I even sympathized with the villains (and the people I suspected as villains but later found out they weren’t—or were they? Depends who you ask!) The location jumping from the Monarch Inn which was quaint and snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug (pun intended) to the dangerous and deadly Brazilian jungle left my emotions seesawing. One minute I felt comforted and wished I was a vacationing guest at the inn, the next minute my blood pressure was through the roof and I was giving thanks for my safe and quiet lifestyle.

Michelle managed to juggle several complex relationships and I was never bored with ANY of them. (Seriously, how’d she do that?) Just like the Monarch butterflies that remained a beautiful theme throughout the story, Michelle’s characters were sometimes fragile and in jeopardy in one way or another (even the tough and deadly ones), but they persevered and went through a metamorphosis of some kind. She tied everything and everyone together at the end and provided realistic endings with satisfying closure. Those are my favorite kind of stories.

Monarch was an intense and well-told story with a variety of elements, plots and relationships that make it an enjoyable novel for readers of many genres.

Now is the best time to order Monarch. Rhemalda Publishing is offering 40% off their books at the Rhemalda bookstore. Click here to get your copy of Monarch and check out the other great books in their lineup.

I'm giving away a copy of Monarch to one lucky winner! Just be a follower and leave a comment answering one or all of the following questions, or just say you want to win! The winner will be chosen at random. (Open to International as always.) Contest closes this Friday, 9/23/11.

Have you read Monarch yet? Do you follow Michelle's awesome blog? What do you think of that fantastic yet kind-of-creepy-but-in-a-cool-way cover?

Add Monarch on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10558689-monarch

Michelle on Twitter: @LadyGlamis

Michelle's blog: http://theinnocentflower.blogspot.com

UPDATE: Random number generator selected #11 which was CHRISTA!

Congrats, Christa. I will ship MONARCH to you right away.