Book Blast: Sisters in White - Melissa Foster (+ GIVEAWAY)

Danica and Kaylie Snow are about to celebrate the biggest day of their lives—their double wedding—on an island in the Bahamas. But no wedding is complete without a little family drama. The two sisters aren’t ready to face the father they haven’t seen since he divorced their mother and moved away to marry his mistress, and live with Lacy, the half sister they’ve never met.

While Danica has exchanged letters and phone calls with Lacy, Kaylie has fervently tried to pretend she doesn’t exist. Lacy is sweet, fun, and nearly a mirror image of Kaylie. To make matters worse, not only is Lacy looking forward to meeting her sisters, but she idolizes them, too. As the countdown to the wedding date ticks on, their parents are playing a devious game of revenge, and there’s a storm brewing over the island, threatening to cancel their perfect wedding. The sisters are about to find out if the bond of sisterhood really trumps all.

Goodreads

Buying Links:

Amazon

B&N

Author's Biography

Melissa Foster is the award-winning author of four International bestselling novels. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Café. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa is also a community builder for the Alliance for Independent Authors. She has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.

Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.

Visit Melissa on The Women’s Nest, Fostering Success, or World Lit Cafe. Join Melissa and the YaYa Writer Girls at their annual in-person event. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Twitter

Facebook

Website

GIVEAWAY

    Giveaway is open to US Only. | Must be 13+ to Enter

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Blog Tour: Phantom Summer - Amy Sparling (Review + GIVEAWAY)

Title: Phantom Summer

Author: Amy Sparling

Publisher: 336Love

Date of Publication: September 5, 2013

Genre: contemporary YA with ghosts

Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Taylor Gray moves to Sterling Island to get over her dead boyfriend. Mom’s cool with letting her crash on the couch, but Taylor needs to get a job before the lights are cut off again.

When the tall, dark and crazy Raine Tsunami offers her a position at his thriving ghost tour business, she figures it’s an easy way to make some cash. Taylor isn’t afraid of ghosts--that crap is as fake as her mom’s boob job. She loves their adventures on the historic island, especially the secret places he shows her when the crowds go home. So what if all the ghost stories are just legends?

When Taylor comes face to face with a ghost and Raine crosses the line between friend and boyfriend--Taylor’s new life collides with her haunted past. If murdered people end up as ghosts, then that someone she was trying to forget is probably watching her.

Goodreads

Purchase link: 

Amazon | B&N

Excerpt

Friday comes way too fast and I'm not even mentally prepared by the time eight o'clock rolls around. It's been so long since I've hung out with anyone besides Brendan, and now I'll be with several people my age. At least they didn't appear to be stuck up or judgmental. Well, besides judging me for not believing in ghosts. Of course, it's been my experience that people judge you more once they see where you live. I vow to make sure they never find out. 

"Do you have big plans tonight?" Margret asks as we finish closing up the museum. I know she knows I have plans; she just likes to remind me. And to think I had spent all of my seventeen years wishing I had a loving grandma like in the movies. Margret is basically a loving grandma and she's starting to get on my nerves. 

"Tay-lor." She waves her hand in my face. I jolt out of my daydreams. "Yes," I say. "Anna and Pax are meeting me after work, remember?"

"Oh, that's right," she says, all coy-like. Yeah, as if she didn't remember. "Do you think Raine will be there?"

"I don't know."

"I bet he'll be there." She puts all the day's donations into a bank deposit bag and zips it closed.

"Why does it matter?"

"Because if anyone can make a believer out of you, it's that boy." My first inclination is to object and point out all thing things that make him weird. But I don't, because honestly if anyone is going to make me a believer, I want it to be Raine.

I am glad I picked up this book. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I definitely liked it (although it wasn't as creepy as I thought it would be).

The descriptions of the beach, the historical side of the island, the museums and the places they visited on the tours were beautiful and really made me want to be there.

I also loved almost all the characters! Raine was amazing! He was really sweet but had this air of confidence that made you love him! Anna and Pax were quite nice too and Anna was a good friend. Margaret was such a sweet lady, the kind that everyone wanted to have as a grandmother. I really didn't like Taylor's mother and how she only seemed to care about herself, making a lot of bad choices and almost "forcing" her daughter to make those same bad choices. And then we have Taylor...I have a bit of mixed feelings about her. In one hand I thought she was really brave and really strong dor having to deal with her past the way she did (even if sometimes it was all too much). On the other hand, in the beggining she was pissing me off. You don't have a monopoly on pain, Taylor...other people can have problems too! (Maybe it was just because she was making fun of a guy she said looked "emo" and I used to be a bit alternative too a few years ago, so it hits close to home haha).

It seemed to me that maybe the story was going to go on a slightly different route since in the early chapters Taylor is thinking about Brendan's death and she mentions a situation and when she is talking about it towards the end of the book the situation is a bit different.

I felt that the pacing was a bit slow, especially considering the paranormal theme, but maybe that was the point. Maybe it was supposed to be a more character-oriented story, which it is.

I did have one or two issues with this novel, but all in all it was an enjoyable and interesting read.

About Amy Sparling

Amy Sparling is a native Texan with a fear of cold weather and a coffee addiction that probably needs an intervention. She loves books, sarcasm, nail polish and paid holidays. She lives near the beach with her daughter, one spoiled rotten puppy and a cat who is most likely plotting to take over the world. Amy Sparling is a pen name for YA author Cheyanne Young.

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

$50 Amazon GC and a SIGNED paperback of PHANTOM SUMMER open internationally!

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Book Blast: The Cutting Room Floor - Dawn Klehr (+GIVEAWAY)

Synopsis 

Behind-the-scenes secrets could turn deadly for Desmond and Riley

Life in the Heights has never been easy for seventeen-year-old Riley Frost, but when she's publicly dumped and outed at the same time, she becomes an immediate social outcast at her high school. So Riley swears off romance and throws herself into solving the shocking murder of her favorite teacher, Ms. Dunn.

Riley turns to her best friend, budding filmmaker Desmond Brandt, for help. What she doesn't know is that Dez has been secretly directing her life, blackmailing her friends, and hoping his manipulations will make her love him. When his schemes go too far, Dez's web of lies threatens to destroy both of their lives.

Goodreads

Where to buy

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Amazon (affiliate link)

About the Author

Dawn Klehr began her career in TV and though she’s been on both sides of the camera, she prefers to lurk behind the lens. Mostly, she loves to get lost in stories –in film, the theater, or on the page – and is a sucker for both the sinister and the sappy. She’s currently channeling her dark side as she works on her next book.

Dawn lives in the Twin Cities with her funny husband, adorable son, and naughty dog. The Cutting Room Floor is her debut YA novel. 

Twitter / Facebook / Website

GIVEAWAY

2 Winners will each receive a $25.00 Gift Card to Amazon.com

Must be 13+ to enter | Open Internationally

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Blog Tour: After Hello - Lisa Magnum (Review + GIVEAWAY)

Title: After Hello

Author: Lisa Mangum

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

Date of Publication: August 21, 2012

Synopsis

What if the first day of your relationship was the only day you had? 

Seventeen-year-old Sara is a seeker. She’s always on the lookout for the perfect moment to capture with her ever-present, point-and-shoot camera, especially on her first trip to New York City. 

Sam is a finder. He has a knack for finding what other people can’t—a first-edition book or the last two tickets to a sold-out Broadway show. In New York, there is always something interesting to find. 

When Sam and Sara’s paths cross, neither one of them is prepared for what they will find out about each other—and about themselves when they form an unlikely partnership in search of a seemingly elusive work of art. They have one day to find the impossible. Fate brought their talents together, but what happens when time runs out? Will love be able to overcome fate? This new novel from award-winning author Lisa Mangum explores what happens after hello.

Goodreads

Buying Links

Barnes and Noble

The Book Depository (affiliate link)

Amazon (affiliate link)

From the moment I read the blurb I knew I had to read this book and I was not disappointed at all! I love the idea that anything can happen in New York (or at least that is what we are made to believe?) and I really like stories that happen over the course of 24-hours, I don't know but there is this sense of urgency that makes you feel like there is no time to waste.

I think that Lisa writes beautifully and her descriptions of New York were fascinating and made you feel as if you were in the city (which is great for someone, like me, who has never been there)!

I think the characters felt very real and their voice was very believable. Even though I think that maybe Sara (without an h!) was too caught up on something that happened 8/9 years before, I still thought it was easy to relate to the characters and their struggles.

As for the pacing, I think sometimes it was a bit slow, but I guess it is understandable since it happens over the course of 24 hours, so you can't really skip any moments...even the ones that felt like they were just being a filler.

I definitely recommend this book. I think it is a really cute and quick read which took me out of my reading slump (if you can consider reading +1000 page physiology and anatomy books a reading slump).

Author's Biography

Lisa Mangum has loved and worked with books ever since elementary school, when she volunteered at the school library during recess. Her first paying job was shelving books at the Sandy Library. She worked for five years at Waldenbooks while she attended the University of Utah, graduating with honors with a degree in English. An avid reader of all genres, she has worked in the publishing department for Deseret Book since 1997.

Besides books, Lisa loves movies, sunsets, spending time with her family, trips to Disneyland, and vanilla ice cream topped with fresh raspberries. She lives in Taylorsville, Utah, with her husband, Tracy. She is the author of The Hourglass Door (which was named the 2009 YA Book of the Year by ForeWord Reviews), The Golden Spiral, The Forgotten Locket and After Hello.

Website / Twitter

GIVEAWAY

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Blog Tour: The Singing River - R. K. Ryals (Spotlight + GIVEAWAY)

The Singing River by R.K. Ryals

Genre: NA Contemporary

Cover Design: Regina Wamba of Mae I Design and Photography

Synopsis:

In Mississippi, there's a legend about a Singing River, a tragic love story that ended with an entire Indian tribe singing a death chant as they marched stoically into the Pascagoula River to die ...

At eighteen, Haven Ambrose isn't just a high school graduate. In her head, she's an aspiring writer, a traveler, a chef, a slayer of injustice, an astronomer, an archaeologist, and the love child of a famous, rich musician. But reality is harsher. 

Reality is overdue bills, a crumbling trailer, an absent father, an old addiction, and a hot, crushing summer that may end in disappointment. 

For twenty year-old River Brayden, life seems good, but appearances can be deceiving. The oldest son of a wealthy family, he has finished his first year at 

Harvard to return home for the summer only to discover his younger brother headed down an unforgiving road. 

They will be drawn together by a song. For during the late summer, they say the Pascagoula death chant can still be heard near the Singing River. Its call is haunting, its chant a testament of love and sacrifice. It calls to some ... beckoning.

Goodreads 

Where to buy it:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
iTunes

Excerpt

I stepped toward her. “You have a way of making people relate to you.”

She snorted. “I doubt that.”

I was in front of her now, my face peering down into hers. “Really, you do. A few hours of knowing you feels like days.”

“Sounds tiresome,” she teased.

“It’s a gift,” I countered.

There were sudden lines in her forehead, a troubled look in her eye. “Some might call it a curse,” she murmured. “By the end of this trip, you’ll want me gone.”

It was my turn to frown, my gaze studying her face. She had green eyes so dark they could be mistaken for brown and lashes so long they almost touched her brows. True, she was more willowy than curvy, but she was beautiful in an understated, elegant kind of way. The faint freckles on the bridge of her nose drove me crazy.

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

There was something stark and open about her eyes when she answered, “Because I am better at being abandoned than I am at keeping people.”

About The Author

R. K. Ryals is a scatterbrained mother of three whose passion is reading whatever she can get her hands on. She makes her home in Mississippi with her husband, three daughters, a Shitzsu named Tinkerbell, and a coffeepot she couldn't live without.

Links

Website / Facebook / Amazon / Twitter / Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

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Banned Book Week Giveaway Hop!

"Banned Books Week is the national book community's annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2013 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 22-28." - Banned Books Week

I am against censorship and I think that people have the right to read what they want. For this giveaway I chose two books which have been challenged and which I have loved! 

The winner can choose an ebook copy of either The Perks of Being a Wallflower or any book on The Hunger Games series

The Hunger Games: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group

.

Rules

• Prize: An ebook copy of one of the books above;
• Fill the rafflecopter below (or click the link of the rafflecopter doesn't show up);
• This giveaway ends on September 29th, at 12 a.m (WEST - Western European Summer Time);
• I will contact the winner by email, if I don't get a reply in 48 hours, another winner will be picked (don't forget to check the spam folder!);
• I will check all the entries!

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Now, hop on to the next blog!

Stuck In A Good Book Giveaway Hop

This hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Valerie from Stuck in Books.

The idea is to showcase and giveaway a book that you just couldn't put down.

I chose a book about which I have been talking a lot lately and it is Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt! 

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Mallory loves her boyfriend, Jeremy. Or at least likes him more than she's ever liked any other boy. She's sure he feels the same way. Until she happens upon his online Authentic Life game and discovers he's cheating on her ...online Mallory's life is falling apart and technology is the cause. And then she finds a list, written by her grandma when she was Mallory's age. All her grandma had to worry about was sewing dresses and planning dinner parties. Things were so much simpler in the 1960s. And there's nothing on the list that Mallory couldn't do herself. Maybe it's time for Mallory to go vintage and find the answers to her modern-day problems.

My review

Rules:

• Prize: An ebook copy of Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
• Fill the rafflecopter below (or click the link of the rafflecopter doesn't show up);
• This giveaway ends on September 26th, at 12 a.m (WEST - Western European Summer Time);
• I will contact the winner by email, if I don't get a reply in 48 hours, another winner will be picked (don't forget to check the spam folder!);
• I will check all the entries!
• Have fun :)

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And since this is a hop, go to the next blog!

Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon Challenge (+ GIVEAWAY!)

This read-a-thon is hosted by Tressa's Wishful Endings and Colorimetry. I am very happy to annouce that I am hosting a challenge! I think that it's no secret how much I love book covers so it's only right that my challenge is based on them. For this challenge I will give you six pictures. All of them have a part of a book cover and it is your job to guess which cover it is! All covers are from books that I have read and which had been on my TBR list for ages! Good luck! :D

If you need any hints just let me know and I will post some! :)

HINT #1: Picture #3 belongs to the PAPERBACK cover of a novel set in the 80's! :)
HINT #2: Still about Book #3! It's not really a hint but I switched the edition on my read list so it shows the cover I used for the challenge :)

Rules:

• Prize: A book of your choice from The Book Depository (under 10€)
• Open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to your country (you can check here)
• You have to be a participant on the Tackle Your TBR read-a-thon. You can sign-up here (you din't have to have a blog)
• Fill the rafflecopter below (or click the link of the rafflecopter doesn't show up);
• This giveaway ends on September 22nd, at 12 a.m (WEST - Western European Summer Time);
• I will contact the winner by email, if I don't get a reply in 48 hours, another winner will be picked (don't forget to check the spam folder!);
• I will check all the entries!
• Have fun :)

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It's GIVEAWAY time!!

I was inspired by Book Hounds and I Am A Reader, Not a Writer!'s giveaway hop...unfortunately I didn't get to sign up...

So I decided to do my little Book To Movie Giveaway! :)

I'll be giving away an e-copy (epub or mobi) of a book that will be turned into a movie in 2014! You can choose from the options below:

                                 
                                 

If the book is part of a series you can choose one of the other books from that series (if it's already been published)

Rules:

• Prize: One (1) ebook copy of one of the books above;
• Open internationally;
• Fill the rafflecopter below (or click the link of the rafflecopter doesn't show up);
• This giveaway ends on September 4th, at 12 a.m (WEST - Western European Summer Time);
• I will contact the winner by email, if I don't get a reply in 48 hours, another winner will be picked (don't forget to check the spam folder!);

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Book Blast: Dare Me - Eric Devine (TRAILER + GIVEAWAY)

Dare Me trailer from Patrick Willems on Vimeo.

Synopsis

When Ben Candido and his friends, Ricky and John, decide to post a YouTube video of themselves surfing on top of a car, they finally feel like the somebodies they are meant to be instead of the social nobodies that they are. Overnight, the video becomes the talk of the school, and the boys are sure that their self-appointed senior year of dares will live in infamy. Every dare brings an increased risk of bodily harm, but Ben cannot deny the thrill and sense of swagger that come with it. The stakes become even more complex when a mysterious donor bankrolls their dares in exchange for a cut in the online revenue the videos generate. But at what point do the risk and the reward come at too high of a price? What does it take to stay true to one’s self in the face of relentless pressure.

About The Author

Eric Devine is the Young Adult fiction author of Dare Me (pub. date 10/8/13), Tap Out and This Side of Normal

He is also a high school English teacher and education consultant. 

Eric married his high school sweetheart, and together they are raising two daughters in Upstate, NY.

He is represented by Kate McKean of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. 

Both Dare Me and Tap Out are edited by Lisa Cheng and published by Running Press.

TWITTER / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK / EDELWEISS

GIVEAWAY

1 Winner will get this awesome t-shirt + an ARC of DARE ME by Eric Devine

Must be 13+ To Enter – Shipping in the US Only

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Summer Kindle Fire Giveaway

 

This is a joint AUTHOR & BLOGGER GIVEAWAY EVENT! Bloggers & Authors have joined together and each chipped in a little money towards a Kindle Fire HD 7".

Kindle Fire HD 7" Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HD (US Only)

  Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

  Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)

 

Sponsoring Bloggers & Authors

1. I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
2. Feed Your Reader
3. New Adult Addiction
4. Jessabella Reads
5. The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Somthing Year Old Girl
6. Books Unhinged by StacyHgg
7. S.A. Larsen - Writer's Ally
8. Author Inger Iverson
9. The Geeky Gamers
10. annakyss
11. Everyday Word Magic
12. Candance's Book Blog
13. Page Flipperz
14. SMI Book Club
15. Laurie Here
16. Feed Your Fiction Addiction
17. Phantasmic Reads
18. The Book Bellas
19. Please Don't Remove MarGreat's Glasses
20. Author Jennifer Laurens
21. J.C. Valentine
22. Holly Hood
23. Young Adult Novel Reader
24. Author Heather Bixler
25. Literary Meanderings
26. Suspense Author Kim Cresswell
27. Mother Daughter & Son Book Review
28. Meredith's Musings
29. Auggie Talk
30. Author Camelia Miron Skiba
31. Author Lena Sledge
32. LoriTheAuthor
33. Author Dianne Venetta
34. Curling Up with A Good Book
35. MyLadyWeb
36. Fae Books
37. Bea's Book Nook
38. Girls with Books
39. Ketch's Book Nook
40. Turning Pages
41. Bookhounds
42. Karey White
43. My Devotional Thoughts
44. Author Talia Jager
45. Author Helen Smith
46. Sher A Hart: Written Art
47. Author MK McClintock
48. Word to Dreams
49. Buku-Buku Didi
50. Tasty Book Tours
51. Readerlicious
52. Romance Bookworm's Reviews

  Giveaway Details 1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire 7" HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (International). There is a second separate giveaway for bloggers who post this giveaway on their blog. See details in the rafflecopter on how to enter to win the 2nd Kindle Fire. Sponsor a future Kindle Fire Giveaway by signing up HERE. Ends 8/15/13 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 participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.  

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