Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Leap Into Books Giveaway Hop



Welcome to the Leap Into Books Giveaway Hop!



Wow, is it already the end of February? Spring will soon be here, which is awesome! Let's celebrate by giving away some stuff.





I'm offering up my usual of:



a $10 Amazon.com gift code or $10 in books from Book Depository!




Please check to ensure that Book Depository delivers to your country.

How do you enter?

Choose one or any or all of the following:
1. Follow on GFC or Linkyfollowers
2.  Follow on Twitter
3. Like on Facebook
4. Friend on Goodreads 



That's all!



Just as a warning I will more than likely be slow to pick a winner/buy the prize as I will be leaving town on March 7th, but never fear, a winner will get picked and get something eventually!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out all the other blogs on the hop. Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska Blog Tour


Welcome to the blog tour for Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss!



Singer Ginny Marshall is one signature away from the recording contract of her dreams-a deal that would guarantee success for the former foster child, who still struggles to bury the memories of her painful childhood. But Ginny needs advice from the one person who will look out for her best interests-her former fiancé, Brett Miller. She travels to the remote town of Glacier Bay, Alaska, where the town's colorful characters and stunning scenery provide respite from LA's pressures.
In Glacier Bay, Ginny discovers a box of old letters and is swept up in the love story between Clay, an early missionary to Alaska Territory, and Ellie, the woman who traveled there to be his children's governess. When Ginny is reunited with Brett in Glacier Bay, will she discover-as Ellie did-that healing and love are sometimes found in the most unexpected places?
 
Link to buy the book: http://ow.ly/gQiNn    
 
Meet the Authors:  
  


Tricia Goyer is the award winning author of over thirty books including Beside Still Waters,Remembering You, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences and is the host of Living Inspired. She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife.

Find out more about Tricia at http://triciagoyer.com.





Ocieanna Fleiss is a published author and editor. She lives with her husband and their four children in the Seattle area.
Find out more about Ocieanna at http://ocieanna.com/.


Review:


Ginny is on the verge of having her dreams come true. Her producer is offering her the chance to sign the deal of a lifetime. Ginny can't quite forget her old fiance though and decides he will have the best advice for her. So Ginny is off to Alaska to see Brett. When she gets there Brett is out communing with nature, so Ginny gets to know the town without him. She soon is taking care of Brett's grandmother. Brett's grandmother gives her some letters to read about Ellie, another woman who felt out of place in Alaska. Ginny and Ellie's stories parallel each others in some ways, and Ginny and Ellie both will have to decide if there are reasons to stay in Alaska.

This book is actually two stories in one. The first is Ginny's story, and the second is Ellie's. Ginny is interesting. She basically has to decide what her priorities are going to be. This can be very hard to figure out. For one thing, Ginny has had a horribly difficult life. Singing is her dream, so a big recording deal is a gateway to everything she ever wanted. However, she sees another way of life in Alaska. The community is so close-knit there. I think this is something that really draws Ginny in. Having spent much of her life in foster care, Ginny really longs for a family. This longing has shaped a lot of her life. Ellie's story is equally interesting. Sent to Alaska to nanny the children of a widower, Ellie finds that life in Alaska is much more difficult that she could have ever imagined. She too though must prioritize what is important in her life. 

I enjoyed this book. The descriptions of Alaska are really able to draw you in. You feel for Ginny. Although she seems to have everything she wanted right at the tip of her fingers, you just want her to choose everything for the right reasons. I found Ellie's story interesting as well, and there is a thread to wrap the two stories together that I didn't see coming. This book will whisk you away to Alaska and make you want to get the priorities in your life straight.

Book provided for review.


 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Showstoppers/Three Sisters Blog Tour


Tour Schedule






Three Sisters and Showstoppers are two novella-length stories in the Emily Castles mystery series. The first full-length novel, Invitation to Die, will be published by Thomas & Mercer in October 2013.

The Emily Castles mystery series is set in present-day London. It features twenty-six-year-old Londoner Emily Castles and her neighbor, eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel Crowther. In Three Sisters, Emily goes to a party in a big house at the end of her street. She's sure she witnesses a murder, but no one will believe her. She teams up with Dr. Muriel to investigate.

In Showstoppers, Emily helps out at a local stage school run by her neighbor, Victoria. Soon she's mixed up in a blackmail plot and two deaths. Emily and Dr. Muriel team up to prevent further a massacre live on stage during the end of term show.



Purchase



Author Helen Smith

Helen Smith is a novelist and playwright who lives in London. She's the author of bestselling cult novels Alison Wonderland, Being Light and The Miracle Inspector as well as the Emily Castles Mystery Series.


Amazon * Facebook *  Twitter * Blog


Review of Showstoppers:

Emily Castles is not having a good day. Her temp job is over, and now she has to deal with misdirected mail. While delivering said mail to her neighbor, Emily gets involved in her neighbor Victoria's bad situation. You see, Victoria is an actress and made a video with her then boyfriend in drama school. No, not that kind of video. The kind that kills...with laughter. Victoria is getting threatening letters, so naturally she enlists Emily to help her discover who is behind it all.

This was a very cute story. It's novella length, so you can easily read it in one sitting. This also means that the story moves along at a very fast clip. I particularly enjoyed Victoria and her crazy student film. That was pretty hilarious. The mystery wasn't too predictable, and I actually enjoyed that no one was ever in any mortal danger or anything. Overall this was just a fun, cute story, and I look forward to reading more.

Book provided for review.


Tour Giveaway
10 winners will each receive a Kindle Ebook copy of Showstoppers & Three Sisiters
Ends 2/28/13

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Review: For What It's Worth by Karey White




Title:For What It's Worth
Author:Karey White
Publisher:Cedar Fort
Pub. Date:12/2012
ISBN:10:1462110 (ISBN13: 9781462110667)
Pages:240

Twenty-four year-old, Abby Benson has dreams of owning her own wedding cake shop. An inheritance from her aunt gives her the ability to make those dreams come true. She hires Dane, a handsome contractor, to help her get the bakery up and running and soon they’re moving toward their own happy ending. 

 Unsure what to charge for her cakes, Abby has a crazy idea to let the customers decide what they think their cake is worth. This plan has its ups and downs, but the novelty of the idea makes her a local celebrity. When she is interviewed on television about the unusual idea, business booms and Abby has cake adventures she never dreamed possible. But as her fame grows, Abby is swept up in a whirlwind that threatens everything she values. With the challenges that face her, will she be able to determine what is worth the most?

(Summary and cover via Goodreads)
            **************************************************


When Abby Benson comes into a unique inheritance, it's her chance to live her dream. Abby has a talent for cake decorating, and she's always wanted to run her own business. Given the means to do it, Abby reluctantly starts her new business. She hires a handsome contractor, and things progress quickly with both the store and the contractor Dane. Abby soon decides on a unique pricing scheme for her cakes. She will allow the customer to pay what they think the cake is worth. Abby's business quickly grows into something far more than she ever imagined, but at what price will it come in her personal life? Abby will truly have to determine what matters most to her if she's going to make everything work.

I found this book to be utterly charming. Honestly, I was expecting a bit of the usual romance formula, but this book managed to resist that some. It definitely drew me in immediately. It was fun to get to watch Abby chase her dreams, even if she wasn't certain she wanted to. It was also very interesting to see her forced to have to truly decide where her priorities were. No one should be expected to give up on what they want from life, but we all have to prioritize and some point. Dane was a very interesting person as well. You can see why Abby falls for him. The one thing that did bother me though was their lack of communication. I realize some of that is just a way to get the plot to move forward, but I just wanted to shake them and tell them to talk to each other. That would have solved a lot of problems.

I loved Abby's unique cake pricing structure. That is something that probably made her customers really reflect on what they were getting. The emphasis throughout the book on the value of things helped to really drive home the message of the book. Are the things we choose to fill our time with truly the most valuable things in our life? That's something a lot of us could stand to think about. This book never gets preachy though. It's all wrapped up in a fun story with great characters. I really enjoyed this book, and I think a lot of other people will too.


Book provided for review.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Showstoppers and Three Sisters Book Blast


Welcome to the book blast for Three Sisters and Showstoppers by Helen Smith!



Three Sisters and Showstoppers are two novella-length stories in the Emily Castles mystery series. The first full-length novel, Invitation to Die, will be published by Thomas & Mercer in October 2013.

The Emily Castles mystery series is set in present-day London. It features twenty-six-year-old Londoner Emily Castles and her neighbor, eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel Crowther. In Three Sisters, Emily goes to a party in a big house at the end of her street. She's sure she witnesses a murder, but no one will believe her. She teams up with Dr. Muriel to investigate.

In Showstoppers, Emily helps out at a local stage school run by her neighbor, Victoria. Soon she's mixed up in a blackmail plot and two deaths. Emily and Dr. Muriel team up to prevent further a massacre live on stage during the end of term show.




Purchase



Author Helen Smith

Helen Smith is a novelist and playwright who lives in London. She's the author of bestselling cult novels Alison Wonderland, Being Light and The Miracle Inspector as well as the Emily Castles Mystery Series.


Amazon * Facebook *  Twitter * Blog




Tour Schedule





BookBlast $50 Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 2/22/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The Aviator's Wife Blog Tour



Welcome to the blog tour for The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin!


For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements—she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States—Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth century—from the late twenties to the mid-sixties—and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviator’s Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage—revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure.


Praise for the Book:
“Vivid and mesmerizing, The Aviator’s Wife takes us behind the scenes and into the heart of the woman who loved and married Charles Lindbergh.  That was her destiny – a life that took her soaring into the skies and then plunged her to earth, a story of both triumph and pain that will take your breath away.” —Kate Alcott, author of The Dressmaker

Purchase the Book:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE



Melanie Benjamin is the author of the nationally bestselling Alice I Have Been and The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.
Her latest book is the historical fiction, The Aviator’s Wife.
Benjamin lives in Chicago, where she is at work on her next historical novel.

Visit the Author:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK


Review:

Anne Morrow is used to being in the shadows. The one time she gets noticed is the one time she least expects to get noticed. When the very famous aviator Charles Lindbergh visits her family, Anne is once again prepared to fall back into the shadows. Everything changes for her when Charles Lindbergh not only notices her but wants to spend time with her. Anne is soon caught up in a marriage unlike any other. Spanning many decades, Anne's life is one with many highs and lows. Through it all, Anne must figure out to make herself happy and not just be "Mrs. Lindbergh."

I love books based on real people, so I was excited to read this. It was extremely interesting. Charles and Anne Lindbergh were really like a celebrity couple of today. They had people after them and interested in their every move. The kidnap and murder of their first son is prime evidence of this. Everyone wanted a piece of the Lindbergh's for their own reasons. I can't even begin to imagine being hounded as much as they were. That must have been awful to be hunted down like that. I think this really hurt Anne is ways she couldn't quite measure also. A running theme seems to be Anne's need for independence, something that was impossible under the circumstances. 

Of course, Anne also really was in the shadow of her extremely famous husband. Anne herself was actually very accomplished. However this was always overshadowed by everything her husband did. Charles Lindbergh doesn't come off particularly well here; often he seems very cold and calculating to me at least. I really wanted things to work out better for Anne, especially knowing that Charles Lindbergh was less than faithful. In the end though, this book is a thoroughly fascinating look at what could very well be one of the first modern super-couples. 

Galley provided for review.

Be sure to check out all the stops on the tour. Thanks for stopping by!


Monday, February 4, 2013

Secretly Smitten Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour for Secretly Smitten!



Summer, fall, winter, spring-Smitten, Vermont, is the place for love . . . and mystery!

There's a secret in Grandma Rose's attic-a forgotten set of dog tags belonging to her first love. But David Hutchins was killed in action and never returned to Smitten. How did the dog tags end up in the attic?
The mystery intrigues Rose's three granddaughters-Tess, Clare, and Zoe-and they decide to investigate, though their mother, Anna, warns against meddling. But as the seasons turn and the mystery unravels, the three young women and their mother encounter some intriguing mystery men of their own. Has a sixty-year-old puzzle sparked something new for this close-knit family of women?
Join popular romance novelists-and real-life BFFs-Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter for four delightful intertwined tales of mystery and sweet intrigue.
Link to buy the book: http://ow.ly/gM679     

Meet "The Gals":  


  
 
RITA-finalist Colleen Coble is the author of several best-selling romantic suspense novels, including "Tidewater Inn", and the Mercy Falls, Lonestar, and Rock Harbor series. * Christy Award finalist and two-time winner of the ACFW Book of the Year award, Kristin Billerbeck has appeared on The Today Show and has been featured in the New York Times. Her books include "A Billion Reasons Why" and "What a Girl Wants." * Denise Hunter is the award-winning and best-selling author of several novels, including "A Cowboy's Touch" and "Sweetwater Gap." She and her husband are raising three boys in Indiana. * Diann Hunt has lived in Indiana forever, been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, her dog, and, well, chocolate.
Find out more about Coble, Billerbeck, Hunter,and Hunt here.
Review:

Smitten, Vermont is known for being a small town that's big on romance. The people of Smitten love to draw people in and make them feel the love. For one family though, they haven't been as lucky in love. Spanning 3 generations, the four stories in this book show 5 different romances. Some are new and fresh and some are older than anyone even knew. Throughout it all, the town must work to try and get a new train line to stop in Smitten, providing necessary tourists. Deep with romance and mystery, this book leads one to believe that Smitten may truly be a romance capital.

So this book was interesting in that it was 4 different stories written by 4 different authors. They all tied together in the end though. I found some of the stories to be more entertaining than others; I guess that's just the nature of having 4 different authors write it. Some of them had styles that meshed much more with what I like to read than others. I won't tell you which ones were my favorites, but suffice it to say 2 of them were much more entertaining for me. Just know that if you get in the middle of a story and it's not that appealing, stick with it because the next story may be right up your alley.

There is an overlying mystery that helps tie the 4 main stories together. I really enjoyed that part. I did like how things tied together in the end too. It was very sweet. I also love that it's 4 smaller stories. That allowed me to be able to read around my other daily tasks. I also had the flu when I read this, so I was able to get some of the story in between temperature spikes. It worked very well for that purpose. Overall I enjoyed the book. It was just very sweet. This is perfect for when you just want to relax and fall in love...several times.

Galley provided for review.



The "gals" are celebrating the release of Secretly Smitten with a fun Live Webcast on February 5th. They'll be debuting the *NEW* animated Smitten trailer, giving away tons of prizes, dishing on the book and their friendship. They'll also be wrapping up the Secretly Smitten blog tour, answering audience questions and testing your trivia skills. Don't miss the fun and bring your friends. Click here to RSVP and set up a reminder.

Friday, February 1, 2013

daynight Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour for daynight by Megan Thomason!

Tour Schedule





Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance™. Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex.

Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead.

Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan.

Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.

Full of competing agendas, romantic entanglements, humor, twists and turns, daynight is Megan Thomason’s debut young adult dystopian novel and first in the daynight series.


Purchase



Author Megan Thomason

Megan Thomason lives in paradise aka San Diego, CA with her husband and five children. A former software manager, Megan vastly prefers writing twisted tales to business, product, and marketing plans. When she isn't typing away on her laptop, she's reading books on her phone—over 600 in the last year—or attending to the needs of her family. Megan’s fluent in sarcasm, could potentially benefit from a 12-step program for road rage, struggles with a Hot Tamales addiction, loves world travel & fast cars and hates paperwork & being an insomniac. Daynight is Megan's first published novel, but fourth written one.






 Twitter * Goodreads * Facebook

Review:

Kira has been offered a unique opportunity. If she spends a year with the Second Chance Institute, she will get a full scholarship to college. This seems like too good of a chance to pass up, so Kira is off on a new adventure. However, the day of her test to see if she can work for SCI something horrible happens that results in the death of most of her classmates. Kira leaves all this behind to travel with her other surviving classmate, Blake, to the SCI training facility on the planet of Thera. She also manages to meet the mysterious Ethan. As Kira learns more about the SCI and Thera, she learns that things are far more complicated than she could have ever imagined. Kira, Blake, and Ethan will be wrapped up in something much bigger than them, and they will have to fight to survive.

First of all, this was a very unique book. I found the concept behind it enthralling. The idea of Thera being a mirror of Earth in almost every way possible was intriguing. There were a lot of political plots to keep up with, and there were tons of twists and turns. Just when you thought you had a good handle on what was going on, things got shaken up. The story keeps you on your toes. One thing I will say though is that I kind of felt thrown into the story. It was unclear to me in the beginning how much about SCI and Thera Kira knew about. There were things she seemed like she understood that I completely didn't get, so I found that confusing. 

The story felt complete, but there was room for more books. Dystopian books are kind of overdone these days, but it's always nice to find a book with a unique concept. This book definitely fits that bill. There is also a huge love triangle, and even that manages to avoid being too predictable. This book is worth checking out. It will take you for a ride and leave you ready to find out more.

Book provided for review.



Tour Schedule

Blog Tour Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card
Signed copy of Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Signed copy of daynight

Ends 2/7/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


a Rafflecopter giveaway