Tuesday, July 31, 2012

On Tour and a Giveaway: As Always, Jack by Emma Sweeny

In the days just after the end of World War Two, a young Texas Navy pilot named Jack Sweeney falls crazy in love with a California girl just before he is shipped off to the Pacific with his squadron. He woos her with letters and makes away with her heart. He returns safely; he marries her.

Over thirty years later, a young woman returns to her childhood home in California for her mother’s funeral. Before leaving the house for the last time, without knowing what she’s looking for, she opens a dresser drawer in her mother’s room. Towards the very back of the drawer she discovers a packet of old letters tied up with a pink ribbon. In these letters she meets the man she has forever longed to know and love, the man her mother rarely spoke of during all the years of her childhood. In these letters she meets her father, Jack Sweeney, for the first time.

As Always, Jack is in part the bittersweet story of a daughter’s search for her father, an account of her struggle to unlock the mystery of his disappearance on the eve of her birth. Preserved in this story, however, is another, more universal one: the sweet and classic tale of true love in a time of war. ~~ from the publisher Axios Press

My thoughts on As Always, Jack: A Wartime Love Story ~~

This is a beautiful little book with a gorgeous cover. Emma Sweeney found a bundle of letters that she had never seen before, after her mother passed away. They were the letters that her father, who died before Emma was born, wrote to her mother right after the two of them met.

They had just two weeks together before he was sent to war but he returned and the two of them were married. After 10 years of marriage and just months before Emma is born, Jack and his plane were lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Emma's mother didn't talk about her father much but through these letters, Emma finds out so much about him and their relationship; her parents were very much in love and her father was a very kind and gentle man with a wonderful sense of humor.

The flow of this book is a little awkward at the beginning. It's contains the letters that Jack wrote to the love of his life so it is very one-sided, we don't get to read what she wrote back to him. And his sense of humor made the letters seem a bit confusing too, until I finally just 'got it' and came to enjoy his way of looking at things.

What a wonderful treasure these letters are for Emma. She is able to truly understand what her parents were like when they were young and in love. How many of us have that knowledge of our parent's early lives? I know I don't, but really wish that I did. Through these letters, Emma is finally able to meet her father and is able to learn what kind of a man he was. She regrets that he was not a physical part of her life but she comes to realize who he was and knows that he would have loved her very much.

This is a short but powerful book of love and I highly recommend it if you are a romantic at heart.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours, I have 2 copies of As Always, Jack to offer in a giveaway.

Enter using the Rafflecopter below.

About Emma Sweeney


Emma Sweeney is the author of several gardening books as well as a literary agent based in New York. She formed her own agency in 2006 and has had five New York Times bestsellers, including the #1 New York Times best seller, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. She is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives and the Women’s Media Group, where she served as its president in 2003. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in English Literature. She divides her time between New York City and Rhinebeck, New York.

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Monday, July 30, 2012

We Have Some Winners @ The Book Bag!! And More Giveaways!


Sorry for the delay in announcing some winners. It has been crazy times here in my life. I just got back from a week of RAGBRAI and am trying to get things going again. 

Speaking of RAGBRAI - be sure to check out my RAGBRAI week giveaway extravaganza! I posted a week's worth of giveaways while I was away. All seven (yes, there are 7!!!!) giveaways will end August 5th so you still have a little more time to enter. 

Not sure what RAGBRAI is all about? Check out this post and then start entering! This is available internationally too!!

And now on to the winners! 


The winner of With My Body is .....

#19 - Nancy S.


The winner of Paula Takes a Risk is ....

#13 Suz R. 


And the winner of my 
No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop is ....

#237 Tiffany M. 

Congratulations Nancy, Suz and Tiffany!! 

I will be sending out emails soon. 

(throws more confetti) 

Saturday, July 28, 2012

RAGBRAI Giveaway ~ Day 7




RAGBRAI is a week long bike ride across Iowa. (click on the RAGBRAI logo for more information) Personally, I am not sure why anyone would want to do this, but my daughter has a team who is going to do this crazy feat. I was asked to be their 'sag wagon' which basically means I have to (= gets to) drive the car from point A to point B each day, hauling their suitcases and supplies. Once I do that, the rest of the day is mine to enjoy as I wish.

Well, of course, my wish is to get some quality 
(and quantity!) reading time in ~ sweet!!

So while I am away from a computer I thought I would schedule some posts to go up each day, giving away books (1 each day of the race) that are sitting on my shelf looking for a good home. I am going to make giveaway International, since I am feeling quite giddy just thinking about all the books I am going to read while on the road. If you win and are in the US, you will get the book featured that day. If you are International, you can select a book, up to $10, from The Book Depository, if they ship to you. Click here if you don't know

Welcome to Day 7 - the final day - of the RAGBRAI ride/giveaway extravaganza! I will be offering a giveaway each day while we are at RAGBRAI (7 days = 7 giveaways!) 

Be sure to come back each day to enter!

Day 7 ~~ Well, we made it to day 7! At least I hope we did. I am sure we had an amazing time. And I hope that you all have had fun with the giveaways this week. After I get home and recover (from all that reading, you know) I will pick all 7 winners and notify them. I think I have all of the giveaways set up to end August 6th so you have plenty of time to go back and enter any that you may have missed.

So for this final day of RAGBRAI, I am giving the winner (US or International) any book worth up to $15 from The Book Depository. 

How do you like that?

Good luck everyone and I hope you are having a great summer, if it's summer where you live. If it's not, then I hope you are having a great time anyway, no matter what the season!

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Friday, July 27, 2012

RAGBRAI Giveaway ~ Day 6



RAGBRAI is a week long bike ride across Iowa. (click on the RAGBRAI logo for more information) Personally, I am not sure why anyone would want to do this, but my daughter has a team who is going to do this crazy feat. I was asked to be their 'sag wagon' which basically means I have to (= gets to) drive the car from point A to point B each day, hauling their suitcases and supplies. Once I do that, the rest of the day is mine to enjoy as I wish.

Well, of course, my wish is to get some quality 
(and quantity!) reading time in ~ sweet!!

So while I am away from a computer I thought I would schedule some posts to go up each day, giving away books (1 each day of the race) that are sitting on my shelf looking for a good home. I am going to make giveaway International, since I am feeling quite giddy just thinking about all the books I am going to read while on the road. If you win and are in the US, you will get the book featured that day. If you are International, you can select a book, up to $10, from The Book Depository, if they ship to you. Click here if you don't know

Welcome to Day 6 of the RAGBRAI ride/giveaway extravaganza! I will be offering a giveaway each day while we are at RAGBRAI (7 days = 7 giveaways!) 

Be sure to come back each day to enter!

Day 6 ~~Today I am offering a book that I have not read but I know it is loved by tons of people. I just don't think it's my cup of tea. Instead of it just sitting on my shelf, I want to let someone else enjoy it. So today the book is Dangerous Favor by Joyce DiPastena.

Her father has been accused of stealing from the king, an allegation that has reduced her family to poverty. She has one chance to find and marry a man who can help her prove her father's innocence. Lord Therri, heir to a rich barony, has the wealth and connections Mathilde needs to delve into the mysteries of her father's past. Furthermore, Therri embodies all her romantic dreams.

Etienne, the younger son of a disgraced family, has neither wealth nor connections, but is smitten with Mathilde at a glance. She finds the knight intriguing, but believes he is only out to seduce her. While she seeks for a way to win Therri's attention, Etienne tricks her into granting him her favor, an embroidered white ribbon, for a tournament, setting in motion a dangerous chain reaction of events. Can Etienne save Mathilde from a nightmare from her past and prove himself the true hero of her dreams? ~~from Goodreads



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Thursday, July 26, 2012

RAGBRAI Giveaway ~ Day 5



RAGBRAI is a week long bike ride across Iowa. (click on the RAGBRAI logo for more information) Personally, I am not sure why anyone would want to do this, but my daughter has a team who is going to do this crazy feat. I was asked to be their 'sag wagon' which basically means I have to (= gets to) drive the car from point A to point B each day, hauling their suitcases and supplies. Once I do that, the rest of the day is mine to enjoy as I wish.

Well, of course, my wish is to get some quality 
(and quantity!) reading time in ~ sweet!!

So while I am away from a computer I thought I would schedule some posts to go up each day, giving away books (1 each day of the race) that are sitting on my shelf looking for a good home. I am going to make giveaway International, since I am feeling quite giddy just thinking about all the books I am going to read while on the road. If you win and are in the US, you will get the book featured that day. If you are International, you can select a book, up to $10, from The Book Depository, if they ship to you. Click here if you don't know

Welcome to Day 5 of the RAGBRAI ride/giveaway extravaganza! I will be offering a giveaway each day while we are at RAGBRAI (7 days = 7 giveaways!) 

Be sure to come back each day to enter!

Day 5 ~~Today I am offering my ARC copy of Spin by Catherine McKenzie. I got a finished copy so I want to share this one with one of you wonderful people. My thoughts are here. Another one of her books, Arranged, should be in my mailbox waiting for me when I get home. I can't wait!


Katie Sandford has just gotten an interview at her favourite music magazine, The Line. It's the chance of a lifetime. So what does she do? Goes out to celebrate - and shows up still drunk at the interview. No surprise, she doesn't get the job, but the folks at The Line think she might be perfect for another assignment for their sister gossip rag. All Katie has to do is follow It Girl Amber Sheppard into rehab. If she can get the inside scoop (and complete the 30-day program without getting kicked out), they'll reconsider her for the job at The Line.

Katie takes the job. But things get complicated when real friendships develop, a cute celebrity handler named Henry gets involved, and Katie begins to realize she may be in rehab for a reason. Katie has to make a decision -- is publishing the article worth everything she has to lose? ~~from Goodreads


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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

RAGBRAI Giveaway ~ Day 4



RAGBRAI is a week long bike ride across Iowa. (click on the RAGBRAI logo for more information) Personally, I am not sure why anyone would want to do this, but my daughter has a team who is going to do this crazy feat. I was asked to be their 'sag wagon' which basically means I have to (= gets to) drive the car from point A to point B each day, hauling their suitcases and supplies. Once I do that, the rest of the day is mine to enjoy as I wish.

Well, of course, my wish is to get some quality 
(and quantity!) reading time in ~ sweet!!

So while I am away from a computer I thought I would schedule some posts to go up each day, giving away books (1 each day of the race) that are sitting on my shelf looking for a good home. I am going to make giveaway International, since I am feeling quite giddy just thinking about all the books I am going to read while on the road. If you win and are in the US, you will get the book featured that day. If you are International, you can select a book, up to $10, from The Book Depository, if they ship to you. Click here if you don't know

Welcome to Day 4 of the RAGBRAI ride/giveaway extravaganza! I will be offering a giveaway each day while we are at RAGBRAI (7 days = 7 giveaways!) 

Be sure to come back each day to enter!

Day 4 ~~Today is a wonderful book by Jodi Picoult, The Tenth Circle. Who doesn't love Jodi Picoult?


Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father, Daniel's life -- a straight-A student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school; a girl who's always seen her father as a hero. That is, until her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence. Suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a lie. Could the boyfriend who once made Trixie wild with happiness have been the one to end her childhood forever? She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make Daniel, a seemingly mild-mannered comic book artist with a secret tumultuous past he has hidden even from his family, venture to hell and back to protect his daughter.

With The Tenth Circle, Jodi Picoult offers her most powerful chronicle yet as she explores the unbreakable bond between parent and child, and questions whether you can reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime -- or if your mistakes are carried forever.

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

RAGBRAI Giveaway ~ Day 3



RAGBRAI is a week long bike ride across Iowa. (click on the RAGBRAI logo for more information) Personally, I am not sure why anyone would want to do this, but my daughter has a team who is going to do this crazy feat. I was asked to be their 'sag wagon' which basically means I have to (= gets to) drive the car from point A to point B each day, hauling their suitcases and supplies. Once I do that, the rest of the day is mine to enjoy as I wish.

Well, of course, my wish is to get some quality 
(and quantity!) reading time in ~ sweet!!

So while I am away from a computer I thought I would schedule some posts to go up each day, giving away books (1 each day of the race) that are sitting on my shelf looking for a good home. I am going to make giveaway International, since I am feeling quite giddy just thinking about all the books I am going to read while on the road. If you win and are in the US, you will get the book featured that day. If you are International, you can select a book, up to $10, from The Book Depository, if they ship to you. Click here if you don't know

Welcome to Day 3 of the RAGBRAI ride/giveaway extravaganza! I will be offering a giveaway each day while we are at RAGBRAI (7 days = 7 giveaways!) 

Be sure to come back each day to enter!

Day 3 ~~ Today I am offering a book that I read a while ago but loved. Chosen by Chandra Hoffman is what up for grabs today. Here is the link to my thoughts about the story.


A young caseworker becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of adoptive and birth parents and faces life-altering choices when an extortion attempt goes horribly wrong. ~~from Goodreads


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Monday, July 23, 2012

RAGBRAI Week Giveaway ~ Day 2



RAGBRAI is a week long bike ride across Iowa. (click on the RAGBRAI logo for more information) Personally, I am not sure why anyone would want to do this, but my daughter has a team who is going to do this crazy feat. I was asked to be their 'sag wagon' which basically means I have to (= gets to) drive the car from point A to point B each day, hauling their suitcases and supplies. Once I do that, the rest of the day is mine to enjoy as I wish.

Well, of course, my wish is to get some quality 
(and quantity!) reading time in ~ sweet!!

So while I am away from a computer I thought I would schedule some posts to go up each day, giving away books (1 each day of the race) that are sitting on my shelf looking for a good home. I am going to make giveaway International, since I am feeling quite giddy just thinking about all the books I am going to read while on the road. If you win and are in the US, you will get the book featured that day. If you are International, you can select a book, up to $10, from The Book Depository, if they ship to you. Click here if you don't know

Welcome to Day 2 of the RAGBRAI ride/giveaway extravaganza! I will be offering a giveaway each day while we are at RAGBRAI (7 days = 7 giveaways!) 

Be sure to come back each day to enter!

Day 2 ~~ I read this book a while ago and still cannot forget it. This would be a great book club book.


Clementine Lord is not an orphan. She just feels like one sometimes. One of triplets, a quirk of nature left her the odd one out. Odette and Olivia are identical; Clementine is a singleton. Biologically speaking, she came from her own egg. Practically speaking, she never quite left it. Then Clementine’s father—a pediatric neurologist who is an expert on children’s brains, but clueless when it comes to his own daughters—disappears, and his choices, both past and present, force the family dynamics to change at last. As the three sisters struggle to make sense of it, their mother must emerge from the greenhouse and leave the flowers that have long been the focus of her warmth and nurturing.
 

For Clementine, the next step means retracing the winding route that led her to this very moment: to understand her father’s betrayal, the tragedy of her first lost love, her family’s divisions, and her best friend Eli’s sudden romantic interest. Most of all, she may finally have found the voice with which to share the inside story of being the odd sister out. . . . ~~ from Goodreads


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Sunday, July 22, 2012

RAGBRAI Week Giveaway ~ Day 1


RAGBRAI is a week long bike ride across Iowa. (click on the RAGBRAI logo for more information) Personally, I am not sure why anyone would want to do this, but my daughter has a team who is going to do this crazy feat. I was asked to be their 'sag wagon' which basically means I have to (= gets to) drive the car from point A to point B each day, hauling their suitcases and supplies. Once I do that, the rest of the day is mine to enjoy as I wish.

Well, of course, my wish is to get some quality 
(and quantity!) reading time in ~ sweet!!

So while I am away from a computer I thought I would schedule some posts to go up each day, giving away books (1 each day of the race) that are sitting on my shelf looking for a good home. I am going to make giveaway International, since I am feeling quite giddy just thinking about all the books I am going to read while on the road. If you win and are in the US, you will get the book featured that day. If you are International, you can select a book, up to $10, from The Book Depository, if they ship to you. Click here if you don't know

Welcome to Day 1 of the RAGBRAI ride/giveaway extravaganza! I will be offering a giveaway each day while we are at RAGBRAI (7 days = 7 giveaways!) 

Be sure to come back each day to enter!

Day 1 ~~ I ended up with 2 copies of this first book. I have not read it yet but have heard awesome things about it. I am pretty sure you will like it.


A delectable comedy for every woman who's ever wondered if buying that six-dollar box of organic crackers makes her a hero or a sucker. 

Julia Bailey is a mompreneur with too many principles and too little time. Her fledgling company, Julia's Child, makes organic toddler meals like Gentle Lentil and Give Peas a Chance. But turning a profit while saving the world proves tricky as Julia must face a ninety-two-pound TV diva, an ill-timed protest rally, and a room full of one hundred lactating breasts. Will she get her big break before her family reaches the breaking point? In the end, it is a story about motherhood's choices: organic versus local, paper versus plastic, staying at home versus risking it all. 

A cookbook author's hilarious fiction debut, Julia's Child will have foodies and all-natural mamas alike laughing, cheering, and asking for more. ~~from Goodreads


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Dina Silver, the Voices in Her Head and a Giveaway

I would like to welcome Dina Silver, author of Kat Fight and One Pink Line to The Book Bag today. I loved Kat Fight ~ read my thoughts here ~ and I have One Pink Line on my TBR list. At the end of this post, there is a chance to win an Amazon gift card ~ so go check it out!

I asked Dina to answer the question I always like to ask authors. I love hearing what all they have to say about their writing process.

So Dina ~ I have heard other authors say that they 'hear voices in their head' and that is how they write their books: the characters are telling their stories. Not being a writer myself, that concept has always intrigued me.

When some people hear voices, we get them medical attention, others end up becoming writers. Does this happen to you? How do you come up with your stories?

When I’m writing dialogue, there are times when I can absolutely hear conversations between two characters in my head. For me, I would compare the process more to watching a scene in a movie or TV show, where I’m observing these two people having the conversation. What is there body language, what are their feet doing, are they holding anything, how long are they pausing to ponder what they’re thinking…or is the conversation more rapid fire?

Writing dialogue is one of my favorite things, and I always feel really pressured to make the conversation sound authentic, and not add in words simply because they look good on paper, or would make a funny joke. Since I hopefully have my reader invested in the story with lots of other fluff, as the writer, I have to be careful not to lose them with contrived conversations between characters.

Stephen King, in one of my favorite books by him, On Writing, has a really great theory on dialogue: “Dialogue is a skill best learned by people who enjoy talking and listening to others - particularly listening, picking up the accents, rhythms, dialect, and slang of various groups. Loners often write it badly, or with the care of someone who is composing in a language other than his or her native tongue.” This was great news for me because I LOVE listening to people’s stories!

Ten Fun Facts about Kat Fight

1. The first time I met my future husband was on a blind double date. He was dating my friend Susie, and I was set-up with a guy who reviewed nude film scenes for a living. My date from that night has turned his obsession with nude celebrities into a million dollar enterprise. Check him out at Mr.Skin.com.

2. I fell in love with my husband the second time I saw him. He approached me at the health club and asked me for a ride home. After he exited my car I knew we would be married one day. I wish I could explain how I knew - but I can’t.

3. Once I divulged my affection for my husband to my friend Susie - who had dated him - her reaction was nothing like Julie’s was in the book. She was extremely understanding when I told her…and she wants to make sure everyone knows that.

4. I went to a gay bar called the Manhole one Halloween night with three gay co-workers of mine. My experience was identical to Kat’s, and I have never had so much fun in my life.
5. Brooke’s relationship with Drew is based on that of a very close friend of mine. She’s an accomplished, witty, energetic and truly amazing woman. I disliked her husband since their wedding day, and watched her spend 15 years with him and his indiscretions. Brooke’s car chase scene in the book was based on an actual event that my friend’s husband put her through as he drove circles around her with his mistress in the car. It gives me great pleasure to report that as of January 2010, she is finally divorced.

6. I met my future mother-in-law the same way Kat meets Ryan’s mom.

7. I dated a guy named Rob when I lived in L.A. for a year. He was a lifeguard, and we met exactly the same way Kat meets Rob at the beach. I woke up with a man being arrested for pleasuring himself next to be - also thankfully unbeknownst to me - and the lifeguard on duty that day became my boyfriend.

8. When my husband was six years old, my mother-in-law used to grill him about what he should say to his future wife if she didn’t want to go to his mother’s house for dinner.

9. I don’t have a gay best friend, but I would really like one.

10. I do have a gay babysitter, however, and his name is Adam. He has been sitting for my son since he was three years old. Adam hopes to have kids of his own one-day and marry the man of his dreams. Nothing would make me happier.

Author Bio: 
Dina Silver is a writer, red wine drinker, cheese fry lover, and future cat hoarder. She currently lives with her family in suburban Chicago. Inspired by how she met her husband, Kat Fight is Dina’s second novel.

Connect with Dina!

TWITTER: @DinaSilver


**Everyone who leaves a comment on the tour page will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of Kat Fight before August 6 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**

Saturday, July 21, 2012

RAGBRAI Week Giveaway Announcement


RAGBRAI is a week long bike ride across Iowa. (click on the RAGBRAI logo for more information) Personally, I am not sure why anyone would want to do this, but my daughter has a team who is going to do this crazy feat. I was asked to be their 'sag wagon' which basically means I have to (= gets to) drive the car from point A to point B each day, hauling their suitcases and supplies. Once I do that, the rest of the day is mine to enjoy as I wish.

Well, of course, my wish is to get some quality 
(and quantity!) reading time in ~ sweet!!

So while I am away from a computer I thought I would schedule some posts to go up each day, giving away books (1 each day of the race) that are sitting on my shelf looking for a good home. I am going to make giveaway International, since I am feeling quite giddy just thinking about all the books I am going to read while on the road. If you win and are in the US, you will get the book featured that day. If you are International, you can select a book, up to $10, from The Book Depository, if they ship to you. Click here if you don't know

Check back tomorrow and for the next 7 days to see what book is being offered and to enter the giveaway. 

So .... is everybody ready for the race, er, I mean, ride? 

Ready ... Set ... GO!!

On Tour and a Giveaway: Kat Fight by Dina Silver

The seriously funny, fabulously flawed Kat Porter has arrived, and she may just steal your heart—not to mention your boyfriend. Readers everywhere will revel in this sharp-witted, well-meaning whirlwind in author Dina Silver’s hilarious new novel, Kat Fight. In her quest for love, Kat makes every wrong turn, juggling two men, one best friend, and her own deeply confused heart’s desires.

Kat Porter is a consummate romantic, eager for her chance to find love and commitment. But after her boyfriend of four years, Marc, begins to grow apathetic and sends her calls straight to voice-mail one too many times, Kat finally musters the courage to confront her so-called sweetheart, who seems more interested in dodging her than courting her. Though she’s no fan of ultimatums, Kat is at the end of her considerable wits, and lobs a massive one his way, completely confident that he'll make the right decision when faced with losing her. He doesn't.

With radio silence from Marc, Kat’s lifelong dream of finding a husband and forging a family is decidedly on the skids. That’s when her childhood friend Julie steps in, forcing Kat on a blind date to help her move beyond the break-up. Not only does Kat botch the setup, she instead finds herself in hot pursuit of Julie’s love interest, Ryan Sullivan. A man who, in addition to literally taking her breath away, is the living, breathing personification of everything Kat wants in a husband.

Can Kat connect with the man of her dreams without hurting two of the people she cares most about? At the same time, she must also contend with the quips of her beloved catty coworker Adam, her bi-polar boss Brooke, and a string of comic, unpredictable plot twists. All the while, Kat’s cheeky perspective and generous heart will leave readers adoring every moment of her journey while chuckling and cheering for the ever cute, razor-sharp Kat as she fights to land the love of a lifetime. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads
 

Be sure to check at the bottom of this post 
for a chance to win an Amazon gift card.

My thoughts on Goodreads ~~ 

Loved this book!! I immediately connected with Kat and the ultimatum she gave her boyfriend. And darn it, she really didn't think he would follow through with it. But then she has to try to get on with her life. Low and behold, she feels a connection to her best friend's boyfriend while on a blind double date with them. Whoops! And then her former boyfriend wants her back. Double whoops!

The steps Kat takes in order to avoid telling Julie, her best friend, about her budding romance with Julies's supposed boyfriend had me laughing out loud. And I absolutely LOVED Adam, her gay co-worker and good friend, and the relationship he and Kat had. Kat thinks nothing of going to a gay bar with Adam and all his gay friends, even though she is the only female there and the only person with a shirt on. Now that's friendship!

I marked a couple of passages that made me chuckle. This one is when she is rationalizing that it is okay to argue with Marc so much ~~ But after years of listening to my parents rip each other apart, I figured those were the struggles you had to endure for unconditional love. That to have someone care about you like that, you had to suffer a little bit, too. 'Some things are worth the fight, Kat," my mom would tell me after one of her fights with my dad. Then they divorced. ~~ Whoops!

And then this one, when Kat knows she is going to run into Marc, her ex-boyfriend at a wedding ~~ And if he considers for one second about bringing a date to this wedding, I will not hesitate to throw blue cheese olives in her hair. ~~ Blue cheese olives? Love it!! 

I loved everything about this book, it is funny but also has the angst of finding your way through a new romance. The relationships between the characters are wonderful also, and again I have to say I loved the Kat/Adam friendship and their support of each other.

I also have a copy of Dina's other book, One Pink Line sitting on my Kindle and I am super excited to get that one read. I just love the way Dina writes!

Author Bio:

Dina Silver is a writer, red wine drinker, cheese fry lover, and future cat hoarder. She currently lives with her family in suburban Chicago. Inspired by how she met her husband, Kat Fight is Dina’s second novel.

Connect with Dina!

TWITTER: @DinaSilver

 Other stops on the CLP Blog Tour

**Everyone who leaves a comment on the tour page will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of Kat Fight before August 6 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

WWW Wednesdays July 18


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?
 

What are you currently reading?

 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
I am listening to this on CD - it is amazing!

Kat Fight by Dina Silver 
On tour here on July 21-22

What did you recently finish reading?

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
My book group will be discussing this tonight. It should be a good one. JP writes awesome books. 

What do you think you will read next?

The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
This is another one for my book group. I have to admit I am not looking forward to reading it. It just doesn't appeal to me, I don't think. I am sometimes pleasantly surprised though. Has anyone read it yet? What did you think of it? 

What's on your WWW this week?

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

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Winner @ The Book Bag!

I am happy to announce that I've got another winner here @ The Book Bag! 

Rafflecopter made it's decision early this morning 

and selected .........  

#18 Lisa Ann R ~ Follow The Book Bag

Congratulations Lisa!! 

I will be sending you an email soon.



On Tour and a Giveaway: Paula Takes a Risk by Randi M. Sherman

We all hope for a dream life. However, most of us are afraid of overwhelmed to make changes necessary to have a beautiful dream life. This is the reality for the lead character in Paula Takes a Risk by first time author Randi Sherman.

Paula's life is a disaster. She loses her job and boyfriend on the same day, and has no future prospects of plans. Life just isn't working our for her. Having only done what was expected of her, not making any waves, reading celebrity magazines, and believing the dream life is for everyone else but her - she now finds herself lost in her tiny, musty apartment without a clue about what to do.

Life drastically changes for Paula, when she unwittingly drawn into an adventure by her neighbor Larry, who is broke and deep in dept. She naively goes along with his plans and poses as a successful business woman to carry out an elaborate money making scheme. Too deparate, too afraid and too involved to step away, she lives a lie as she takes on a persona of the person she always wanted to be. Paula blossoms as she navigates her way through complex business and social situations until the whole plan starts to unravel. The scheme and lies are uncovered and what happens next will delight the reader.

This is a story that is certain to strike a chord in anyone who is wishing for a way out of their present life, and on to the red carpet of their imagination, but is afraid of making the change. Author Randi Sherman is a funny woman, with a history of stand-up comedy, her humor keeps the reader hooked throughout this witty and entertaining story. She eloquently achieves taking the seemingly mundane experiences of life and turning them into a laugh a minute. ~~ from author's website

My thoughts on Paula Takes a Risk ~~ 

OMG - this author is hilarious. I cracked up just reading the About the Author section at the front of the book. Check this out ~~ 'Randi maintains a trim, well toned body that is cleverly concealed beneath twenty pounds of soft protective layering and she has an appetite of a bird. (By "bird" I mean vulture) Her entire wardrobe consists of black, black and varying degrees of black, except for those items that are covered with lint because she put them through the wash with a tissue. Isn't that a hoot? I knew this was going to be a fun read.

This isn't a very long book, just 116 pages, but it was 116 pages of delight. I know I probably say this quite a lot but this story was very well written (I wouldn't say that if it wasn't) with very likeable characters. The writer has us immediately feeling for Paula, who gets canned at work ~ by her boyfriend/boss ~ who later that day dumps her as his girlfriend. Grrrrrr. What a creep! In both incidences, he accuses her of being boring and uninspiring. She decided to shake things up when a neighbor convinces her to take a chance and changes start to happen in her life. 

The author's sense of humor comes out in the story to make this a very fun read. I loved the book and am glad I got to spend some time in Paula's world. I look forward to seeing what Randi writes next!


Author Bio
Randi Sherman, a native Californian, lives in San Francisco. With her tremendous grasp of the obvious, Randi has always had the ability to find humor in the mundane and share the laughter. She dares to examine and discuss everyday foibles, which obliges people to stop taking themselves too seriously.

Developing characters and writing have been a part of Randi’s life since she was a teenager, umm-mmum-mumm years ago. She spent time performing stand-up comedy at Los Angeles club amateur nights and studied Improvisation in the Bay Area. Realizing that she preferred having an income, living indoors and eating regularly, she reluctantly put her dreams on hold and entered the corporate world, yet never left behind her sense of humor and creative storytelling ability, skills which were not always appreciated during budget and strategy meetings.

Now, after living indoors for a while and eating, albeit too much, her book, Paula Takes a Risk is here. Randi’s unique wit, writing style and candor will surely make the reader sit up, stand up, roll over or assume an interested leaning position and take notice.

Randi would never claim to have a genius IQ, the body of a super model or always have the right thing to wear. However, she can spell the words, “smart” and “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Randi maintains a trim, well-toned body that is cleverly concealed beneath twenty pounds of soft protective layering and she has the appetite of a bird. (By “bird” I mean vulture.) Her entire wardrobe consists of black, black and varying degrees of black, except for those items that are covered with lint because she put them through the wash with a tissue.

Things that Randi cannot live without: people to laugh with, her car horn, a gym membership where there are chubby women who break into a sweat while putting on a jog bra, wine, waist capes, and her partner, Carol.

Randi does not like mean-spirited people, liver, left-overs, communal dressing rooms, tight underwear, and people who point.

Randi is five-foot-seven.

Connect with Paula!

Buy the Book!




And enter the rafflecopter below for a chance
to win a copy of Paula Takes a Risk.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Monday, July 16, 2012

No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop


Here we go again with another No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop. This one is so much fun and it's so easy for the hoppers - it takes so little to enter. And there are close to 90 blogs participating in the hop. So go visit them all ~ and good luck!

A big THANK YOU goes out to Kathy over at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer for coordinating this hop. I know she has had a lot on her plate lately so I just want to say right here and now that I think she is such an amazing person!

The Book Bag is giving the winner their choice of any book from The Book Depository (up to $20) if they ship to you. Fill out the easy entry in the rafflecopter below. 

And then start hopping! The other blogs are listed below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Sunday, July 15, 2012

Showcase Sunday #7


Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits & Tea, where we show off the books and eBooks we receive each week.

Come join the fun!

After a little dry spell there, my mailbox saw a ton of activity this week! I love it!! It is so exciting to come home from work and see those packages peaking out of the mailbox, don't ya think? Most of the ones I got this week are review books, so it looks like I have my work cut out for me. Such a hard life. *sigh*

Click on the books covers to find out more about the books on Goodreads.

Bought 

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
I have already read this one and LOVED it. 
This is going to be my pick for our book club next month. I am so excited for the group to read it!

Won

Beach Season by Cathy Lamb, Holly Chamberlin and Rosalind Noonan
I won this one from ReadingGroupChoices 
It will make a perfect summer time read! 

For Review

Being Anti-Social by Leigh K. Cunningham 

Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth 

 Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde

The Healer of Fox Hollow by Joann Rose Leonard

Memories by Deanna Lynn Sletten

What are you showcasing this week? 

Leave me a comment or a link so I can stop by and check out your books!

Friday, July 13, 2012

On Tour and a Giveaway: With My Body by Nikki Gemmell

In 2003 Nikki Gemmell created waves when, writing under the tag 'Anonymous', The Bride Stripped Bare became a literary sensation, with its raw and unflinching depiction of female sexuality. She called it 'a very honest take on sex, from a woman's perspective', and it went on to top bestseller lists around the world.

Now, eight years later, Nikki returns with another tour de force, articulating thoughts and feelings that most people simply cannot put into words. Told in her distinctively lyrical style, With My Body addresses the questions of what is intimacy and whether it is ever truly possible to know another person. It is at once a manifesto of married mothers everywhere and a highly personal story of one woman’s sexual awaken.

A wife, comfortably married and with several children, is contemplating middle age along with all the constraints of motherhood. Finding herself numb and locked down in an unending cycle of school runs, laundry and meal times, she cannot at first see a way to live with honesty. Even her husband, whom she loves, has never reached the core of her. Despairing of ever finding a way through her family to her own identity, she returns to the memory of an old love affair - the consequences of which she has never resolved.

This is beautiful, literary writing at its best - exquisitely raw, emotional and bold, and deeply resonant of the classic French erotic writings of Colette, Nin and Duras, but with a modern and provocative twist. ~~synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts on With My Body ~~

The author does write beautifully and I found myself falling in love with the words and how they flowed across the pages. The book itself consists of short chapters called lessons. Each lesson starts with a quote from a very old book that really becomes a very important part of the story.

Nikki is very unhappy in her life, as a wife, as a mother and as a daughter. She feels that her emotions have shut down and she is just a shell, going through the motions of her life. She decides to go back to the place where she did feel love to see if she can recapture what she is missing.

We go back to that time and relive her past with her as she learns what love is and what a satisfying sexual life can be like. Can she capture these feelings again so that she can be satisfied with the life she has? The lessons are all there before her, if she takes them to heart.

There were some disturbing parts in the book. The man who Nikki has an affair with in that past summer is much older than she is and takes advantage of her innocence and molds their sexual encounters to his benefit. I was not expecting this book to be as erotic as it was so that caught me a bit off guard. So except for that unexpected aspect of the book, I feel that With My Body is a great story that is beautifully written.

Connect with the author



And if you are over 18 and interested in reading this book, enter the Rafflecopter below.

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