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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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? November 7, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

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Hope everyone had a great week. Hubby was out of town for a few days and since he is retired and ALWAYS home, it was kind of like a vacation for me. I rarely get the house to myself so it was very enjoyable. It was nice to have him back home though too.

My daughter and I went to see the movie Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, this weekend. It is based on the book series by Ransom Riggs. We thought it was a great way to spend the afternoon. We are both big fans of the series and had been trying to find a time to go see it since it came out in September. It made me want to read the three books again.

I've been getting a lot of books read lately. Now I just need to get caught up on my review posts. Does that happen to you too?

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great week. Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading/listening to


What Happens at Midnight
by Laura Chapman
Love this author and I am loving her holiday novellas.

Two from Isaac's House: A Story of Promises
by Normandie Fischer
(audiobook)

What I recently finished


Making Christmas
by Laura Chapman
Fun story. My thoughts will be posted on Tuesday.

Behind Closed Doors
by B.A. Paris
Wow, what an intense story! My thoughts will be posted soon.

The Christmas Surprise (A Holiday Novella)
by Samantha March
Another fun Christmas novella. My thoughts will be posted later this week.

The Murder Game
by Julie Apple (aka Catherine McKenzie)

Loved it! Read my thoughts here.

What I am going to read next


The Illusory Prophet (Singularity #3)
by Susan Kaye Quinn
Love this author and love this series!

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

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

Happy Release Day!

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.

   

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

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

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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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? October 31, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

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Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween! I don't know what you are doing for Halloween but we will be waiting at home for the grandkiddos to come over in their cute, cute costumes. They 'trick' us by running from the front door to the back door several times—more candy that way. Ha! But we love it!

I have been so busy, especially in my reading life. I seemed to have overcommitted myself as far a reading goes and have spent October trying to get all the wonderful books in. My favorite authors need to slow down their writing so I can catch up! I had last Wednesday off work since I had to work on Saturday and I literally spent the whole day reading. Whew! I am feeling better about my reading world now though.  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great week. Happy reading!  

What I'm currently reading/listening to

The Murder Game
by Julie Apple (aka Catherine McKenzie)

Two from Isaac's House: A Story of Promises
by Normandie Fischer 
(audiobook)
I need to take a road trip so I can really get into this wonderful story.

What I recently finished

Come This Way
by Michelle Schlicher
Love this author's stories! My thoughts will be posted later this week.


Orphan Number 8
by Kim van Alkemade 
Book club pick, we had a great discussion.


The Round House
by Louise Erdrich
Another book club pick. Check out my giveaway HERE.

Three & Out (Queen of the League #3)
by Laura Chapman
Love this series! Check out my thoughts HERE. 

What I am going to read next


The Christmas Surprise (A Holiday Novella)
by Samantha March

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!