Swag Giveaway

My friends and I had the pleasure of attending the Proper Romance panel hosted by our local library. They had all of the Proper Romance authors come and answer various questions. It was really cool. Afterwards, you could get books signed by all the authors; we only visited Josi Kilpack. 

 

At the event, there was a bunch of swag, and I thought it would be fun to grab one of everything and give it away on my blog. I'm not sure if giveaways are still a thing, but hopefully someone out there wants some swag. 

There are bookmarks from all the authors, buttons, and a tote bag. If you happen to meet any of these lovely authors, they will sign the tote bag. There were a lot of people collecting signatures. I probably should have gotten Josi to sign it at least. Whoops! 

To enter, just leave a comment below. I will assign all the comments numbers and randomly generate a number. Good luck everyone!

Devil and the Deep Release Party + Giveaway!

The 4th book in the Ceruleans series is coming out! 

You are invited to join the party!

From Goodreads:    STORM CLOUDS ARE GATHERING, AND THEY WILL RAIN BLOOD. 

Scarlett is living her happy-ever-after, back in the real world. Only the ‘happy’ part is proving problematic.

For starters, there’s the isolation. Being a Cerulean among humans is fraught with risk, so her time with people can only be fleeting. Which means being with Luke but not being with Luke.

Then there’s her Cerulean light, her power over life and death. Less awesome talent, as it turns out, and more overwhelming responsibility. And it comes with rules – rules that are increasingly difficult to obey.

But what’s really pushing Scarlett to the precipice is something much bigger than herself, than her life in the cove. A force to be reckoned with:

Blood.

When long-buried truths are exposed, will Scarlett keep her head above water – or will she drown in the blood-dimmed tide that is unleashed? 

About the Author

Once upon a time a little girl told her grandmother that when she grew up she wanted to be a writer. Or a lollipop lady. Or a fairy princess fireman. ‘Write, Megan,’ her grandmother advised. So that’s what she did.

Thirty-odd years later, Megan is a professional writer and published author by day, and an indie novelist by night. Her fiction – young adult romance with soul – recently earned her the SPR’s Independent Woman Author of the Year award.

Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in Robin Hood's county, Nottinghamshire. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a palaeontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.

You can find and follow Megan online at:

Official Website

Gooreads

Facebook

Twitter

Google +

Giveaway

a

Rafflecopter giveaway

Character Challenge & Giveaway

Mini Challenge

How You Play:

I'm going to describe a character from a book by a Utah Author.

You must figure out who it is and what book they are from.

Please fill in you answers in the Google Form below!

Good luck!

Character #1

-    I'm supposed to marry my best friend.

-    My society is only allowed 100 songs, 100 poems, 100 paintings, etc.

-    I fall in love with the wrong boy.

-    I'm not supposed to know how to write, but someone is teaching me.

-    I'm really good at sorting things.

Character #2

-    I'm a soldier returned from war.

-    I enjoy knitting and gardening.

-    An old woman gave me an invisibility cloak.

-    I want to save 12 sisters from a curse.

-    I marry the eldest sister, Rose.

Character #3

-    My story is based on a Grimm fairy tale called Maid Maleen.

-    My lady and I are locked in a tower for years.

-    I impersonate my lady while speaking with her suitor.

-    I could be killed for the things I write in my journal.

-    My songs are calming and healing.

Giveaway

If you finished my mini challenge, you will be entered into the giveaway!

Prize - $10 Amazon Gift Card

At the end of the month, I'll reveal the characters and the winner!
Thanks for participating!

Rewind to You Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal, About the Author, a Sneak Peek of REWIND TO YOU and Rafflecopter Giveaway

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Author: Laura Johnston

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.

Genre: Clean Contemporary YA Romance

Release Date: September 15, 2014; Available for PREORDER now

One last summer before college
on beautiful Tybee Island is supposed to help Sienna forget. But how can she?
This is where her family spent every summer before everything changed, before
the world as she knew it was ripped away.

But the past isn’t easily left
behind. Especially when Sienna keeps having episodes that take her back to the
night she wants to forget. Even when she meets the mysterious Austin Dobbs, the
guy with the intense blue eyes, athlete’s body, and weakness for pralines who
scooped her out of trouble when she blacked out on River Street.

When she’s with Austin, Sienna feels a whole new world opening up
to her. Austin has secrets, and she has history. But caught between the past
and the future, Sienna can still choose what happens now…

About the Author:

Laura's Official Website * Facebook Page * Twitter * Goodreads

Laura
Johnston lives in sunny Arizona
with her husband and two children. Growing up in Orem, Utah with five siblings,
a few horses, peach trees, beehives and gardens, she developed an active
imagination and always loved a good story. Laura enjoys running, playing tennis, sewing, dancing (deduced to dancing around the kitchen
while cooking dinner these days), traveling, writing, writing and more writing,
and above all, spending time with her husband and kids. REWIND TO YOU, her
debut novel, was inspired by the loss of her father as a teenager.

A Sneak Peek of REWIND TO YOU:

Giveaway: Signed Copy of REWIND TO YOU and $25 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. The winner, chosen by Rafflecopter, will be announced here on April 29th as well as emailed. The winner will have 5 days to respond at which point a new winner will be chosen. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.

Discussion Post: Parts 7-10

It's the end of our Read Along, and I like to say thanks to everyone who participated in our adventure. We had some fun discussions and chats. I hope those of you who read it for the first time have fallen in love, and I hope those of you who re-read it fell in love all over again. 

I had a lot of fun hosting this with my friends!

Kathy from Read This Instead is hosting our last discussion post today.

Here are my answers to her questions:

1. How did you feel when Max had to leave the Hubermanns? What did you expect would happen to him?

I was really upset and scared. I really hoped that he would find a safe place or make it out of Germany somehow, but I also was scared he was going to be captured and killed.

2. Why do you think Liesel ran out to Max when they finally did cross paths, even after she had seen what happened to Hans earlier in the book?

How could she not!?!? Max and Liesel understood each other on a unique level. I don't think they could help look for each other. They were family to each other.

3. What did you think of Death spoiling the ending a couple chapters before it actually happened? Did the warning make it easier to handle?

I always think I'm prepared for the end, but I'm not. I always cry, and my heart always breaks. I think the foreshadowing and spoiler alerts were fitting, and it just felt right that Death said things when he did.

4. Which death impacted you the most?

Rudy and Hans usually kill me. I like and hate how Liesel find each character and mourns them. Rudy just kills me. I just want to yell at Liesel!!! Why couldn't she have given him a kiss before it was too late!?!?!? I think I cry hardest for Hans. He is the first person she cries out for, and Death knew Liesel loved her papa best. I actually mourned a lot for Rosa this time. She really stood out to me this read through. 

5. How did your view of Ilsa Herman change over the course of the book? 

She starts out as a pathetic creature, but she grows into a sort of silent hero. There were a few small victories at the end, and one of them was that Liesel would go live with the Hermans. She had someone familiar and understanding to take care of her. I love when Ilsa leaves cookies for Rudy and Liesel!

6. The power of words is such a big theme throughout the book. Which instances of powerful words stuck out to you? Or, which quotes from the book stuck out to you?

The part where Liesel is in Ilsa's library and destroys a book really stand out to me. She loves words so much, but she also realizes that word can be dangerous as well. I think an overall theme in the book is words are power!

7. In this post Markus Zusak says:
In many ways I felt that the book is about Liesel’s different kind of loves - for Hans, for Rosa, for Rudy and Max, and for books and living in general.
Which of those loves resonated with you most?

All of them really. This is one of the reasons the book is so beautiful. Liesel is so alone and scared when she comes to live with the Hubermanns, but she grows to love and trust different people in different ways. 

8. Thoughts on Liesel and Death finally meeting? 

It was like they already knew each other. I feel like they were greeting each other in a way that old friends would. I love that Death gave Liesel her book back. It would have been a hard thing to let go, but I think Death knew the book ultimately belonged to the author. 

9. If this was your first time reading The Book Thief, is it what you expected?
If it was a reread, what did you notice this time around?

Rosa and how much I like her stuck out a lot more this time around. This was my 3rd read through. The part where Rosa holds Hans' accordian all night, when Rosa comes to school to tell Liesel Max was awake, and the end when Death describes how much love Rosa had really stood out. 

10. Will you see the movie?

YES!!!! I can't wait!!! I know I will cry like a blubbering idiot though.

We have a surprise for you!!

It is giveaway time!

We are giving away 3 t-shirts! They each feature the quote "I am haunted by humans."

To enter, please fill out the form below.

For those of you who are going to attend the movie with us, we'd like to wear these for that event!

Good luck everyone!

Giveaway Time!

I hope everyone has been having fun with Utah Book Month! I have! I haven't read as many books as I wanted. I got caught up in some Lego games, and my reading is suffering because of it. Oh well, I'm having fun!

To win a $10 gift card to Amazon, please fill out the Rafflecopter thingy below!

Good luck everyone!

Oh, you might need these links!

Ally Condie Spotlight

Character Challenge

Meet Stephanie

Utah Awesomeness

a Rafflecopter giveaway