Wednesday, October 30, 2013

WWW Wednesdays October 30, 2013


WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Clicking on the book covers will take you to Goodreads for more information about the books listed below.

What are you currently reading?

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
I am totally loving this book! Joe Hill is a chip off the old block. He writes as creepy as his dad, Stephen King. And it's Christmasland!!

What did you recently finish reading?

Hijack in Abstract by Larissa Reinhart
This series is so much fun! I love Cherry Tucker. My stop on the tour will be November 5th.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Interesting hearing the original story of the Wizard of Oz. It really is a lot different from the movie.

I need a audio-book to listen to now that I finished this one. Any suggestions? 

What do you think you will read next?

A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer
I am loving all the Christmas themed books I have on my list right now. 

What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and
I'll stop by to check out your reads.


Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes by Joanne DeMaio


Snowflakes and Coffee Cakesby Joannes DeMaio
e-book
Published: October 15th 2013

From New York Times bestselling author Joanne DeMaio comes an enchanting novel about love, family, and the delicate power of snowflakes.

Reluctant to leave her cherished New England hometown after her sister's winter wedding, former journalist Vera Sterling makes a sudden decision. She takes what's left of her severance pay and invests it in real estate ... in one particular drafty colonial home and old timber barn set upon the pretty banks of Addison Cove. In that rough-hewn barn, she discovers a secret treasure left behind by the previous owner, the proprietor of the long-forgotten Christmas Barn gift shop.

While restoring her rundown, wood-sided home--its creaking floors, broken bannister, and neglected widow's walk--that secret slowly unfolds like a bit of snowflake wonder, crystallizing hopes and dreams for many in this small Connecticut town. But mostly for Derek Cooper whose own tragic story has headlined Addison's news. And whom Vera has come to love.

When the first snowstorm hits during Derek's annual Deck the Boats Festival at the cove, residents become stranded. It is then up to Vera to not only bring the town together, but to mend one man's heart she fears she may have lost.

Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes is a heartwarming story, one that reminds us to look to winter's stars. Because snowflakes can grant very special wishes ... if only we believe.


My thoughts about Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes ~~

I can't tell you how much I look forward to the 'next' book by Joanne. Her books caught my eye when her first one, Whole Latte Life, was published. It had a different cover back then and that's what captured my eye. (I'm such a cover lover.) BTW, I love the new one just as much! And then when I read the story inside that beautiful cover, I was swept away into a wonderful world with fabulous characters, people and a place that I just fell in love with.

I am always excited to hear that Joanne is working on her 'next' story. I can't wait to see where she takes me as a reader. Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes did not disappoint! This one is a little bit different from her other books, for the fact that it is set in winter time, not summer time at the beach. Snowflakes takes place around Christmastime and who doesn't love a good Christmas story? I know I do!

Vera is struggling in her life in the 'big' city and decides to spend some time back in her hometown, until she figures out what path she should take. It isn't easy but she finds a place for herself and starts to make a house a home. In cleaning up the place, she clears out the Christmas Barn for a big sale and that's when things start to change for her. I just love the magic that happens at Christmastime!

Vera's father is a meteorologist and we get an education on weather and the formation of snowflakes. I have always loved catching snowflakes and watching their design as they melt away. I loved the significance of snowflakes to the story.

'There's nothing random about the shape of a snowflake that tumbles from the clouds. And that's the beauty of looking at them up close. Each delicate flakes tells a unique and complex story about its form and pattern.
That's all she wants, really. Some of that distinct snowflake structure in her own life. A structure that brings what looks like random choices and arbitrary wishes together in a very certain pattern.'

This is a wonderful, enchanting, beautiful story about people helping people and being there for them when they need help, even if they don't realize they need it. I really believe that Christmas time is a magical time and Snowflakes takes us to that place, with those magical feelings.

And...... I love what Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes comes to mean in the story. You'll have to read it to see what I mean.

'Because snowflakes can grant very special wishes ... if only we believe.'

About the author


Joanne DeMaio is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans, Whole Latte Life, and most recently Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes. She lives with her family in Connecticut and is currently at work on her next novel.

Joanne enjoys hearing from readers on Facebook.

Connect with Joanne


And seriously folks, how can you not just fall in love with these covers?



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Saturday, October 26, 2013

Book Spotlight and a Giveaway! Father of the Rain by Lily King


Father of the Rain 


Paperback, 368 pages
Published May 10th 2011 by Grove Press

Prize-winning author Lily King’s masterful new novel spans three decades of a volatile relationship between a charismatic, alcoholic father and the daughter who loves him.

Gardiner Amory is a New England WASP who's beginning to feel the cracks in his empire. Nixon is being impeached, his wife is leaving him, and his worldview is rapidly becoming outdated. His daughter, Daley, has spent the first eleven years of her life negotiating her parents’ conflicting worlds: the liberal, socially committed realm of her mother and the conservative, decadent, liquor-soaked life of her father. But when they divorce, and Gardiner’s basest impulses are unleashed, the chasm quickly widens and Daley is stretched thinly across it.

As she reaches adulthood, Daley rejects the narrow world that nourished her father’s fears and prejudices, and embarks on her own separate life—until he hits rock bottom. Lured home by the dream of getting her father sober, Daley risks everything she's found beyond him, including her new love, Jonathan, in an attempt to repair a trust broken years ago.

A provocative story of one woman's lifelong loyalty to her father, Father of the Rain is a spellbinding journey into the emotional complexities and magnetic pull of family.


About the author


Lily King grew up in Manchester, Massachusetts. She received her B.A. in English Literature from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.A. in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. She has taught English and Creative Writing at several universities and high schools in this country and abroad.

Lily’s first novel, The Pleasing Hour (1999) won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and was a New York Times Notable Book and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second, The English Teacher, was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award. Father of the Rain, her third novel, was published in July, 2010.

Lily is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a Whiting Award. Her short fiction has appeared in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Glimmer Train, as well as in several anthologies.

Connect with Lily


Giveaway Time!!



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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Christmas Carol by Michele Gorman


Christmas Carol by Michele Gorman
File Size: 296 KB
Print Length: 101 pages
Publisher: Notting Hill Press

One winter wedding, two happy couples, three ex-boyfriends... And a very uncomfortable weekend.

Carol hates Christmas. Being recently dumped, she’s not crazy about weddings either. So her sister Marley’s nuptials, over the Christmas weekend, are making her positively Scrooge-like.

When she arrives for the weekend at the stately home in rural Scotland to find her three ex-boyfriends in attendance, Carol has no choice but to face her ghosts to discover what really happened in those relationships, learning a lot about herself in the process. As the snow falls outside and the fire crackles in the hearth, might one of the wedding guests become the harbinger of Christmases to come?


My thoughts about Christmas Carol ~~

I previously read Little Sacrifices by Michele Gorman and I love her writing. And I love Christmas stories so I jumped at the chance to read this author's spin on the original Christmas Carol. I loved reading along, finding parallels to that story, but spun in the wonderful way that Michele has of telling stories.

'The difficult thing about Christmas is that is doesn't come all at once. It builds up like a festive toxin until the immune system is overwhelmed.'

Carol is the Scrooge of the story and has to deal with three of her exes at her sister's wedding. Being around them makes her take a look at herself and she doesn't always like what she sees. When they all get snowed in for a few days, she has time to think about her life and the way she has treated those around her.

'Father Christmas gave him his skateboard when we were eight and he tumbled off that things more often than Lindsay Lohan has fallen off the wagon.'

Christmas Carol is the best of two worlds ~ chick-lit, which is always a fun read, and Christmas. I love a good Christmas story and when Michele's the author, you know it is going to be good!

'You don't have to be perfect to be loved. That's not what love is about. You just have to be perfect for each other.'

Is it too early to say 'Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" Oh wait! Wrong story. Oh well, you get my drift. Happy reading everyone!

About the author


Michele Gorman was born and raised in the US, but lost her heart to London nearly 15 years ago and is now a card-carrying Brit. Michele writes both chick lit (Single in the City, Misfortune Cookie, The Twelve Days to Christmas). She also writes upmarket commercial fiction under the pen name Jamie Scott.

Since procrastination is an essential element in writing, Michele spends way too much time on twitter and Facebook and would be thrilled for readers to join her there. So follow @expatdiaries on twitter, send a friend request on www.facebook.com/michele.gorman3 or visit her website or blog (www.michelegormanwriter.blogspot.com).

And if you'd like her to sign an eBook for yourself or as a gift, just pop a request through on www.kindlegraph.com. Better yet, send a friend request!

Connect with Michelle


Purchase Christmas Carol

Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon Canada
B&N UK | B&N US


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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

WWW Wednesdays October 23, 2013


WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Clicking on the book covers will take you to Goodreads for more information about the books listed below.

What are you currently reading?

Hijack in Abstract by Larissa Reinhart
I read the previous book the the Cherry Tucker Mystery series and fell in love with Cherry and all the other fun characters. So excited to be reading this one!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
I have seen the movie hundreds of times. It's interesting to hear the original story. I have to admit though that I am getting a little tired of Anne Hathaway's voice reading the story. 

What did you recently finish reading?

Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes by Joanne DeMaio
Do you have authors that you just love and you stop everything to read their new book when it comes out? Yep, that's Joanne DeMaio for me. I love her stories and I just inhaled this one! I didn't get much else done over the weekend, but oh well, right? 

The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg
This is a reread for me. One of my book clubs selected it for this month. I love Elizabeth's books. I was lucky enough to have meet  and talked with her a few times at our Festival of Books. Such a down to earth person and a funny speaker.

Wild: from Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Book club generally liked this book and admired the woman for the walk she went on to find herself.

What do you think you will read next?

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
I love Stephen King and have read one other book by his son, Joe Hill. I was super excited to see this book offered on a tour. I had no idea it had a Christmas theme, though. Sweet!


What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and
I'll stop by to check out your reads.


Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Monday, October 21, 2013

United Authors of Chick Lit! It's An Event!


Fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables in the upright and locked position. Over the next few days, some of your favorite Chick Lit characters will be jetting across the Atlantic to visit with fictional friends on the other side of the pond.

The event kicks off on Monday, Oct. 21.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, read about Stella from Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes and Chloe from Lying to Meet You as they travel across the Atlantic to visit each other.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, it’s time to discover what happens when Emma from The Pollyanna Plan and Kim from Blogger Girl meet.

On Thursday, Oct. 24, Izzy from Izzy’s Cold Feet and Jamie from Finding Lucas will be taking you on a trip alongside their characters.

And on Friday, Oct. 25, Kate from Sealed with a Kiss and Pilar from In Need of Therapy will be chatting about their overseas experiences.

A little bit about these amazing books! 

Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey – Daytime talk show producer Jamie Ross is beyond fed up with her toxic bad boy turned metrosexual boyfriend. Spurred on by her gang of quirky friends, she goes on a hilarious, at-times disastrous, and totally life-changing hunt to track down the ”one who got away.” But are some loves best left behind? 
Available on Amazon.com Amazon UK and Kobo  

In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister – Handling the problems of hysterical hypochondriacs, lovelorn neurotics, and compulsive man whores is all in a day’s work for super-shrink Pilar Alvarez. But can she deal with her crazy Cuban family, a trio of unsuitable suitors, and a threat to her practice without ending up on the couch herself? 
Available on Amazon.com Amazon UK and B&N 

Lying to Meet You by Anna Garner – Overworked New York fashion girl Chloe Lane has no time for a real relationship, but when her childhood pal asks her to play the part of his girlfriend in order to test a theory, she decides to go for it. The lies start piling up and things start getting crazy. Will Chloe be able to keep it together? 
Available on Amazon.com Amazon UK and B&N

Sealed with a Kiss by Rachael Lucas – Kate breathes a sigh of relief when she's dumped at her best friend's wedding. When she takes a job on the island of Auchenmor, she's determined to have a year off men, but that's before she rescues Flora the seal pup with the help of Roddy, her mysterious new boss... 
Available on Amazon.com and Amazon UK  

The Pollyanna Plan by Talli Roland – Emma Beckett has always looked down on 'the glass is half full' optimists. But when she loses her high-powered job and fiancé, Emma makes a radical decision: from here on in, she'll attempt to see the upside, no matter how dire the situation. Can adopting a positive attitude give Emma the courage to build a new life, or is finding the good in everything a very bad idea? 
Available on Amazon.com and Amazon UK 

Blogger Girl by Meredith Schorr – Kimberly Long has two passions: her successful chick lit blog and Nicholas, her handsome colleague down the hall. But when her high school nemesis pops onto the chick lit scene with a hot new book and eyes for Nicholas, Kim has to make some quick revisions to her own life story. 
Available on Amazon.com Amazon UK B&N and Apple iTunes 

Izzy’s Cold Feet by Sarah Louise Smith – Izzy is engaged to Greg, who is everything a girl could want. The trouble is – all she can think about is the men she loved before she met him. In the week leading up to her wedding day, Izzy is forced to ask herself who she loves the most. And, given the choice, who would she want to spend her life with? 
Available on Amazon.com Amazon UK B&N and UK Nook  

Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes by Sue Watson – TV Producer Stella is over worked, over weight and under fire battling to balance family, career and those weighing scales. In the past she’s always found comfort at the bottom of her mixing bowl but now the most delicious lemon sponge with zesty frosting has no effect. However, life is about to get even tougher... and Stella has to face some truths about herself, her life and her future. 
Available on Amazon.com and Amazon UK 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Tuesday, Oct. 22 

Stella will be on Anna Garner’s blog and Chloe will be on Sue Watson’s blog

Wednesday, Oct. 23 

Emma will be on Meredith Schorr’s blog and Kim will be on Talli Roland’s blog

Thursday, Oct. 24 

Izzy will be on Samantha Stroh Bailey’s blog and Jamie will be on Sarah Louise Smith’s blog 

Friday, Oct. 25 

Kate will be on Tracie Banister’s blog and Pilar will be on Rachael Lucas’s blog

So stop by and have some fun! 
Maybe pick up a book or two, or eight! 

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!


Saturday, October 19, 2013

Book Spotlight and a Giveaway! I Heart Vegas by Lindsey Kelk


I Heart Vegas
(I Heart #4)


I Heart Vegas (I Heart #4) by Lindsey Kelk
Paperback, 330 pages
Published 2011 by Harper

Angela Clark loves her life in New York. She loves her job, her friends and her gorgeous musician boyfriend, Alex, who is finally ready to move in with her and start planning their future together. Everything is perfect.

But, after Angela loses her job, her world starts to crumble around her – her visa is revoked and she’s given the disastrous news that she must leave New York and her life behind and go back to London.

Confused, heartbroken and desperate to stay, the last thing Angela needs is a girls’ trip to Vegas just before Christmas – especially when Manhattan at Christmas is so perfect that she never wants to go home…


About the author


Lindsey Kelk is a British writer and used to be a children’s book editor. When she isn't writing, reading, listening to music or watching more TV than is healthy, Lindsey likes to wear shoes, shop for shoes and judge the shoes of others. She loves living in New York but misses Sherbert Fountains, London and drinking Gin & Elderflower cocktails with her friends. Not necessarily in that order.

Connect with Lindsey


Giveaway time!!




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Friday, October 18, 2013

Audrey's Guide to Black Magic by Jody Gehrman


Audrey's Guide to Black Magic by Jody Gehrman
ebook, 180 pages
Published September 7th 2013 by Magic Genie Books

Sometimes you have to fight black magic with blacker magic. But in trying to save the people she loves, will Audrey fall into the dark abyss that claimed her father?

In Book II of the Audrey's Guide series, Audrey learns about her witchy roots and continues to fight her nemesis; this time she must dig deeper than ever, experimenting with dark magic to combat the insidious enchantment that's invaded her newfound community. She travels to the magical compound on the Mad River, the home her mother fled twenty years ago.

Here Audrey meets her grandmother, the powerful matriarch of the Clan, and a host of colorful characters, some friends, some foes. When a sinister force begins to take over the magical community, Audrey must decide how far she's willing to go to protect the people she loves.


My thoughts about Audrey's Guide to Black Magic ~~

Ahhh, I thought the cover of Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft was beautiful. I think I love this one even more ~ I love the color blue!

Once again, Jody has written a very enchanting story which follows Audrey as she learns about the witching world. And what better time to read about black magic and witchcraft then Halloween time? I love reading Audrey's stories this time of year, they just get me in the mood for spookiness.

This time Audrey, her sister Meg, and their cousin Sadie are whisked away to the Mad River compound to try to help their mom battle evil. More and more responsibility is put on Audrey, which she just loves by the way, as her powers become stronger and more consistent.

Poor Meg has a hard time fitting in, here in this world where she is not the 'popular' sister, where she is the odd one out. It was interesting seeing the role reversal between these two characters as they are either in, or out, of their comfort zone.

There was plenty of danger and excitement to keep me wanting to flip the pages, or in this particular case, swiping my Kindle screen. But along with the witchy things happening, there were enough personal things going on in the story to make the characters seem real to me.

And oooooo the Epilogue! What a way to end book #2! I know we are in for a treat in book #3. I can't wait!!

And just because I love the cover and
the story in Audrey's Guide #1 ...


Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman
Paperback, 293 pages
Published June 30th 2012 by Magic Genie Books

Falling in Love, baking a magical cake, fighting an evil necromancer—it’s all in a day’s work for Audrey Oliver, seventeen-year-old witch-in-training.

When her mother goes missing and her twenty-one-year-old witchy cousin shows up out of the blue, Audrey knows something’s gone horribly, dangerously wrong. Now it’s up to her to get her own magical powers up to speed before everyone she loves is destroyed by the sorcerer intricately connected to her mother’s secret past.

Originally posted October 12, 2012


Purchase from Amazon  


About the author

(Love this picture, Jody!)

Jody Gehrman is the author of eight novels and numerous plays. Audrey's Guide to Black Magic is her latest release, the sequel to Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft. Her other Young Adult novels include Babe in Boyland, Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, and Triple Shot Bettys in Love, (Penguin's Dial Books). Babe in Boyland won the International Reading Association Teen Choice Award and has recently been optioned by the Disney Channel.

Her adult novels are Notes from the Backseat, Tart, and Summer in the Land of Skin (Red Dress Ink). Her plays have been produced in Ashland, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and L.A. She and her partner David Wolf won the New Generation Playwrights Award for their one-act, Jake Savage, Jungle P.I. She is a professor of English at Mendocino College.

Connect with Jody




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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Bookmarked Bargains Sales Event!


sales event is unbelievable! 

Not only can you win a free Kindle, 
you can find free and discounted books 
from some of your favorite authors. 

Here's a list of who's participating:

Andrea Pearson

Anna del C. Dye

Cami Checketts

Cheri Schmidt

Christine Kersey

Christy Dorrity

Cindy Hogan

Heather Justesen

Ilyan Lavanway

Jaleta Clegg

Jason Morgan

Jordan McCollum

Joyce DiPastena

Julie Bellon

Karey White

Maria Hoagland

Michelle Pennington

Mikey Brooks

Monique Bucheger

Rachael Andersen

Rachel Branton

Rachel Nunes

Rebecca Shelley

Rebecca Talley

Sandra Norton Flynn

Stephanie Fowers

Tamara Heiner

Teyla Branton

Vickie Hall 

The deals run Wednesday, October 16th 
through Friday, October 18th. 


Click here to enter the Kindle drawing 
and to find fabulous discounted books. 

Thanks!



Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Cover Reveal: North Pole Reform School by Jaimie Admans


North Pole Reform School by Jaimie Admans
Publication date: November 6th 2013
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Young Adult

Mistletoe Bell hates Christmas. So would you if you had a name like hers. Her Christmas-mad parents make the festive season last all year, and with another Christmas looming, Mis doesn’t think she can take any more. After her carelessness causes an accident at school, it seems like things can’t get any worse.

Then she wakes up to find The Ghost of Christmases Ruined in her bedroom.

She is taken to the North Pole, to a reform school run by elves determined to make her love Christmas. Stuck in a misfit group of fellow Christmas-haters with a motley crew of the weird and even weirder, watched over by elves day and night, she doesn’t expect to meet cute and funny Luke, who is hiding a vulnerable side beneath his sarcastic exterior. She doesn’t expect to fall in love with him.

But all is not as it should be at the North Pole. A certain Mr Claus is making the elves’ lives a misery, and pretty soon Mistletoe and Luke are doing more than just learning to like Christmas.

A YA romantic comedy in which Santa is the bad guy, teaching reindeer to fly is on the curriculum, and zombies have a fondness for Christmas music.


About the author


Jaimie is a 27-year-old English-sounding Welsh girl with an awkward-to-spell name. She lives in South Wales and enjoys writing, gardening, drinking tea and watching horror movies. She hates spiders and cheese & onion crisps.

She has been writing for years, but has never before plucked up the courage to tell people. She writes mostly chick-lit and young adult. Kismetology is her first novel and there are plenty more on the way!
Connect with Jaimie

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter





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