Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop! Win a box of books (US only)

 

4th Annual Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop
April 17th to 24th
Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Read Now Sleep Later

It's been a while since I've done one of these, so it's time! I still have a lot of books to give away on my shelf, so I figure I'll give them a good home-- to one of you! Sorry, this is US only, as shipping costs are terrible.

So the winner will get a box of books! You can choose one of the books that you want from my shelf, and then the rest will be random, but since I used to be only a YA reviewer, they are all YA books. 

Here's a current picture of my giveaway shelf (some of these are signed by the author!), so you can pick which book you want in the box!

I'm not responsible for books that didn't make it because of shipping issues, and all entrants to the giveaway need to be over 13 years old.

That's about it! Enter away!

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Enter some other great giveaways, links are below!
 

Time After Time Playlist: Anna's Pick - Best of What's around by DMB and an INT GIVEAWAY!

This post will be one of the rare times this month I come out of hiding from studying for boards to say hello and do a promised post for a beloved author friend. It seems only fitting that I do this because I absolutely love Tamara Ireland Stone both as a person and as a writer and have been a long time fan of Dave Matthews Band. This way I get to combine my love of his music with my love for YA!

Goodreads Book description: Calling Anna and Bennett’s romance long distance is an understatement: she’s from 1995 Chicago and he’s a time traveler from 2012 San Francisco. The two of them never should have met, but they did. They fell in love, even though they knew they shouldn't. And they found a way to stay together, against all odds.

It’s not a perfect arrangement, though, with Bennett unable to stay in the past for more than brief visits, skipping out on big chunks of his present in order to be with Anna in hers. They each are confident that they’ll find a way to make things work...until Bennett witnesses a single event he never should have seen (and certainly never expected to). Will the decisions he makes from that point on cement a future he doesn't want?

Told from Bennett’s point of view, Time After Time will satisfy readers looking for a fresh, exciting, and beautifully-written love story, both those who are eager to find out what’s next for Time Between Us's Anna and Bennett and those discovering their story for the first time.

My thoughts on this book: I've actually already read this wonderful book (thanks, Netgalley!) and will just say fans of the first book won't be disappointed!

I have to once again post a wonderful picture of both Tamara and me at a book event :-)

Now to the song. It's been a while since I've read the lyrics to this particular song, but they really do fit Anna perfectly. Bennett and Anna are stuck in an impossible situation, separated by space and time, but they are such a great match for each other in every other way. Tamara told me the other day that she got the shivers when she reread the lyrics "Turns out not where but who you're with that really matters." It's so true.

And then the end of the song is so perfect, because it brings both Anna and Bennett full circle, and I can totally see her saying this to him: "Turns out not where, but what you think/ that really matters/ We'll make the best of what's around."

Sigh. YA book boyfriend anyone? OK, I admit it, I have a bit of a crush on Anna too :-)

"Best of What's Around" - DMB

Hey, my friend
It seems your eyes are troubled
Care to share your time with me
Would you say you're feeling low and so
A good idea would be to get it off your mind

See you and me
Have a better time than most can dream
Have it better than the best
So we can pull on through
Whatever tears at us
Whatever holds us down
And if nothing can be done
We'll make the best of what's around

Turns out not where but who you're with
That really matters
And hurts not much when you're around
And if you hold on tight
To what you think is your thing
You may find you're missing all the rest

Well she ran up into the light surprised
Her arms are open
Her mind's eye is

Seeing things from a
Better side than most can dream
On a clearer road I feel
Oh you could say she's safe
Whatever tears at her
Whatever holds her down
And if nothing can be done
She'll make the best of what's around

Turns out not where, but what you think
That really matters
We'll make the best of what's around!

Spotify links:  Time After Time: Anna's Shelf (1991-1995) and Time After Time: Bennett's Playlist (1995-2012)

I hope you enjoyed this stop of the blog hop! Don't forget to see the other stops too and also enter the giveaway!

Here's the link to the entire blog hop :-) 

http://tamarairelandstone.com/tat-playlist-blog-hop/

Now, enter this awesome INT giveaway to win a hardbound book set of Time Between Us and Time After Time OR an autographed copy of Time Between Us!

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WAVECROSSED Blog tour: Review of Wavecrossed by Andrea Colt

Andrea Colt wrote the wonderful Torched, which was in my top favorite indie reads of last year. She recently came out with the YA paranormal, Wavecrossed!

Book Description:

To Cassandra Kelleher, trust is a dirty word. A teenage selkie who grew up on land, all she wants is to free her family from the man who stole their sealskins long ago. With her twin brother Brennan losing hope and her window of opportunity disappearing like the beach at high tide, she’ll try anything.

Before long, however, Cassandra can’t tell whether her biggest threat is the man holding her family captive, a classmate who’s discovered her secret, or her own paranoia. Battling broken friendships and alarming romantic entanglements, Cassandra finds that trust could be the key to winning her family’s freedom … or losing her own.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

My Review: I received a copy of Wavecrossed from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was very excited about this book because Torched was one of my favorite indie reads of the past year. I award this book 3.5 stars.

Wavecrossed is a very different novel than Torched, which was a YA contemporary. I want to mention that I love that these books are totally different, because Colt takes a risk, and this is highly important for writers to be brave enough to do. This book stars Cassandra, a selkie, and her twin brother, Brennan two teenagers who are the only ones in their family who have their sealskins. Their parents and older brother Declan are still enslaved. To what lengths will each of them go to rescue them?

There is no doubt in my mind that Andrea Colt can write. Although I had some issues with how the story unfolds, I still got through the entire book in a few hours. The supporting cast is wonderful-- I loved Leisel and especially Ashlyn, the hated ex-best friend/girlfriend and queen bee of the school. I could imagine all of the scenes really well, and Brennan gives a nice balance to Cassandra, who is often hard to take. I loved the turn that everything takes in the end of the story, which I won't talk about, but you'll have to read it to find out!

As for my issues. I'm not sure that I agree with how the book starts. I dislike prologues as a general rule, but it might have been used effectively here. Instead of opening the story with the two of them swimming around, I think it would have been nice to see a scene of them trying and failing to save their parents. We are told most of this backstory through Cassandra's thoughts and dialogue between characters. Second, Cassandra is a very difficult character to like. I understand why she has to be that way, but often, I (and the characters as well) were begging to take a break from her continually negative and paranoid mind. Finally, as more of a personal preference than anything else, I think I've realized I'm not really into selkie stories. However, I did like how Colt makes the twins a bit different than "other" selkies.

Overall, a richly described novel that is fast paced with a terrific supporting cast. The way the plot unfolded and the main character weren't always my cup of tea, but no one can deny that Colt is a talented writer. I'll continue to pick up every book she writes.

About Andrea: Andrea Colt grew up reading and squabbling with her identical twin. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband, a fridge full of cheese, and two feline muses. Visit andreacolt.com to get to know her better.

Visit the rest of the blog tour!
http://oopsireadabookagain.blogspot.com/2013/07/release-day-blitz-and-blog-tour-invite.html

Oracle of Delphi Blog Tour and INT giveaway!

Goodreads Book Description: She has a destiny so great that even the gods fear her.

Constant hallucinations and the frequent conversations with the voices in her head, have earned eighteen-year-old Chloe Clever the not-so-coveted title of "Whack Job" in her home town of Adel, Georgia. With the onslaught of prescription medications and therapists threatening to push her over the edge, she wishes for a life far away from the one she has, a life where she is destined to be more than the butt of everyone's jokes and mockery.

Be careful what you wish for has never rung more true.

After living through an attack from her worst nightmare, she awakens to find herself far from home, surrounded by glorious riches and servants…and a few demigods who enjoy killing things. Upon learning that her favorite rockstar is an Olympian god, she is thrust into her new life as the Oracle of Delphi, the prophesier of the future, and the great Pythia that the gods have been anxiously awaiting to arrive for centuries. Setting out to fulfill the prophecy she has been given and to keep her family safe from a demigod Princess that wants her dead, Chloe learns of how great she is to become, all the while fighting mythical monsters, evading divine assassins and trying to outwit the ever-cunning Greek gods who harbor secrets of their own. In the hopes of discovering the Most Beautiful and the truth of her destiny, she strives to uncover the mysteries of the demigod Prince who has sworn to protect her with his life…and threatens to win her heart in the process.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Want to buy it?

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prophecy-of-solstices-end-diantha-jones/1116050182?ean=2940148440819

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00DXO6IZ6

 

Author Blurb: Diantha Jones was born the day thousands of turkeys sacrificed their lives to fill millions of American bellies on November 22 which also happened to be Thanksgiving Day (Her mother says she owes her a turkey). She is a Journalism graduate who wants to be a career novelist (of books, not Facebook posts). When not writing or working, she is reading on her Nook, being hypnotized by Netflix or on a mission to procure french fries. She also writes adult fantasy/paranormal romance under the name A. Star. Friend/Fan her at www.goodreads.com/A_Star.

Character interview with Chloe, main character in Prophecy of the Most Beautiful
Chloe, welcome to Ensconced in YA! I know you are busy saving the world, but I'm so happy you made it!

Thanks, Christina! Saving the world is my mission, but I've always got time for a friend of Diantha's.

We are going to do a lightning round to get to know you a little better.
1. Favorite book? Can anybody honestly answer this question? There's too many to choose from?
2. Favorite movie? The Avengers. I have a thing for heroes :)
3. Favorite song? Lover's Moon by A Divinity's Stimuli. They're my fave band.
4. Least favorite subject in school? Math. UGH. Terrible. Still aced it though.
5. Superpower that you've always wanted? Telling the future. Ha! Check.
6. Favorite TV show? Can't say I'm much of a TV person, but who can resist a Law & Order marathon?
7. Favorite ice cream flavor? Strawberry Cheesecake.
8. Boxers or briefs? Boxer briefs. Those are pretty hot.
9. Email or handwritten letters? I think Hermes Mail (celestial email) is pretty cool. But Iris delivers handwritten letters over a rainbow which is also pretty cool. Ah! I can't decide.
10. Dogs or cats? Dogs. There are already gods stalking me. Don't need a cat around doing it too.
11. Bad boys or good boys? Strafford Law. Pass your own judgement.
12. Zeus or Hades? Cupid. As far as I know, he doesn't have any sinister plans involving me...and he can kiss ;)
13. Favorite inanimate object? Lawless, my Morph. A ring that transforms into all kinds of weapons.
14. When going on a trip: are you a planner or take things as they come? I think it's pretty safe to say that I take things as they come. At this point, I don't have a choice.
15. Candy or chocolate? Chocolate!
16. Coffee or hot chocolate? Coffee. Blame my mother. I inherited the addiction.
17. Mountains or beach? Mountains. Ever seen Mount Olympus? Beautiful.
18. Hot or cold? I like both. Hot means laying out by the pool. Cold means cuddling up with Strafford. Meh. Who am I kidding? Cold all day.
19. Vampires or werewolves? Have you ever met an Empusa? Well, I have. So that's a big fat NO to the bloodsuckers. I'll go with werewolves.

20. Do you believe in soulmates? Yes. A thousand times, yes.

Thanks! Had fun!

Now enter some great giveaways!

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No Strings Attached Giveaway Blog Hop (US only)

I've had the privilege of partaking and winning several books from this hop, so it's my turn to give back! Thanks again to the wonderful Kathy, who runs I Am A Reader, Not A Writer!

The best thing about this giveaway hop is all you have to do is press enter under my rafflecopter without having to do anything else. Have fun!

The prize for this giveaway is 1 book (and some swag) off of my shelf to TWO lucky US winners. As you might imagine, most of my books are YA. The winner can request category:

YA contemporary (Signed ARC of Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John, signed to me-- I need to stop doing that! ;-))

YA science fiction (MILA 2.0 ARC)

YA dystopian (The Bridge by Jane Higgins- Hardcover copy)

YA time travel adventure (Keeper of the Black Stones by PT McHugh, ARC)

YA fantasy (Signed paperback of Transcender: First Timer by Vicky Savage- signed to me, but she gave me two copies :-))

YA Goth (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea ARC by April Tucholke)

YA paranormal (Anew by Chelsea Fine SIGNED)

YA graphical novel (Uglies: Cutters by Scott Westerfield)

Adult mystery

Adult horror

Adult paranormal

WOW, you guys did this so quickly! We now will have two winners!!!

Here's  another incentive. For every 50 entries, I'll reveal the name of one of the books you have a chance to win! There are some big names!

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Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop: Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone, INT giveaway

Love in Bloom 

Giveaway Hop

Featuring Lighthearted/Contemporary Young Adult Romance

& Sweet, Clean Adult Romance

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Portrait of a Book

May 16th to 22nd

Thanks to I Am A Reader, Not a Writer and Portrait of Book hosting this great giveaway! I have the privilege of introducing you all to one of my most favorite new YA authors, Tamara Ireland Stone, who not only is an amazing writer and accomplished business woman, but she is also the sweetest person ever who gives great hugs!

Goodreads Book description: Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.

Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author Blurb: Tamara lives with her husband and two children just outside San Francisco, California.

TIME BETWEEN US & TIME AFTER TIME are her companion novels. TIME BETWEEN US, told from Anna's point of view, is available now. TIME AFTER TIME continues the story from Bennett's perspective, and will be on shelves on October 8, 2013.

TIME BETWEEN US has been published in English, Spanish, French, and Italian, and will be available in twelve more languages throughout 2013. It has been optioned for film by CBS Films.

TIME AFTER TIME will be published in multiple languages throughout 2014.

For more information, visit tamarairelandstone.com or timebetweenus.com.

Author Interview 
1. I absolutely love your story of how you transitioned from being a high powered and successful business woman to now being a wonderful YA writer. Can you tell us a little about how you got to where you are now, and how your previous job played a part in the writer you have now become? 
Throughout my career, I’ve considered myself a storyteller. In my marketing communications business, I help my clients tell a story about how their software empowers people to be more effective. In crafting their story, I rely on customers—the actual users of the technology—to make it compelling. Those customers are real people, but like characters in a book, they’re the heart and soul of the story. If you connect with them, you’ll want to hear more.

Now, I’m also a storyteller in the more traditional sense, but I’m still creating a story around people who have a challenge and are trying to figure out how to solve it. Again, the characters are the heart and soul of the story. If you connect with them and their challenge, you’ll want to keep turning the pages to see how they figure everything out.

In both cases, I write stories that I hope will inspire you to act. In my marketing world, I want you to buy something. In my author world, I want you to do what many people have written to tell me they did after reading Time Between Us, like taking up running or looking into a student exchange program in another part of the world or trying rock climbing or setting their sights on an important goal and going for it.

I don’t have to tell you which one I find more personally rewarding, do I? 

2. Your characters are terrific. What aspects of their personality were derived from people you know? Which character was the most surprising? 
Thank you. I’m glad you like them! A lot of people I know and love are sprinkled throughout those pages.

Anna was inspired by two teens I greatly admire, but there’s probably a little of me in both Anna and Bennett as well. Anna is more like my 22-year-old self, when I first moved to San Francisco, discovered running, and sped up hills with Nirvana playing loud in my ears. But I didn’t have Anna’s restlessness. We moved a lot when I was young, so like Bennett, I was always looking for more stability.

I was probably most surprised by Bennett’s grandma, Maggie. She started off a bit like my mother-in-law and my grandmother combined, but as I was writing this story, she became a completely unique person. I thought she’d be a minor side character, but she stole my heart.

Justin is a lot like my husband, Mike, who is sweet and kind and a bit on the shy side. We met through a mutual friend and totally hit it off, but it took him ten days to call and ask me out (I know. I was counting). When we first started dating, Mike would make me mix tapes and decorate the covers with watercolors, just like Justin does for Anna (can I get a group “awww...”). Bennett’s got the confidence, but for me... I’ve always been attracted to the sweet, shy guy who doesn’t quite know how amazing he is. 

3. What was the most difficult aspect about writing about time travel? The most fun? 
Everyone says that you need to establish your rules and stick to them like glue, but let me tell you, that’s a heck of a lot harder than it sounds. Sometimes you have this great idea and think it’ll be twisty and cool and totally fun for the reader, but one you start working out the logistics—which I do all the time, using timelines and stick figures and arrows—you realize it just doesn’t work. Or, more often, it breaks some other element you’ve already established. I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to make a fun idea work that was inherently impossible given the rules I’d defined.

I had the most fun once I came up with the rule that Bennett could only travel within his lifetime.  I wanted him to be 17 in present-day, and when I realized that meant he was born in 1995, this whole story opened up for me. I lived in Evanston, Illinois in 1995, so I set the story there, picked the music I loved back then, and got to time travel myself—going back to a point in my life where I was experiencing a lot of things for the first time. It was a blast. 

4. Tell us a little about your editing process. How many drafts did you go through to get to the final draft? 
Far too many! I started it in December 2008 and exactly a year later, I had the full story on paper from beginning to end. After that, I worked with a writing coach on the second draft, and that took about six months. Once I found my agent, I spent another three months revising it and rewrote big chunks of the story with her guidance. When it sold to Disney-Hyperion, my editor and I spent another eight months working on it together and we went through multiple drafts. That sounds like five or six drafts, but there was so much changing in between the formal revisions as well. I think it was closer to fifteen, at least. 

5. You are a busy woman! Tell us how you found the time to write a novel when you have so many other responsibilities! 
If I’d listened to that little voice in my head that said, “What are you doing? You don’t have time to write a novel!” I never would have done it. Because trust me, that voice was loud and constant!

No one has time to write a novel. You write a novel because you love to write, and if you’re lucky enough to get a story in your head and you feel you have to tell it, you’ll find the time.

I wrote the first draft in small chunks of time, wherever and whenever I could—in bed in the middle on the night, in the evening instead of watching TV, and on my iPhone while I was waiting in lobbies for meetings to start or sitting in the carpool line. I wrote all the time, as fast as I could.

And I tried not to think, “I’m writing a novel.” Instead, I thought of each part as a scene in a movie and I’d say to myself, “You can do this. You’re just writing a scene”. After I had a bunch of scenes, I started building them like Lego blocks, figuring out how they worked together, what was missing, and what didn’t need to be in the story at all. Surprisingly, it started to look a lot like a novel. Thank goodness for the amazing coaches who helped me make it into one. 

6. On your blog, you talk about stories you tell your children. What is their favorite one? 
Their favorites are what we call “popcorn stories”. They’re always silly and different every time.

I ask them to give me two things they each want in their story and they shout out things like “giant ants” or “fairies” or “horses”, at which point, my son usually bounces up and adds “horses that poop gold” and my daughter rolls her eyes and agrees with the gold pooping horses.

Then I bring them all together to create a story about a world where a powerful fairy army rides giant ants, and all’s well until an evil anteater discovers their secret land. One of the fairies goes on a quest to find help and discovers a neighboring village with these beautiful horses who posses a powerful talent. They follow her back to her land, build an enormous wall out of gold poop to protect them, and they all live happily ever after.  

7. What has been your favorite YA read of the past year? 
I’m a big fan of a good cry. So while I’ve read many amazing YA novels in the last year, I’m going to have to go with The Fault in Our Stars. I’ve loved John Green ever since I first read Paper Towns, so I couldn’t wait to read Fault. It was one of those stories I couldn’t put down. I devoured it in a single day, it stuck with me for months afterward, and I can still sit here and sob just thinking about it. I love Amsterdam, and my goodness, who wouldn’t love that adorable Augustus. *sigh* Now I want to go read it again. 

8. Can you tell us a little bit about the companion novel to this book? Was it difficult to get in Bennett's head? 
Time After Time, the companion to Time Between Us, comes out this October. We’ve always known that the second book would be a sequel and I really wanted to continue Anna and Bennett’s love story from Bennett’s point of view. But I was really nervous about it. After all, I’ve been a 16-year-old girl, but I’ve never been a 17-year-old boy. Nor, have I been someone who could time travel. But I like a good challenge, and frankly, Bennett was the only person who could tell the story I wanted to tell. I’ve loved being in his head for the last year and a half. I hope readers enjoy it too. 

9. What do you have in mind after that book is finished? I'm curious if you'll use your techie background to do a science fiction novel! :-)

My next story probably won’t be a sci-fi, but that’s not to say I won’t ever write one—I love technology and adore all the fun twists sci-fi affords.

I have this other story that’s been rattling around in my head for a good three years now and it’s itching to get out. After that, who knows? I’m up for anything. Maybe even gold pooping horses. 

Thanks so much, Tamara, for such a wonderful interview! All of us are dying to get our hands on the sequel to Time Between Us. Enter now! 

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Clean your Shelf Giveaway Hop, Featuring Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop!

This is your chance to clear out your overflowing bookshelf and pass some of your books on to other booklovers.  Time to pass on those books that just weren’t for you or the review copies that you are never going to get read.

You should be giving away:

Books that you’ve read but will never read again.

Books you’ve started but just couldn’t get through.

Review copies you’ve accepted but have never read.

So guess what, guys? Since in my last giveaway, the winner opted for the $15 amazon GC, I still have a signed hardcover copy of Requiem by Lauren Oliver to give away to one lucky winner (US only!). I am also giving you another YA book from my bookshelves randomly-- I will take into consideration what genre you like.  Just so you know, I got to hang out with Lauren Oliver (and some other really incredible authors) at a pub the other night. I'll have a dedicated post to the book event hopefully soon! :-)

Goodreads Book Description: They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

Enter this giveaway!

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Spring Fling Giveaway hop - US giveaway of Shards and Ashes + Mega swag pack!

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop

May 1st – 7th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Eve’s Fan Garden

Thanks so much to I Am A Reader, Not a Writer and Eve's Fan Garden for this great giveaway!

Note: I will be late on selecting a winner. I will select the winner when I return from a trip!

For this giveaway, I'm going to give away a different sort of prize that I've never done before. For one very lucky winner:

1. A copy of Shards and Ashes edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong


2. A huge mega swag pack with various swag from different indie authors but also including: The Host: the movie buttons, Signed swag from J. Armentrout, signed bookmark from Fiona Paul, signed bookmark from J. Meyers, and more! Because of shipping costs, this prize will be available US only.

Sorry INT friends! No worries, more INT giveaways coming up soon!!!

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Showers of Books Hop, Requiem by Lauren Oliver SIGNED or $15 Amazon GC (INT)

Welcome to the Showers of Books Giveaway Hop! Thanks to Books a La Mode and I Am A Reader, Not a Writer for hosting this awesome hop. My giveaway is Requiem SIGNED by the amazing Lauren Oliver.

Goodreads Book Description: They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.
***************

To make it international, I'll give you a $15 Amazon GC if you are selected as the winner and international. :-)
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Signed Book Hop, Featuring Mindee Arnett, author of The Nightmare Affair, and INT Giveaway!

Signed Book Giveaway Hop

April 16th to 22nd

Featuring Books Signed by the Author

Co-hosted by Wholly Books

Thanks so much to both I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Wholly Books for co-hosting this awesome blog hop! I'm so excited to introduce this author, Mindee Arnett, who wrote one of my favorite books read yet this year-- The Nightmare Affair! 

Goodreads Book Description: Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli’s dream comes true.

Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author Blurb:

Mindee Arnett lives on a horse farm in Ohio with her husband, two kids, a couple of dogs, and an inappropriate number of cats. She’s addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic, the macabre, and outer space. She has far more dreams than nightmares.

  

Author Interview 

1. I love hearing stories about how authors got started in their writing career. Can you tell us a little bit about yours?

 I started telling myself stories before I could even read. Most of these involved my Breyer  Horses toys and My Little Pony dolls. Then in the sixth grade my teacher gave us an assignment to write a short story using a “prompt.” Even though I was an avid reader it had never occurred to me that I could write my own stories until that moment. To call this defining would be an understatement.

2. I loved your world building. Can you tell us a little about how Nightmares were born and the world in which your book takes place?

The folkloric nightmare has been around for ages, the idea of a demon sitting on your chest while you’re asleep and giving you bad dreams. I came across it while researching possible monsters for a short story I was working on. I asked myself what it would be like if the nightmare wasn’t a demon but an ordinary girl. And just like that, Dusty and her world were born.

3. Characters are so important for me. How do you go about developing your characters? Did you have a favorite? Did any of them surprise you?

 Dusty is definitely my favorite. For me, the main character always has to be the most interesting. That attraction is what makes me want to write the story in the first place. I also really enjoy writing her best friend, Selene. 

The character who surprised me most was Paul, but I can’t go into any of the reasons why because of spoilers. To put it very mildly, his character is one of the most complex I’ve ever written. He still surprises me, honestly.

4. I'm sure you derive inspiration from everywhere; can you tell us some of your sources?

 I really do derive it from everywhere, but one of my biggest inspirations is folklore. I explore and incorporate some famous folkloric stories in the novel—I won’t say which one for fear of spoilers—but weaving this folkloric history into the book was one of my favorite parts, and something I will continue to do in the upcoming books.

5. For our aspiring writers. Can you tell us a little about the editing process and how many drafts you go through before publication? 

I went through approximately four drafts before I started submitting to agents. After that I did another two quick edits for my agent before we started submitting to editors. Once with my editor, we went through another two rounds of edits, a copy edit, a first pass pages edit, and then we were finally done. So in other words—there were a lot of drafts!

6. What was your favorite YA book in the past year?

Such a hard question, so I’ll cheat and name them all. I adored The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake, and The Diviners by Libba Bray. All of these made my I’ll-read-this-again list.

7. If you could pick a best friend for Dusty from another book, movie, TV show, who would it be and why?
Definitely Veronica Mars. Then Dusty could learn all the handy private detective tricks from her. Plus, come on, it’s Veronica Mars! Who wouldn’t want to be friends with her? (Well, except for Lilly Kane, of course)

8. I know you are a Buffy fan-- any shows that you've watched lately that you recommend?
My favorite TV show at present is Justified. I also love Doctor Who, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, and Castle. My all time favorite TV show is Firefly followed closely by Veronica Mars, and Lost.  

9. As an avid horse rider and Civil War re-enactivist, are we going to see any of that in upcoming novels?
I think you’ll definitely see some horse content in upcoming novels. At least, I hope you will. I’m in the prewriting stages for a fantasy series that I think of as the Pony Express meets Shadow and Bone. As far the Civil War, probably not. I haven’t done reenacting in years, and frankly the amount of research involved in writing a historical would be really hard for me to do at present. But you never know. If I’m someday able to quit my day job and write full time, I just might venture into a historical. It would be a lot of fun.

10. Tell us a little about your book coming out next year and also, what we can look forward to in further adventures with Dusty and her friends-- how many books are you planning in the series?

 The sequel to The Nightmare Affair should be out around this time next year, I believe. And in it, Dusty and her friends are faced with a new mystery to solve while also dealing with the fallout from the events in the first book. As of right now, I’m on contract for three books, but ideally I would like there to be four, possibly five to really complete the main story arc. But whether or not that will happen all depends on how well the first book does. So we’ll see.

Also coming winter of 2014 is my YA sci-fi thriller Avalon from Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins), which is about the adventures of a group of teenage spaceship thieves.

Thanks for such a great interview!

Thank YOU, Mindee, for being so awesome! Now enter to win this awesome book!

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Enter some other great giveaways! 

Titanic Giveaway Blog Hop, Featuring Emily Murdoch, author of If You Find Me and INT Giveaway!

Titanic Giveaway Hop

April 8th to 14th

Featuring Books with 
Tragic Disasters & Epic Love Stories

Co-hosted by My Devotional Thoughts

Welcome back to another great blog hop! I wanted to host a really tragic story, which to me was If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. I cried so hard when reading this!

Goodreads Book Description: A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author Blurb: EMILY MURDOCH lives in the Arizona desert with her husband and adopted dogs, spending her days operating a sanctuary for slaughter-rescued horses and burros. At night, she writes furiously by candlelight, capturing the ideas inspired by the day. This is Emily's first published novel.

Author Interview

1. Can you tell us a little about your journey to becoming a writer?

I've always been a writer. Actually, it's something I look back upon with wonder, standing here today as author: how at five-years-old, I already knew.

That doesn't mean writing came easy or that I didn't need to learn craft or practice voice. But there's always been a drive inside me for story, and a burning need to perfect a method for communicating those stories.

2. How did you get the inspiration to write If You Find Me? Tell us a little bit about developing your plot.
I had the idea of "parentally kidnapped girl returns to society after years of isolation" and sat down on November 1st, 2011, for my fourth National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and began to write. (I won! : )

I don't plot or outline. I write 2000 words a day, and let each day take care of itself. I love being done for the day and thinking over what I've written as I go about my house and horse chores. I love the thinking-about as much as the actual writing.

3. Your characters are well thought out, meaningful and three dimensional. Can you talk about Carey and her sister and some of the supporting cast?

Carey worked her way to the surface from rooty, subterranean places. I didn't realize it when I was writing her character, but she resonated so deeply because I, too, was an abused child. I wish I could better explain why it didn't stand out to me at first. Best as I can explain it, when you have brown hair, you have brown hair. You don't think of it especially. You don't notice it, after awhile. It just is.

And in a way, it needed to be that way. The book needed to find a way around my fear or self-consciousness in order to make it's way into the world.As for the other characters, they just showed up. I don't know how to explain that, either. When I write, it's like I see a movie in my head. I write down what happens. The other characters are part of Carey's story, like puzzle pieces fitting together to form the big picture.

You write the picture that's most glorious. You can see it, if you look.

4. Tell us about your other passions other than writing-- in particular, tell us about the great work you do with horses.

Thank you! The truth is, the horses give me much more than I give them; they're just such amazing, intelligent animals.

In an earlier manuscript, I'd decided to make my main character a horse rescuer. I'd just moved to Arizona from the east coast and, although I'd always loved horses, I didn't know a whole lot about them or their history.

As I researched, I stumbled across horse slaughter, and was horrified. I think I'm typical of many east coast, unhorsey people, in that I had no idea horse slaughter existed, let alone the plight of the wild mustangs of the south and west.

Old horses, stolen horses, buyers who lied about why they bought your horse, horses that end up at auction, Girl Scout camp horses, riding camp horses, thoroughbreds (only a handful of those bred for racing actually are good enough, the rest are throwaways) Quarter horses (not all show horses win blue ribbons) to the majestic wild mustangs of the west: rounded up from the wilds, stuffed in trailers and sent off to slaughter.

You'll be hearing more from me on this issue in the future. America's wild horses used to run free in the millions. Now there are a calculated 30,000 or less left on the land, with more than that number already rounded up and warehoused in corrals by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

In sum, my character and my writing inspired me to take real action. Here at our ranch, I operate a small sanctuary for horses and donkeys saved from abuse, neglect, starvation and slaughter.

My ranch is heart-shaped. : )

5. What is your favorite YA book of all time, and what was your favorite read in the past year?

Wow. That's not easy to answer on a few levels.

Favorite YA book of all time would be ... The Diary of Anne Frank. But I also wouldn't want to live in a world without Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, or Merlin's Keep -- all of which I still read from time to time.
As for favorite YA read of the past year, I plead the fifth! I've read many, and I'm constantly delighted to discover so many fertile minds and talented voices, both amongst established authors and debuts.

6. What do you have on the horizon?

I have three more manuscripts I hope to share with all of you, and there will be a second book. I haven't announced it officially yet, or decided which story is the best follow-up to If You Find Me. I am leaning heavily toward one, though. I'm also pondering a sequel to If You Find Me.

However, if there were a sequel, it would be my third book, not my second.
Thank you so much for your insightful questions and for helping me share my novel with the world. I enjoyed chatting with you! And I especially appreciate your asking about my horses!

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