Glittering Promises Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour for Glittering Promises by Lisa T. Bergren!

Lisa T. Bergren's popular Grand Tour series concludes as Cora Kensington journeys farther into Italy, wrestles with a terrible ultimatum from her father, and comes to terms with the Father who will never fail her.

America's newest heiress must decide if her potential fortune is rationale enough to give up her freedom and all that God is leading her toward. And when her newly-discovered siblings are threatened with ruin, her quandary deepens. Then as Cora nears Rome, more journalists are tracking the news story of the decade---"Copper Cora," the rags-to-riches girl---and want to know more about her family and the men vying for her attention. Meanwhile, a charming Italian countess decides that if Cora isn't going to claim Will's heart, she might just 

try . . .

Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/pvxTP

About the author: Lisa T. Bergren is the award-winning author of over thirty-five books, with more than 2 million copies sold. A former publishing executive, Lisa now divides her time between writing, editing, parenting three children with her husband, Tim, and dreaming of her next trip to Italy. She lives in Colorado Springs.

Learn more about Lisa here:http://lisatawnbergren.com.

Review:

Cora Diehl Kensington is determined to finish her Grand Tour. She has been kidnapped and had stories written about her, but she wants to keep going on. On top of all the peril, Cora has fallen for the leader of their group, Will. She and Will have gone public, so Cora thinks that is settled. It's not. Meanwhile, Cora has been handed the means by which to her future can be made secure as part owner of a mine. Cora will have to deal with more danger both to her person and to her relationship with Will if she's to make it through the rest of the tour. 

The final installment in this series finds us reading some very familiar characters. I like when we are able to spend time with people we feel like we already know. This book continues a lot of the themes and plotlines introduced in the earlier books. I found that made a few things feel a little repetitive, but overall there was enough new stuff to make it all feel fresh. Cora is still managing to find ways to grow, so I enjoyed that. She and Will are still working to know each other and work through their issues, and they are having more things throw at them with Cora's new placement as an owner of one of the mines. I found this part to be very realistic actually, and I think that they handled things in a good way.

There are a bit of a twist in the end, but I honestly wasn't too surprised. It seemed a bit telegraphed to me, but that's ok. It was still interesting. It definitely felt like a good payoff for reading the entire series. Things were wrapped up in an acceptable manner (to me anyway), so I couldn't really ask for me. Overall this was a great book in a great series, so be sure to check it out.

Book provided for review.

Just Ella Blog Tour

Tour Schedule

Welcome to the blog tour for Just Ella by Annette K. Larsen!

A Proper Romance 

Ariella was only looking for a distraction, something to break up the monotony of palace life. What she found was a young man willing to overlook her title and show her a new and vibrant way of life. But when her growing feelings for Gavin spiral out of control and clash with the expectations of her station, she will discover that the consequences of her curiosity are far more severe than she’d imagined. 

I watched in helpless horror as two guards hauled Gavin to his feet and dragged him from the room. My voice was frozen, unable to protest as another guard took hold of my arm, leading me upstairs. From the confines of my room, I stared into the darkness beyond my window, hoping to catch one more glimpse of Gavin. He was gone, and I wondered if he would have been better off if he had never met me. 

I write clean romance. Why? Because that’s what I love to read, but over the years I’ve discovered it’s quite a challenge to find good clean romance. I believe it’s a genre that many people are looking for and too few authors are writing. My first novel, Just Ella, took me many years to write because I wanted it to be more than just a cutesy love story. I wanted it to have depth, to feel genuine. Hopefully I succeeded, but you’ll have to be the judge.

Amazon Paperback * Amazon Kindle

Book Blast/Blog Tour Special

Grab your copy of Just Ella for just $4.99!

Author Annette K. Larsen

I was born in Utah, but grew up in Flagstaff Arizona and St. Louis Missouri, the fifth of seven children. I attended college at Southern Virginia University and Brigham Young University where I studied English and Theater. I now live in Idaho with my husband and four children. I have Charlotte Bronte to thank for the courage to write novels. After being bombarded with assigned reading about women who justified abandoning either their families or their principles in the name of love, I had the great fortune of reading Jane Eyre. And that was it: finally a heroine who understood that being moral and making the right choice was hard, and sometimes it hurt, but it was still worth it. After rereading it several years later, I realized that if I wanted more books to exist with the kinds of heroines I admired, then I might as well write a few myself. My books are about women who face hard choices, who face pain and rejection and often have to sacrifice what they want for what is right. The consequences are often difficult or unpleasant, but it the end, doing what’s right will always be worth it. I believe there is no substitute for good writing or good chocolate. Fortunately, one often leads to the other.  

Website * Twitter * Facebook

Review:

Princess Ariella is tired of palace life. She doesn't feel she gets to do what she desires, only what others expect of her. Her only refuge is the maze on the palace grounds, a wonderful place where she can escape from it all. One day while in the maze, she meets the young gardener Gavin. Gavin and Ella form a strong bond as they teach each other about their very different worlds. Ella soon finds herself drawn to Gavin, but this is strongly frowned upon as Ella is expected to marry another noble. Ella is about to find out that the path to true love is much more twisted that she could have ever imagined.

I really enjoyed this book. Ella was able to walk the fine line between being sympathetic and being too much of a whiner very well. I thought the author did a great job of helping you see that being noble or common both had their ups and downs. Ella's friendship with Gavin felt very natural and never forced. This is really important for me when reading a book like that, because I find it much more believable. Of course, every good romance needs a villain, and this book delivered a great bad one. He was easy to dislike, and he managed to provide a path to happiness for more than one person. 

This book is a quick, fun read. I found it to be a good balance of good story and general romance fluffiness. You need both of those in a romance novel to keep it interesting I think. The book also has a bit of a fairytale feel to it which I really like as well. The awesome thing about this book is that while it is romantic, it's super clean and anyone from 12-90 would probably enjoy it. If you like fun, romance, and the feel of a fairytale, this is a great book to check out!

Book provided for review.

Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 11/5/13  
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 and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Star Child Book Blast

Welcome to the book blast for Starchild: The City of Souls!

 

In The Age of Akra, a pilgrimage to the Valley of a Thousand Thoughts brings together four children as an ancient prophecy is set in motion. Having triumphed against dangerous adversaries, Mai, Long, Akra and Sahib are now pursued by the melkarie and must escape to the City of Souls. In the land of Naroan, in a city hidden under a blanket of living green, they are confronted with the challenge to find the Singing Soul. But the underworld has other plans, and a beast so fierce is conjured to stop the children from finding anything that will add to the power to the prophecy of the seven nations.

Website * Amazon * Goodreads

*** Starchild: The Age of Akra (Book One) is only $0.99 in the Kindle Store for October ***

Excerpt:

The children were unaware of the dark forces that had gathered in the south. A force far greater than any seen before had grown into a power of unconquerable strength. From the very first night of Mai and Long’s journey, the eyes from which this force had grown had been searching for them. The search would not stop until the prophecy, its foreknowledge and the children were extinguished. The four children had travelled a long way. The mountain had disappeared behind them and so had the crumbled Castle of Stone. Akra had been attentive throughout the whole journey, listening to Sahib talk about the City of Beams. Behind them Long listened in, but Mai sensed a twinge of jealousy was beginning to twist his thoughts. Sahib and Akra were friends now. Long’s ‘buddy for life’ had been yanked away from him—by a sealer of all things. Mai noticed the frown on Long’s face, pushing his eyebrows closer together as he watched Sahib and Akra talk. Every so often he stopped to rub his ankles. Mai knew the burns around them would not heal quickly. The wound left from the searing grasp of the invisible hands of the underworld, which had almost pulled him to his death, would soon blister. What she didn’t know was that two nasty red streaks were beginning to snake their way up Long’s legs, and with them came an unusual meddling in his thoughts. When it was clear to Mai they had walked as far as possible for that day they found a place to rest. Long collected some dead wood, and with Akra’s fireruling skills a crackling fire soon spread its warmth as the darkness of the night settled over them. It was a clear night. A starlit blanket twinkled above them. Each of the children, too tired to eat, curled up around the fire and soon they were all asleep. Mai was happy to be back on her journey to the Valley of a Thousand Thoughts. But as she slept her flickering eyelids told a different story. Her mind replayed memories of the last few days that had passed. It was a skill only thoughtbankers possessed: the ability to replay a memory as if it were a dream.  

Author Vacen Taylor

Vacen Taylor is an author, writer, storyteller, occasional artist and amateur photographer. She describes her writing as a basic prose style with the occasional splash of creative penning. She collects comics and loves superheroes, anime and science.  

Facebook * Twitter * Website

 BookBlast Giveaway
$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Open Internationally
Ends 11/4/13

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 publisher. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


   a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Pitcher Blog Tour

Tour Schedule

Welcome to the blog tour for The Pitcher  by William Hazelgrove!

“I never knew I had an arm until this guy called out, “Hey you want to try and get a ball in the hole, sonny?” I was only nine, but mom said, “come on, let’s play.” This Carney guy with no teeth and a fuming cigarette hands me five blue rubber balls and says if I throw three in the hole we win a prize. He’s grinning, because he took mom’s five bucks and figures a sucker is born every minute. That really got me, because we didn’t have any money after Fernando took off, and he only comes back to beat up mom and steal our money. So I really wanted to get mom back something, you know, for her five bucks.” A boy with a golden arm but no money for lessons. A mother who wants to give her son his dream before she dies. A broken down World Series pitcher who cannot go on after the death of his wife. These are the elements of The Pitcher. A story of a man at the end of his dream and a boy whose dream is to make his high school baseball team. In the tradition of The Natural and The Field of Dreams, this is a mythic story about how a man and a boy meet in the crossroads of their life and find a way to go on. You will laugh and you will cry as The Pitcher and Ricky prepare for the ultimate try out of life. 

 Author William Hazelgrove

William Hazelgrove is the best selling author of five novels, Ripples, Tobacco Sticks Mica Highways and Rocket Man and The Pitcher His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly, Book of the Month Selections, Junior Library Guild Selections, ALA Editors Choice Awards and optioned for the movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today and other publications. His latest novel Rocket Man due out May 1, 2013 was chosen Book of the Year by Books and Authors.net. He runs a political cultural blog, The View From Hemingway’s Attic. A forthcoming novel, The Pitcher will be out Sept 1, 2013. He lives in Chicago.

Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter

Excerpt:

I never knew I had an arm until this guy calls out,

“Hey you want to try and get a ball in the hole, sonny?” I am

only nine, but Mom says, “Come on, let’s play.” This carnival

guy with no teeth and a fuming cigarette hands me five blue

rubber balls and says if I throw three in the hole, we win a prize.

He’s grinning, because he’s taken Mom’s five bucks and figures

a sucker is born every minute. This really gets me, because we

didn’t have any money after Fernando took off, and he only

comes back to beat up Mom and steal our money. So I really

want to get Mom back something, you know, for her five bucks.

I take the first rubber ball and throw it over my head and

wham! The carnival guy looks at me and laughs. “Whoa! A

ringer. Let’s see you do it again, sonny.” It’s like something

happens when I throw a ball. My arm windmills over the top

then snaps down like a rubber band. It’s like I’m following my

arm. So I throw the second ball and he mutters, “Alright, let’s

see you get the next ball in.” I mean we’re Mexicans, and I think

this guy figures he’ll put one over on us.

I throw the next two balls and they go wild. I hit the top of

the wood circle with one and the other one flies completely over

the game. The carnival guy is grinning again because he knows

I have only one more ball. I wind up like I had seen pitchers on

television and wham, right in the hole again. He hands Mom a

big white polar bear and takes the cigarette from his mouth.

“That looked like a sixty-mile-an-hour pitch to me,” he says.

“I don’t know,” I reply, shrugging.

He nods and picks up the rubber balls.

“You should pitch, buddy,” he says with one eye closed. “You

have a hell of an arm.”

Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 10/27/11
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 and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop!

Well it's been a while since I've done one of there, but this is one of my favorites, so here I am! I love this season. Halloween is the start of fall and really the whole holiday season to me. I'm super excited this year for sure!

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!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Chasing Hope Blog Tour

Tour Schedule

Welcome to the blog tour for Chasing Hope by Kathryn Cushman!

A Personal Drama of Shattered Dreams and Second Chances

A talented runner fully committed to Olympic dreams, Sabrina Rice's future was shattered by a devastating diagnosis. One forfeited scholarship and several years later, she has new goals and dreams that have nothing to do with running--something that's become far too painful to think on. Until the day she sees Brandy Philip running across the community college campus, easily outpacing security. Sabrina immediately recognizes world-class speed, and it's all the more painful that it belongs to a teenage graffiti artist. When a chance encounter brings the two young women together, Sabrina becomes Brandy's best hope for staying out of juvenile hall. Soon, Sabrina begins to feel an uncomfortable nudge that her new life is just about to be toppled...that God may be calling her to minister to this talented but troubled girl.  

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

 Author Kathryn Cushman

Kathryn "Katie" Cushman is a graduate of Samford University with a degree in pharmacy. She is the author of five novels, including Leaving Yesterday and A Promise to Remember, which were both finalists for the Carol Award in Women's Fiction. She is also the co-author of Angel Song with Sheila Walsh. Kathryn and her family currently live in Santa Barbara, California.  

Website * Facebook

Review:

Sabrina had it all going for her. Her talent in running had led to a full-ride at the University of Tennesse, and the Olympics didn't seem too far behind. Then something began to go wrong, and Sabrina saw her whole world falling apart. Struggling to find a new direction in life, Sabrina's grandma's friend asks Sabrina to take on her troubled granddaughter Brandy who also seemed to have a talent for running. As Sabrina and Brandy struggle to find common ground, they both find something even better- a new direction in life.

I was very intrigued by the concept of this book, so I really looked forward to reading it. It did not disappoint. The story very quickly drew me in, and I didn't want to stop reading. I found Sabrina to be sympathetic without being too whiny. I really thought that the character of Sabrina could easily cross over in to a really mopey person, but the author managed to find a really good balance between making her sympathetic to the reader but still keeping her as a hopeful person. Brady was another character that could have gone into a caricature almost of a troubled teen, but the author does a great job of making you want to root for her success.

This book was a super fast read. One really interesting aspect to me was the idea of what to do when your life doesn't turn out like you thought it would. Sabrina was so sure she was called to spread the love of God to everyone through her running, but then when she could no longer run she was so unsure about what she had felt. I think all of us feel this from time to time. We are so sure that our life is going one direction, and then suddenly we find ourselves way far away from where we thought we'd be. This book brings out the point that we can find our calling in life in different ways. Just because we think it's derailed does not mean it actually is. Overall this was an inspiring and interesting story. I really enjoyed it, and it will make a great escape while still leaving you with things to think about.

Book provided for review.


Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 10/17/13

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 and sponsored by the publisher. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just Ella Book Blast

Tour Schedule

Welcome to the book blast for Just Ella!

A Proper Romance

Ariella was only looking for a distraction, something to break up the monotony of palace life. What she found was a young man willing to overlook her title and show her a new and vibrant way of life. But when her growing feelings for Gavin spiral out of control and clash with the expectations of her station, she will discover that the consequences of her curiosity are far more severe than she’d imagined. 

I watched in helpless horror as two guards hauled Gavin to his feet and dragged him from the room. My voice was frozen, unable to protest as another guard took hold of my arm, leading me upstairs. From the confines of my room, I stared into the darkness beyond my window, hoping to catch one more glimpse of Gavin. He was gone, and I wondered if he would have been better off if he had never met me. 

I write clean romance. Why? Because that’s what I love to read, but over the years I’ve discovered it’s quite a challenge to find good clean romance. I believe it’s a genre that many people are looking for and too few authors are writing. My first novel, Just Ella, took me many years to write because I wanted it to be more than just a cutesy love story. I wanted it to have depth, to feel genuine. Hopefully I succeeded, but you’ll have to be the judge.

Amazon Paperback * Amazon Kindle

Book Blast/Blog Tour Special

Grab your copy of Just Ella for just $3.99!

Excerpt

“Now, wait just a minute. You can’t just plunge into a pool of water.” “Why not?” I should have said something cleverer, but I felt a bit scatterbrained, all thoughts having fled when Gavin’s arm went around me. He made a noise of exasperation. “Why not, she asks. Because, Princess, what’s going to happen when you show up for your lessons completely drenched? Or, what happens when we both show up on the palace grounds completely drenched? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to explain that to anybody.” Unfortunately, he had a point. “Don’t call me Princess.” He had been so relaxed today, so willing to be himself and let me be myself. I hated that he felt the need to remind me of my rank. I was tempted to be angry and walk away but I also wanted to see how long he would keep his arms around me. Simply out of curiosity, of course.

Author Annette K. Larsen
I was born in Utah, but grew up in Flagstaff Arizona and St. Louis Missouri, the fifth of seven children. I attended college at Southern Virginia University and Brigham Young University where I studied English and Theater. I now live in Idaho with my husband and four children. I have Charlotte Bronte to thank for the courage to write novels. After being bombarded with assigned reading about women who justified abandoning either their families or their principles in the name of love, I had the great fortune of reading Jane Eyre. And that was it: finally a heroine who understood that being moral and making the right choice was hard, and sometimes it hurt, but it was still worth it. After rereading it several years later, I realized that if I wanted more books to exist with the kinds of heroines I admired, then I might as well write a few myself. My books are about women who face hard choices, who face pain and rejection and often have to sacrifice what they want for what is right. The consequences are often difficult or unpleasant, but it the end, doing what’s right will always be worth it. I believe there is no substitute for good writing or good chocolate. Fortunately, one often leads to the other.  

Website * Twitter * Facebook

BookBlast Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 10/31/13  
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 and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

   a Rafflecopter giveaway