Holiday Treats for Chick Lit Lovers

In the spirit of coming together for the holidays, eight popular Chick Lit authors are "partying it up" with a shared promotion for book lovers! That means eight fun and fizzy e-books, each priced at $3.99 or less, that are packed with plenty of laughs and romance to keep you entertained on those long winter nights! And if you'd like to gift one of these books to a Chick Lit fan, we've got you covered with your choice of paperbacks!

Which books are featured in this festive promo? 

Check them out below!

I've read a couple of these books and loved them!

I will definitely be filling up my stocking with the rest of these 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?

E-book and paperback available on Amazon

My thoughts are here

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?

E-book available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble; paperback available on Amazon

My thoughts are here

What the Dog Ate by Jackie Bouchard

Discovering what her dog ate turns Maggie Baxter’s world upside down. With her chocolate Lab, Kona, as her guide, can Maggie forego her overly analytical ways to find a new life filled with tail-wagging joy?

E-book available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes; paperback available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

The Girl, the Gold Tooth, & Everything by Francine LaSala

Suburban housewife Mina, beaten-down and struggling with amnesia, starts getting her memory and her mojo back. But she soon learns everything has a price in this fast-paced, richly layered, and darkly humorous satire!

E-book and paperback available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Breaking the Rules by Cat Lavoie

When Roxy Rule shares a passionate kiss with her lifelong best friend, she must come to terms with her feelings for him while dealing with two sisters in full crisis mode, a boss who makes her want to stab herself with a letter opener and a fiancé who can't wait to walk down the aisle. Can she keep it together--or will she break under the pressure?

E-book available on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble; paperback available on Amazon

Fashioning a Romance by Libby Mercer

Devastatingly handsome and deliciously weird, John Harrington is the man of Caitlyn Taylor's dreams… and her nightmares. She has no use for a womanizer like him, and dodges his advances like a pro. But when they end up in Paris together, Caitlyn feels her resolve begin to slip. How will she ever be able to resist the irresistible in the most romantic city in the world?

E-book available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo 

A State of Jane by Meredith Schorr 

Jane Frank is newly single after nine years and looking for a second chance at love. But when she dives head first into the NYC dating scene and finds it infested with flakes who are interested today and gone tomorrow, it may be time for Jane to turn the tables! 

E-book available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes; paperback available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble 

Picture Perfect by Lucie Simone 

Lauren Tate's perfectly planned life quickly unravels at the seams when a smear campaign threatens her career as a top TV executive, but she learns just how cutthroat showbiz can truly be when the hottest scandal in Tinsel Town turns deadly and the Hollywood hunk who's stolen her heart goes missing. 

E-book available on Amazon; paperback available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Winners @ The Book Bag!!

I had 3 giveaways ending all about the same time 

so I am going to announce them all here. 

Thanks to everyone who entered! 

First up ~ 3 Kindle e-books of Finding Lucas. 

You can read my thoughts here

And the winners are ........

Amanda Martin Ray 

Krista Grandstaff 

Holly Letson

Congratulations! 

I will be sending an email soon. 

Make sure to respond within 48 hours or, 

alas, I will have to choose another name. 

Next giveaway was for a paperback copy of Memories. 

You can read my thoughts here  

And the winner is .......

Darlene Ysaguirre

I will be sending an email soon. 

Make sure to respond within 48 hours or, 

alas, I will have to choose another name.

And last but not least is the winner of
The Book Bags' Banned Books Week Hop. 

The winner will be able to choose one
of the top 10 challenged books from 2011. 

Here is the breakdown of what people
said they would pick from the list.

And I am not surprised that
The Hunger Games series was the top pick. 

37 - The Hunger Games (trilogy), by Suzanne Collins

15 - To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

14 - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

14 - What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones

13 - The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa

10 - Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

9 - ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle

7 - Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar

7 - Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

1 - Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling (not on the 2011 list, but oh well))

0 - My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler

And the winner is .......

JennH

An email has been sent. 

Please respond within 48 hours or, 

alas, I will have to choose another name.

Congratulations to all! 

Thanks for stopping by The Book Bag!!

Guest post and Giveaways: Samantha Stroh Bailey talks about her voices

Today I have Samantha Stroh Bailey here at The Book Bag. She is the author of Finding Lucas, the wonderful book I talked about yesterday. Read my thoughts here. Today she is here talking about the voices in her head. And be sure to check out the 2 giveaways at the bottom of the post!

Samantha ~ 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?

This is one of the best questions I’ve ever been asked! And the answer is a resounding yes. Oh, do I ever hear voices in my head!

My stories usually come to me late at night just as I’m falling asleep, and I always forget to keep a notebook beside my bed so I have to race downstairs to jot them down. But, my ideas also come from conversations with friends and listening to strangers talk. Now, I know it’s not nice to eavesdrop, but I figure if it’s in the name of research, it’s okay. I love to watch how people move their bodies when they talk, the words they choose or don’t choose, how they respond to each other. And the stories they tell!

I love dialogue so much that I actually did my Master’s degree in socio/psycholinguistics. It sounds crazy, and it is. I researched the way cultures use language, gestures and subtle nuances to get their point across and what people are actually thinking when they’re talking. Sometimes, what we say is not what we mean, and how people do this fascinates me. I may not have a high paying job thanks to my Master’s, but it has certainly helped me create unique story lines and relatable characters.

Getting a new plot idea is unbelievably exciting for me. Once I have a plot idea, I begin imagining my characters—their names, physical attributes and personalities. As I write, they become real to me, and I know their voices, quirks and physical gestures. I do embarrassing things like stroke my arm so I can describe how it feels and I hear in my head the cadence and tone of my characters’ dialogue.

My characters talk to me in the shower, when I’m driving and when I’m out for dinner with friends and my family. It can be hard sometimes for me to concentrate on what’s happening because my characters have such loud voices! And once I’ve started a story, my characters take over, and there’s not much I can do to stop them. They decide where they go and what they do, and they make their own mistakes and successes. I create them, but they become people in their own right.

When I started writing Finding Lucas, I knew that Jamie was going to be stuck in a very unhappy relationship with Derek, and I knew that she wanted to find Lucas—her “friend with benefits” from her past. Beyond that, the story told itself. My hands flew over the keyboard, and though the ideas came from my head, my characters’ voices spoke up loudly. Even in public.

I often wonder if I’m talking to myself and not realizing it— the way you wonder if you’ve just done something embarrassing without noticing, like pull at your underwear or check to make sure you’ve put on deodorant. Luckily, I can only write when my house is completely empty, and the baristas at my local café have become friends so they don’t look twice if it seems like I have a sudden case of Tourette’s.

There is nothing in the world like being a writer, and though I might technically be considered slightly crazy, it’s a label I’ll happily accept!

Samantha Stroh Bailey has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen. In fact, she even sent her first manuscript, Freddy the Flame, to publishers when she was ten years old. Sadly, it was rejected, but a lifelong passion to write was born.

After 15 years of teaching ESL to adults, including at the University of Toronto, she decided to live her dreams of being a fulltime writer and editor. Now the owner of Perfect Pen Communications, she not only gets to write novels, but also writes and edits for magazines, websites, businesses, students and other writers.

Her work has appeared in Now Magazine, The Village Post,Oxford University Press, Abilities Magazine, on Mommyish.com and many other publications. Samantha also has a Master of Education in Applied Linguistics.

She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children. Finding Lucas is her first novel.

Connect with Samantha

Facebook|Blog | Twitter (@perfect pen)

Goodreads author page | Goodreads Finding Lucas page

Buy the book

Giveaway @ The Book Bag!

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win

one of 3, that's right 3, Kindle e-books of Finding Lucas.

And then check out the giveaway on the tour page.

Tour giveaway

**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 Finding Lucas before October 1 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**

Other stops on the tour

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On Tour and Giveaways: Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey

Can you ever really go back to the past?

On her fifth anniversary with boyfriend Derek, Jamie Ross finds herself in a Montreal hotel room wondering how the carefree guy she met in a Chicago bar has turned into “the quintessential metrosexual.” Weighed down by Derek’s disdain for her second hand wardrobe, her unusual family and her low-paying job as an associate producer of a daytime talk show, Jamie reaches a breaking point. And when her new boss plans to reunite lost loves on the show, she remembers Lucas— the boy she’d loved and lost ten years earlier. What follows is a quest that is at times hilarious and at others disastrous as Jamie’s life transforms from run of the mill to absolutely crazy. But will finding Lucas give Jamie everything she’s looking for? ~~ from Goodreads

My thoughts about Finding Lucas ~~

Okay, everyone be honest here. Who hasn't sometimes thought about an old love and wonder if that love could be rekindled? Or at least wonder where that person is and if that spark would still be there?

I have to be honest, Finding Lucas did have me thinking about my past. Jamie goes in search for a former love after breaking up with her boyfriend, Derek on their 5th anniversary. She starts working on an episode for her TV show where they are going to hook up old loves. Well, that gets her thinking about Lucas, her old love and fantasing about how their love could be now.

I loved Finding Lucas and all the wonderful characters, some I loved and some I just wanted to hate. There is Derek and his controlling mother, who stop by, demanding 'financial restitution for a bad investment'. Seriously? But Jamie has a great bunch of supportive friends around her who push her to step out of her comfort zone. And those are the characters I just loved. I want friends like Jamie's - they had her back!

Finding Lucas is Samantha's debut novel and she has done a fantasic job! This is a very well written story with great characters and it was a pleasure to read. I flew through it, which is a good indicator that it's a great book. This is an author who will be added to my 'must-read' list. I can't wait to see what comes next from Samantha Stroh Bailey!

About the author

Samantha Stroh Bailey has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen. In fact, she even sent her first manuscript, Freddy the Flame, to publishers when she was ten years old. Sadly, it was rejected, but a lifelong passion to write was born.

After 15 years of teaching ESL to adults, including at the University of Toronto, she decided to live her dreams of being a fulltime writer and editor. Now the owner of Perfect Pen Communications, she not only gets to write novels, but also writes and edits for magazines, websites, businesses, students and other writers.

Her work has appeared in Now Magazine, The Village Post, Oxford University Press, Abilities Magazine, on Mommyish.com and many other publications. Samantha also has a Master of Education in Applied Linguistics.

She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children. Finding Lucas is her first novel.

Connect with Samantha

Facebook | Blog | Twitter (@perfect pen)

Goodreads author page | Goodreads Finding Lucas page 

Buy the book 

Giveaway @ The Book Bag!

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win

one of 3, that's right 3, Kindle e-books of Finding Lucas.

And then check out the giveaway on the tour page.

Tour giveaway

**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 Finding Lucas before October 1 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.** 

Other stops on the tour

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WWW Wednesdays September 19

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 here.

What are you currently reading?

Memories by Deanna Lynn Sletten

for CLP Blog Tours

 Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

I am still listening to this one on CD for my book group this month. We meet next week ~ I better get on it! 

What did you recently finish reading? 

Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey

for CLP Blog Tours
My thoughts will be posted next week. 

The Sun Zebra by Rolando Garcia
My thoughts will be posted soon.

What do you think you will read next?

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman

This one looks so good ~ I am excited to start it! 

What's on your WWW this week?

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

WWW Wednesdays September 12

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 here.

What are you currently reading?

Last-Minute Love by Romi Moondi

for CLP Blog Tours

I read the first book in this series, Year of the Chick. My thoughts are here, it was a hoot. 

 Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

I am still listening to this one on CD for my book group this month. 

What did you recently finish reading? 

Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde

This book is by the author that wrote Pay It Forward. Did you ever see that movie? I loved it! I had no idea this was the same author, the story just intrigued me. It's a great read. My thoughts are here

What do you think you will read next?

Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey

for CLP Blog Tours

I do have a little time before this tour so maybe I'll just pick something from my TBR list. I have plenty there that I have been wanting to read. 

What's on your WWW this week?

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

Showcase Sunday #5

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!

Won ~~

Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey 
from Chick Lit Central

Murder by the Old Maine Stream by Bernadine Fagan 
from D.D Scott of RG2E

For review ~~

As Always, Jack: a Wartime Love Story by Emma Sweeney
for TLC Book Tours in July 

From the library ~~

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

This is an older one of Picoult's.We are reading it for one of my book groups ~ there should be a lot to talk about ~ her's usually are. 

What are you showcasing this week?


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