In fairness, when I complained, they pointed out the way their original message had read. It was worded in such a way that it was easy to misunderstand, but it didn’t say the votes would count. The contest coordinator insisted they had no intention of being deceptive but did acknowledge that the email could easily be misinterpreted.

The experience left a bad taste in my mouth, and I have never submitted review requests to that site again, though it is a popular site for readers and writers.

Thanks to everyone who voted. David got about twice as many votes as the next book. However, we misunderstood how the contest operated. The winners had already been chosen before the finalists were listed on the Web site. There were two rounds of judging in each category – one by three judges that determined the finalists and a second by one additional judge that determined the winner. It was called a readers’ choice contest because all the judges were readers, not authors or editors. The voting on the Web site had no bearing on the outcome of the contest – it was just created to involve more readers and generate interest. I apologize for misunderstanding and giving out erroneous information.