The Book Bag: Samantha March

Showing posts with label Samantha March. Show all posts

Friday, November 18, 2016

The Christmas Surprise by Samantha March ~ My Thoughts and a Giveaway!

The Christmas Surprise

The Christmas Surprise by Samantha March
A Holiday Novella, 77 pages
Published: November 1st 2016 by Marching Ink LLC

Juliette Mabry is a happily married stay-at-home wife and mother...until there appears to be trouble brewing in her nearly ten-year marriage. Juliette takes it upon herself to find out if her husband is up to no good, but does she want to know the truth? Everything is revealed on Christmas, and Juliette is in for her biggest Christmas surprise.

My thoughts about The Christmas Surprise ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)

First line—"Isn't twerking just having sex?" "Who told you that?" "No, that's not it at all!" "I could have sworn I heard the TV say twerking was just sex. What the hell is it then?"

The Christmas Surprise started out making me laugh and then I felt all sorts of emotions before I got done. Juliette inadvertently hears some news that rocks her to the core. And now she doesn't know what to believe or if she can even trust her husband and her marriage. I felt all the feelings she was going though as she tried to sort out our her life and her love.

I love reading Christmas stories and I look forward to devouring them each season. The Christmas Surprise is a very enjoyable, fun, and touching story that I will come back to each year. What a wonderful, feel good story!

About the Author

Samantha March is an author, editor, publisher, blogger, and all around book lover. She runs the popular book/women’s lifestyle blog ChickLitPlus, which keeps her bookshelf stocked with the latest reads and up to date on all things beauty, fashion and fitness.

In 2011 she launched her independent publishing company Marching Ink and has four published novels – Destined to Fail, The Green Ticket, A Questionable Friendship and Up To I Do. You can also find her on Youtube sharing beauty reviews and creating makeup tutorials.

When she isn’t reading, writing, or vlogging, you can find her cheering for the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs. Samantha lives in Iowa with her husband and Vizsla puppy.

Connect with Samantha

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
YouTube | Goodreads | Amazon
Snapchat: Samantha.March

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Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Release Day: The Christmas Surprise by Samantha March, an Excerpt, and a Giveaway!

Happy Release Day!

The Christmas Surprise

Excerpt

Chapter One

“Isn’t twerking just having sex?”

“Who told you that?”

“No, that’s not it at all!”

“I could have sworn I heard the TV say twerking was just sex. What the hell is it then?”

“It’s a dance . . . style. Thing. It’s like . . . it’s like this.”

“What? You look like you’re having a seizure.”

“Hey, I thought it was pretty good!”

“Oh, if the rest of the PTO moms could see us now!”

I laughed to myself in the stall, doing a final check of my social media accounts on my cell phone. What? I’m a mom to a toddler. Having alone time in a bathroom stall is the highlight of my day. I was getting ready to exit and join the great twerking debate, when I overheard the next part of the conversation.

“Anyway, back to the original subject. Do you think it could be true?”

“I don’t think so. They seem happily married.”

“Are you sure? She’s never really seemed. . . right for him. To click with him. You know?”

I wrinkled my brow as well as my Botox injections could let me. Was someone having an affair? I wondered who it could possibly be! My mind started to race with all the candidates before I told myself to calm down. Having an affair was no laughing matter. I knew that matter than most.

“I just hate seeing families split up. And he’s so adorable.”

Okay, someone who was definitely married, and had a son. I doubt she was calling the husband adorable.

“But after what Carolyn did, are you really that surprised?”

Wait a minute. Were they talking about Carolyn, my best friend? So what, she had an affair. Okay, it was a bad deal. Her husband was the town sheriff, and she got caught sleeping with her gardener. It was so Desperate Housewives of her! Not in a good way, of course. But that was last year, and the tension was somewhat resolved. Carolyn and John even played nice at their daughter Claudia’s wedding a few months back.

“You have to admit, she is pretty fake. I know every time she’s nice to me to my face, I know she is just waiting to catch me slipup and say something she can twist around and report back to others. He probably is fed up with her. I wouldn’t be shocked.”

I heard the sound of paper towels being pulled out of the dispensers, and the women’s voices fade as they left the community bathroom at the pre-school, leaving me standing in my stall in shock.

Someone was having an affair. It was affecting a married family. I was married. I had been married to my husband Christopher ten years this January. They had a son, an adorable son. Call me biased, but I thought my son Colin was pretty freaking adorable. He skipped my red hair gene, thank the good Lord, and instead was a spitting image of Christopher – dark floppy hair (already it did the flop!) shiny brown eyes and one fierce dimple in his left cheek. He was in pre-school, was four years old, and was the true light of my life.

The people involved were also somehow connected to Carolyn, my best friend. And apparently people thought “she” whoever she was, was a fake. And maybe liked to spread rumors.

Now, I don’t think badly about myself. I’m a good person. I’m a good wife, and I’m a damn good mother. I’m a good friend to those who are actually my friend. But yes, I liked to. . . be in the know. I took it upon myself to be the eyes and ears of our small little town of Delany, Maine. Especially after the tragedy that rocked us two years ago, there needed to be a lookout. And I designated myself that person right after Portland’s death. But I scaled back a lot on poking myself into business I didn’t belong to in the past couple of months. And I never meant to spread rumors, and I wouldn’t even think about telling lies. But was I fake? I didn’t think so. Sure my boobs were. And my nose. But that was my outside persona. Inside I was a good and real person.

They weren’t talking about me . . . were they?

With a start, I realized I was still standing in the stall, cell phone in hand opened to Facebook. I felt a little ill, but knew I had to get out of the bathroom and start my day. It was silly to worry. They weren’t talking about me. The similarities were a coincidence. But I would make it my mission to find out who they were talking about.

About the Author

Connect with Samantha

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
YouTube | Goodreads | Amazon
Snapchat: Samantha.March

Book Links

The Christmas Surprise - $0.99

Destined To Fail - $0.99

The Green Ticket - $1.99

A Questionable Friendship - $0.99

Up To I Do - FREE!

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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Up To I Do by Samantha March

Up To I Do

Up To I Do by Samantha March
E-book, 221 pages
Published July 25, 2015 by Marching Ink LLC

Emerson Sinclair, twenty-seven year old hotel heiress, has said yes. With just over a year to plan her extravagant, over the top nuptials to Logan Worthington, it’s all hands on deck with the wedding plans. A Sinclair marrying into the Worthington family is the talk of their small New Hampshire town, and ideas include filming the wedding for a TV segment. But as the items get checked off the list, plans start to go ... not as planned. From not getting a designer dress to a selfish bridesmaid and unaccountable best man, Emerson is afraid her wedding will be more a joke than anything.

When both her mother and sister seemingly begin to lose interest in her wedding plans in favor of their own personal lives, Emerson fears her big day will turn into the forgotten wedding. With the pressure to pull off a beautiful and elegant event that everyone expects from their respectable families, Emerson starts to forget the reason why she is saying I Do in the first place.

But her spirited Grams is there to make sure neither happens. With her help and guidance, Emerson not only has her wedding plans back on track, but she remembers the reason why they are going through the stress of wedding planning – because at the end of it all she gets to marry her true love, and marriage is defined by more than a wedding.

Book Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My thoughts about Up To I Do ~~

Well, I have read every one of Samantha's books now and I have to say she just gets better and better with each one. Up To I Do gives us a wonderful inside look at a bride-to-be, one who is rather well-to-do, as she goes through the process of planning and carrying out her over the top wedding.

Oh sure, Emerson definitely goes through a few bridezilla moments before she figures out what is really important about this special day. I rather enjoyed those crazy episodes; watching her freak out when things don't go her way and then watching her come back to herself and to those she loves.

Samantha speaks from experience, to the wedding planning anyway. She recently got married herself (that's her on the cover of the book) so I am sure this book was an interesting project for her. I can't speak to the bridezilla parts of the book, I'm sure she was calm, cool, and collected the whole time. And it's been quite a few years since my wedding but this wedding story felt very real to me.

I think my favorite relationship in the whole story was the one between Emerson and her Grams. They are truly connected and Grams is there for Emerson the whole time and gets her through the tough spots. She kept Emerson grounded when it counted.

I don't want to give too much away but I want to say that I loved how the story ended and I admired the decisions the happy couple made to make their wedding day the meaningful day that it should be. Loved it!

This is the ultimate, feel good, chick-lit novel that will be enjoyed by everyone who picks it up and reads it. Congratulations Samantha, you've got another hit on your hands!

About the author

Samantha March is an author, editor, publisher, blogger, and all-around book lover. She runs the popular book/women’s lifestyle blog ChickLitPlus, which keeps her bookshelf stocked with the latest reads and up-to-date on all things health, fitness, fashion, and beauty related.

In 2011, she launched her independent publishing company, Marching Ink, and has four published novels—Destined to Fail, The Green Ticket, A Questionable Friendship, and Up To I Do. When she isn’t reading, writing, or blogging, you can find her cheering for the Green Bay Packers. Samantha lives in Iowa with her husband and Vizsla puppy.

Connect with Samantha

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Release Day! Up To I Do by Samantha March and a Giveaway!

Happy Release Day!

Up To I Do

But as the items get checked off the list, plans start to go ... not as planned. From not getting a designer dress to a selfish bridesmaid and unaccountable best man, Emerson is afraid her wedding will be more a joke than anything.

When both her mother and sister seemingly begin to lose interest in her wedding plans in favor of their own personal lives, Emerson fears her big day will turn into the forgotten wedding. With the pressure to pull off a beautiful and elegant event that everyone expects from their respectable families, Emerson starts to forget the reason why she is saying I Do in the first place.

Book Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

About the author

Connect with Samantha

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Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Friday, April 11, 2014

On Tour: A Questionable Friendship by Samantha March, an Excerpt and a Giveaway!

Visit other stops on the tour here

A Questionable Friendship

A Questionable Friendship by Samantha March

Paperback and e-book
Published February 19th 2014 by Marching Ink LLC

Brynne Ropert and Portland Dolish have been best friends since being paired as roommates in college. Seven years later they are now twenty-five, married, and living in Maine –– but the two women couldn't be more different. Brynne finds fulfillment in her life as a wife, mother and owner of a small café and bookshop, but is struggling to expand her family. Portland is still coping with her mother’s death during her childhood, and her marriage is unraveling before her eyes. Portland envies her friend’s seemingly stable and easy life while Brynne doesn't understand the growing distance between them and cannot begin to guess what secret Portland is hiding about her husband and crumbling marriage. While one woman feels shut out, the other enters into a web of lies to protect herself.

A Questionable Friendship explores what really makes someone a true friend, a support system, a sister. How much trust goes into a friendship and when is being a friend not enough? Brynne and Portland’s story will attempt to answer those questions, and show that happily ever after isn't in the cards for everyone.

Purchase A Questionable Friendship

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

My thoughts about A Questionable Friendship ~~

I have read all of Samantha's published books and I think she just gets better and better with each one. It has been fun and interesting seeing her writing talent develop. A Questionable Friendship starts outs as your ordinary chick-lit novel. There are the usual characters and drama. Best friends. Marriages that aren't as perfect as they seem from the outside. Secrets from the past. Secrets in the present.

'I tried my hardest not to compare us, but it just felt like she had such a perfect relationship and I'll admit it - I could get jealous.'

And then right when you're settling in for a fun, entertaining read Samantha throws in something that I totally did not see coming. Honestly, it made me gasp in shock. Bamm, totally blindsided! But I loved it! It was a good thing that I got to that part fairly early in the evening or I am sure I would have had a late night, trying to get the story finished.

'Sometimes I questioned our friendship, but she had been by my side for so many years, how could that be?'

I loved this story that caught me by surprise, grabbed me, and pulled me in to the end. Great job, Samantha! Can't wait to see what's next.

Excerpt

I lay in bed by myself that night, as Trent said he still had some reports to look at. I flipped onto my stomach, my favorite sleeping position, and tried to will myself to sleep. But my mind wouldn't shut off. I flashed to the papers I found in Trent’s desk last night, purely on accident. I had never thought to snoop on my husband of two years. I was trying to find our tax returns from last year to give to the accountant, as we were severely behind and the April deadline was just around the corner. I had tried calling Trent to see where they were, but his phone was going to straight to voicemail. I knew he was driving home and sometimes his service cut in and out, so I didn't think anything of it. I decided to find the papers myself, mostly out of boredom and the need to do something.

Trent’s office in our 2200 square foot ranch home was on the first floor, all the way to the east. I rarely ventured in there as I had no reason too, only popping in when Trent was working. It felt a little foreign being there, but I sat at his desk chair and looked around me. His desk wasn't just some shoddy little thing tucked into the corner, no, the desk ran almost the full length of the wall, big enough for three people to easily fit at. He had one desktop computer set up and a laptop as well, and he carried yet another laptop with him on business trips. A printer that doubled as a scanner sat on one corner, and a fax machine on another. He had multiple calendars hung up with agendas scribbled on the majority of the dates, and another smaller calendar that sat to the right of the desktop. It was opened to that date, March 14, and scribbled on there was “Petosi.” He had been in that town for the past two nights, and was due home late in the night.

After some searching, I finally found the drawer that seemed to hold important records. Our passports were in there, our wedding license, birth certificates, and deed to the house. I found the titles to both our vehicles, but no tax information. I frowned, trying to think of another spot he would have them. I slipped all the papers back in the appropriate files and shut the drawer, and when I did, a single piece of paper had floated down to me, from somewhere at the top of the desk. I grabbed the sheet and read over the words, my eyes growing wide, then squinting as I read and re-read. My body turned cold as I sat in shock, trying to process what I had read. When I realized I’d been sitting there for probably thirty minutes doing absolutely nothing I jumped, understanding that Trent could walk through the door at any minute and find me. Then what would I say?

Carefully, I pushed myself up and climbed onto the office chair, putting the piece of paper back where I thought it had come from. From my new vantage point, I saw the top of his desk was riddled with other papers and...a calendar. I swallowed hard as I peered closer and saw what was written in under March 13. My stomach heaving, I quickly left the office after righting the chair to its original spot, and fled to the bathroom.

I blinked back tears in bed as I forced myself to calm my mind. Trent had some explaining to do sure, but how did I tell him what I had found? Did that really even matter in the grand scheme of things? But knowing the Trent as of lately, he would try to turn this around on me and make me look like the bad person. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for sleep. I just wanted to sleep, to forget about what I had found. The day had been torturous enough, trying to make everything seem like it was hunky dory and nothing out of place. And what would tomorrow bring? More questions. And next week – Trent would be gone for two weeks. Would he be going where he said he was? What was he actually doing on his trips away?

The bedroom door opened and I saw Trent enter the room, already in just his boxers. I let my breathing become even so he would think I was asleep.

He plugged his cell phone in and set it on the nightstand, then pulled the covers back and crawled in. I felt his cold feet touch mine and jerked involuntarily. “Are you awake?” he whispered. I could feel his erection pressing into my back, and knew what he wanted. He probably touched me on purchase.

“Mmmph,” I mumbled, not opening my eyes.

“Port. You awake?” he asked again, clearly not getting the hint as his hand wandered to my breast.

I rolled away and made more sleeping noises, begging in my mind for him to leave me alone. He stayed quiet for another moment, then finally rolled the other way.

I was off the hook – at least for one night.

About the author

Samantha March is an author, editor, publisher, blogger, and all around book lover. She runs the popular book/women’s lifestyle blog ChickLitPlus, which keeps her bookshelf stocked with the latest reads and up to date on all things health, fitness, fashion, and celebrity related.

In 2011 she launched her independent publishing company Marching Ink and has three published novels – Destined to Fail, The Green Ticket and A Questionable Friendship. When she isn't reading, writing, or blogging, you can find her cheering for the Green Bay Packers. Samantha lives in Iowa with her husband and Vizsla puppy.

Connect with Samantha

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Visit other stops on the tour here

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Green Ticket by Samantha March: One Year Birthday and a Giveaway!

The Green Ticket by Samantha March
Paperback, 326 pages
Published December 5th 2012 by Marching Ink

College junior Alex Abrams scores her dream job at the ripe age of twenty – manager to a successful salon and spa. Thrilled to finally have a real adult job, Alex enthusiastically jumps into the world of schedules, conference calls, and getting a massage when interviewing prospective employees. What she doesn’t expect are the very grown-up issues that comes with a demanding boss. Kevin Dohlman quickly becomes Alex’s worse nightmare – covering up his affairs, dealing with his enormous ego, and trying to protect her female staff from him becomes a full-time job in its own right. Alex has also befriended Kevin’s wife and co-owner, Dani, and is trying to keep Kevin’s secrets hidden from her. The situation only worsens when Kevin starts paying Alex off to make sure she keeps her insider knowledge to herself.

While struggling to keep her wits and stay happy with her new grown-up job, Alex is juggling college courses, a new love interest, and keeping up with her close group of girlfriends. When her roommate and best friend Lila gets offered an opportunity to move to Los Angeles and sign with an agent, Alex realizes her life truly is changing, and everyone around her – including herself –– is growing up. Knowing she is faced with some hard decisions ahead, Alex struggles with keeping her job at Blissful. But does she really want to throw away what she dreamed of as a career – or will the secret-keeping for Kevin become too much to handle? The Green Ticket is a story about morals versus money, and how one young woman navigates the shaky line between the two.

I hosted The Green Ticket and Samantha back on January 1, 2013. Whew! What a way to start the new year! That seems like such a long time ago. And so many books ago. You can read my thoughts about this wonderful story here.

I also got Samantha to talk about the 'voices' that help (?) her write her stories. You can read her response here.

I am so happy to have Samantha and The Green Ticket back here at The Book Bag as they celebrate it's one year birthday! And here's to many more stories from Samantha!

About the author

Samantha March is an author, editor, publisher, blogger, and all around book lover. She runs the popular book/women’s lifestyle blog ChickLitPlus, which keeps her bookshelf stocked with the latest reads and up to date on all things health, fitness, fashion, and celebrity related.

In 2011 she launched her independent publishing company Marching Ink and has two published novels – Destined to Fail and The Green Ticket. When she isn't reading, writing, or blogging, you can find her cheering for the Green Bay Packers.

Connect with Samantha

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Chick Lit Plus | CLP Blog Tours

Buy The Green Ticket

Amazon | Marching Ink

Giveaway Time!!

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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

On Tour, Voices and a Giveaway: The Green Ticket by Samantha March

College junior Alex Abrams scores her dream job at the ripe age of twenty – manager to a successful salon and spa. Thrilled to finally have a real adult job, Alex enthusiastically jumps into the world of schedules, conference calls, and getting a massage when interviewing prospective employees. What she doesn’t expect are the very grown-up issues that comes with a demanding boss. Kevin Dohlman quickly becomes Alex’s worse nightmare – covering up his affairs, dealing with his enormous ego, and trying to protect her female staff from him becomes a full-time job in its own right. Alex has also befriended Kevin’s wife and co-owner, Dani, and is trying to keep Kevin’s secrets hidden from her. The situation only worsens when Kevin starts paying Alex off to make sure she keeps her insider knowledge to herself.

While struggling to keep her wits and stay happy with her new grown-up job, Alex is juggling college courses, a new love interest, and keeping up with her close group of girlfriends. When her roommate and best friend Lila gets offered an opportunity to move to Los Angeles and sign with an agent, Alex realizes her life truly is changing, and everyone around her – including herself – is growing up. Knowing she is faced with some hard decisions ahead, Alex struggles with keeping her job at Blissful. But does she really want to throw away what she dreamed of as a career – or will the secret-keeping for Kevin become too much to handle? The Green Ticket is a story about morals versus money, and how one young woman navigates the shaky line between the two. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about The Green Ticket ~~

Samantha has done it again with a wonderful story with characters you come to love, or hate, in some cases. Alex and her friends are college students trying to find their way in the world, dealing with school, work and boyfriends. It has been, ahem, quite a few years since I have been in college but this story took me back there. The girls are having fun while trying to become the wonderful adults they will end up being.

Alex lands her dream job but then finds herself having to deal with some awkward situations and an unethical boss at work. Is she going to be able to do the right thing? She loves her job but hates having to keep secrets.

I loved the mix of characters that are Alex's friends at school. They all have different personalities but they are all there for each other and support whatever is going on in their lives. As they mature they make decisions that will separate them but you just know that they will remain friends for life, there is nothing like that college bond among friends.

Alex is the one that grows the most, I think. After she gets the job at Blissful, she really changes and becomes a very responsible woman. She is torn between making the money she knows she could make by going along with the shady dealings of her boss or getting out with her honor intact.

The Green Ticket is a realistic look into the college lives of a group of young women and a chance to watch them try to figure out what they want out of life. It is also a great look at right vs. wrong, money vs. morals. The Green Ticket is a truly wonderful story and I am excited to see what Samantha writes next.

Samantha talks about her voices ~~

Welcome to The Book Bag, Samantha! I love your books and I appreciate all the hard work you put into CLP Blog Tours - you are A-mazing! Today, I welcome you here as an author and I am so excited that you are willing to answer the question that I like to ask the authors that I host.

So here goes ~~

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?

I definitely have voices in my heads, and a lot of times, it’s like a movie is playing in there. This generally happens for me at night, when I am laying in bed and trying to fall asleep. Characters start moving and talking, scenes get played out, and I learned early on to put a notebook and pen on my nightstand so I can easily jot things down as soon as they come to me. Does this worry me? Eh, in the beginning, I did think I was a little crazy.

I can literally see something and a scene will pop into my head, something that I can write about - and that is in no way limited to my current project. For example, I’ll be walking along and pass a woman talking a cell phone, yelling loudly about how she already did that and she won’t do it again. My mind races. What could she be talking about? A cheating spouse she took back? Picking up the dry cleaning? I create a scenario in my head, and there are plenty of occasions where something like that ends up in a novel. You never know where inspiration will strike, and I think writers just learn to deal with this!

About the author

Connect with Samantha

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Buy the Book!

Amazon: Print or eBook

Barnes and Noble: eBook

Kobo: eBook

Marching Ink: Print

Visit the rest of the tour stops here

**Everyone who leaves a comment on the tour page (click here) will be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of The Green Ticket before January 7 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**