Showing posts with label contest/giveaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contest/giveaway. Show all posts

Jun 8, 2017

Makeup Looks: The Refrigerator Monologues

Superhero Makeup

About THE REFRIGERATOR MONOLOGUES:
The Refrigerator Monologues is for anyone who ever got upset at the way women were treated in comic shows, movies or books.
The lives of six female superheroes and the girlfriends of superheroes. A ferocious riff on women in superhero comics

From the New York Times bestselling author Catherynne Valente comes a series of linked stories from the points of view of the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who’s ever been “refrigerated”: comic book women who are killed, raped, brainwashed, driven mad, disabled, or had their powers taken so that a male superhero’s storyline will progress.

In an entirely new and original superhero universe, Valente subversively explores these ideas and themes in the superhero genre, treating them with the same love, gravity, and humor as her fairy tales. After all, superheroes are our new fairy tales and these six women have their own stories to share.


About Catherynne M. Valente
Catherynne M. Valente was born on Cinco de Mayo, 1979 in Seattle, WA, but grew up in in the wheatgrass paradise of Northern California. She graduated from high school at age 15, going on to UC San Diego and Edinburgh University, receiving her B.A. in Classics with an emphasis in Ancient Greek Linguistics. She then drifted away from her M.A. program and into a long residence in the concrete and camphor wilds of Japan.

She currently lives in Maine with her partner, two dogs, and three cats, having drifted back to America and the mythic frontier of the Midwest.


Tour Schedule:
6/6: The Novel Hermit - My Favorite Superheroes
6/7: Avid Reader - Superhero Looks
6/8: The Irish Banana Review - Superhero Makeup
6/9: Little Red's Reviews - Q&A
6/10: Quarzfeather - Review
6/11: Megnificent Books - Q&A
6/12: Don't Fold the Page - Review

Giveaway:
2 Finished Copies of THE REFRIGERATOR MONOLOGUES (US Only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted by Hannah at 12:00 AM 15 comments
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Apr 5, 2017

Makeup Looks: Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer

ABOUT SPINDLE FIRE:
Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king's headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.

And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora's blood--and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.

As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.

Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape . . . or the reason for her to stay.

Spindle Fire is the first book in a lush fantasy duology set in the dwindling, deliciously corrupt world of the fae and featuring two truly unforgettable heroines. 

LINKS: Amazon | B&N  
Spindle Fire



ABOUT LEXA HILLYER:
Lexa Hillyer is the co-founder of Paper Lantern Lit, former YA editor, and author of Proof of Forever. Lexa is also an award-winning poet: Her first collection, Acquainted with the Cold, won the Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize as well as the 2012 Book of the Year Award from ForeWord Reviews. Her poetry has been anthologized in Best New Poets 2012, and has appeared in several journals. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their daughter.

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Instagram

Tour Schedule:
Week 1:

Week 2:

Giveaway:
3 Finished Copies of SPINDLE FIRE (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted by Hannah at 9:51 AM 11 comments
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Mar 31, 2017

Review: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer



Review:
I've been a fan (both personally and professionally) of Brigid Kemmerer's for years. I've long considered her one of those authors who I cannot figure out why the world hasn't caught on to the magic of her awesome. But I feel like LETTERS TO THE LOST is about to change that.

 At least I can say I knew Brigid way back when.

 LTTL is a heartbreaking tale of grief and hope. It's a rare book that can make me cry, but this one did. Multiple times. Brigid has this ... visceral way of connecting the character to the reader that leaves a lingering, haunting bond long after the last page is turned.

 Maybe this is your first Brigid book (if so, you need to read The Elementals series NOW). Maybe you've been a fan since the beginning. Either way, it's safe to say that Brigid Kemmerer just upped the bar for all YA contemporary novels.

ABOUT LETTERS TO THE LOST:
Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.


LINKS: Amazon | B&N | Indiebound


ABOUT BRIGID KEMMERER:
BRIGID KEMMERER is author of LETTERS TO THE LOST (Bloomsbury; April 4, 2017), a dark, contemporary Young Adult romance; THICKER THAN WATER (Kensington, December 29, 2015), a New Adult paranormal mystery with elements of romance; and the YALSA-nominated Elemental series of five Young Adult novels and three e-novellas which Kirkus Reviews calls “refreshingly human paranormal romance” and School Library Journal describes as “a new take on the supernatural genre.” She lives in the Baltimore area with her husband and four sons.

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Instagram

Tour Schedule:
Week 1:

Week 2:

Giveaway:
3 Finished Copies of LETTERS TO THE LOST (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posted by Hannah at 12:00 AM 8 comments
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Mar 21, 2017

Fast 5 with Gena Showalter

Hi, all! I'm so excited to welcome Gena Showalter, whose new book, LIFEBLOOD, is already a NYT bestselling success! Gena's here to answer a few quick questions and make sure you check out the giveaway!
1.     Last book you read:  

     GS: I’ve been working so much, the last handful of books I read...I hate      admitting this because I'm usually a devoted reader...were all my own.  Can’t     Hardly Breathe (the copy edit), Can’t Let Go (finished the rough draft) Lifeblood (last round of edits), and The Darkest Promise (checking for typos—fingers crossed I got ‘em all).

2.     Last thing that made you cry:  

    GS: An onion—the bastard!  
               
3.     Last trip you took:  
GS: I went to New Orleans with my bestie (and fellow author) Jill Monroe to celebrate the release of Feversong by the amazing Karen Marie Moning.  Darynda Jones and Diana Love were there and oh, my gosh, what awesome ladies!  In true Showalter fashion, however, I never left the hotel.  If I wasn’t attending a conference panel, I was in my room, working on a contemporary romance titled Can't Let Go (part of my Original Heartbreakers series).  Deadlines, man.  They tend to follow you LOL

4.     Favorite quote:  
 GS: I have this on my wall as a constant reminder that no matter how bad things get, I’m going to come out on top.  It’s my anthem, and the reason I can make it through a single day. “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Isaiah 43:1-2.         

 5.     Best moment as an author: 
 GS: Nothing beats finding out (1) you’re going to be published for the first time (2) you’ve hit the New York Times for the first time and (3) you’ve sold the movie rights to one of your books.  Okay, that’s not true.  When a movie is actually made—that’ll be better. 
Synopsis:
"My Firstlife is over, but my Everlife is only now beginning."
With her last living breath, Tenley "Ten" Lockwood made her choice and picked her realm in the Everlife. Now, as the war between Troika and Myriad rages, she must face the consequences.
Because Ten possesses a rare supernatural ability to absorb and share light, the Powers That Be have the highest expectations for her future—and the enemy wants her neutralized. Fighting to save her Secondlife, she must learn about her realm from the ground up while launching her first mission: convincing a select group of humans to join her side before they die. No pressure, right?  
But Ten's competition is Killian, the boy she can't forget—the one who gave up everything for her happiness. He has only one shot at redemption: beating Ten at a game she's never even played. As their throw-downs heat up, so do their undeniable feelings, and soon, Ten will have to make another choice. Love…or victory.

Author Bio: Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Intertwined Novels, the White Rabbit Chronicles, and the Everlife Novels, among numerous novels for an adult audience as well. Her stories have been praised as “unputdownable.” Gena lives in Oklahoma with her family and a menagerie of dogs. Follow her on twitter @genashowalter and visit her website at genashowalter.com.

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/genashowalter?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Author website: http://members.genashowalter.com/
Amazon Buylink: https://www.amazon.com/Lifeblood-Everlife-Novel-Gena-Showalter/dp/0373212194
Indie Bound Buylink: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780373212194?aff=yainterrobang
Barnes and Noble Buylink: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lifeblood-gena-showalter/1123915999


Tour Schedule:
Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Giveaway:
2 signed sets of FIRSTLIFE & LIFEBLOOD (US Only)


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posted by Hannah at 12:00 AM 11 comments
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Mar 14, 2017

New Release Spotlight: Organize Your Way by Katie and Kelly McMenamin

Look, if you know one thing about me it's that I love to organize things, so a book about organization is basically my version of book porn. Check out this snazzy new book to help you organize, well, your life. And best yet? You do it your own way.
Stressing over the mess? Discover YOUR personal organizing style—and stay organized forever!
Organization isn’t one-size-fits-all. Different people need different solutions. Fortunately, Katie and Kelly McMenamin—the organizing gurus behind PixiesDidIt!®—have found the key to making organization stick, with strategies that work for every personality.

Whether you’re OCD or a little less fastidious, Katie and Kelly will help you discover your organizational style, using unconventional approaches or sticking to what already works. Along with personality-based solutions for every space in your home, they offer advice on solving strife between different “PixieTypes.” So you can keep the stuff you love . . . and the peace!


Pixies Did It Website: http://www.pixiesdidit.com/
Pixies Did It Twitter: https://twitter.com/PixiesDidIt

Bio: Katie McMenamin and Kelly McMenamin are sisters, professional organizers, personality-type experts, and founders of PixieDidIt! Their business is an outgrowth of buttoned-up hedge fund analyst Kelly spending 30-odd years trying and failing to get her messy older sister Katie, a writer, to be more organized. Countless fights ensued until they had an idea: What if there is more than one way to organize? Today, they spend the bulk of their time organizing for clients, writing for their website, and giving talks on how to organize according to your personality type. Kelly lives in NYC with her husband and three sons and Katie lives in their hometown, the Land of Champions, aka Cleveland, OH, with her husband and three daughters.
Pixie Did It's Top 10 Tips:
1. Knowing who you are is the key to organization mainly because if you’re pretending to be someone else, it’s hard to remember where that pretend person put something!  

2. Change is hard, so be honest about organizing tasks. People who never hang up their coats in a closet, probably never will; get a coat rack and call it a day.  

3. Perfect isn’t real. Magazine perfection is styled by a professional whose job it is to make everything perfection for the millisecond it takes to snap a photo.

4. No shame, no blame! You liking clear, spotless surfaces doesn’t make you OCD (it’s not a personality disorder), it’s your personality type.

5. Later Box It. When you can’t part with a useless item, store it away in a box and revisit that box in a few months (a year), whatever you missed keep, whatever you forgot … dude, let it go.

6. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Change is hard (see #2!) so if storing TP right next to the toilet works for you, do it, but for heaven’s sake try to make it look nice—unless you live alone on Antarctica then who cares.

7. Organizing at its core is about retrieval. Period. Can you easily find and get things when you need them. Everything else is an argument about aesthetics.

8. One-step solutions are golden. Hanging up your coat is a five-step process whereas popping it on a hook is one-step. Light bulb (at least it was for us!)

9. Be loud & proud. So, you write important To Do’s on your hand in a pinch. Who cares? Don’t apologize, defend it and tell any scolds where they can go.

10. There’s no best way to organize—just the best one for you!

Giveaway:
1 Finished Copy of ORGANIZE YOUR WAY (US Only)


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posted by Hannah at 12:00 AM 37 comments
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Feb 13, 2017

Review: Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones


Review:
Let's get this out of the way: WINTERSONG had me at Labyrinth. I'm a hue fan of the movie, have watched it countless times, and still quote it regularly. So a book about goblins and a goblin king (y'all know I pictured Jareth, AKA David Bowie the entire time), had me utterly intrigued, and I'm happy to say S. Jae-Jones didn't disappoint me.
Where Labyrinth always left me leaving more what the romance. What WINTERSONG gave me? THE ROMANCE.
*swoons*
Following Liesl down the rabbit hole as she tries to save her sister, Kathe, when Kathe is kidnapped. Now I gotta say, Liesl is a better girl than I am because I was content to let Kathe rot in the Underground (she's annoyingly selfish and vain). But Liesl saves her sister, by offering up herself, and thus becomes 'trapped' in the Goblin King's world where she absolutely flourishes.
I will admit that the beginning of the story was a bit sluggish, but something about S. Jae-Jones' writing and way with words kept me going, and I am so glad I did. This story is completely original and absolutely beautiful.

ABOUT WINTERSONG:
Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.
LINKS: Amazon | B&N


ABOUT S. JAE-JONES:
S. Jae-Jones, called JJ, is an artist, an adrenaline junkie, and the author of Wintersong, forthcoming from Thomas Dunne in February 2017.

Born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, she lived in New York City for ten years before relocating down to Dixie, where she is comfortably growing fat on grits and barbecue. When not writing, she can be found rock-climbing, skydiving, taking photographs, drawing pictures, and dragging her dog on ridiculously long hikes.

Tour Schedule:
Week 1:

Week 2:
Giveaway:
3 Finished Copies of WINTERSONG (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posted by Hannah at 12:00 AM 10 comments
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