MY FAVORITE READS GIVEAWAY HOP

I read a lot of books that are just ok, and that takes a substantial amount of time out of my life. Why do I do that? Because every once and awhile I discover a serious gem. I think that is why all of us book nerds read so much, we are always looking for our next favorite book.

For this giveaway I am letting the winner choose one out of these four of MY favorite reads. Here they are:

Amplified was my #1 read of 2011 out of almost 250 books.

 On The Jellicoe Road is a must read for anyone who loves young adult books.

 I Now Pronounce You Someone Else is the book I champion as much as I can because it is a clean, swoony, sassy read that I think deserves more attention.

 The Sky Is Everywhere is a book that takes your heart, bashes it into pieces and puts it back together again, but in a really good way. In a really amazing way quite frankly. (Note: this is the only book that will be sent paperback.)

WANDERLOVE: KIRSTEN HUBBARD

                  

I didn't really care for Hubbard's debut novel Like Mandarin. I thought it was written beautifully, but I couldn't get into the characters. So Wanderlove was not on the top of my must read 2012 list. However, I kept seeing rave reviews of this book so I decided I had to give Hubbard another try. 

I am so glad I did. Wanderlove is a beautiful, full, and rich novel. It transports you to another part of the world and takes you on the journey with some very likeable characters. Our main character is an artist and I loved the addition of the sketches throughout the book as well. It ends too soon...

BOOK BLURB:

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.

Read more about it HERE.

LET'S HELP ON LITTLE WINGS WIN ON AMAZON!

Hey guys, I need your help. There is this lovely book:

                    

I read it. I loved it and I am excited to announce that it is one of the three finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Award. This is a huge deal and since this author is a friend of a friend, and since this author wrote a book that I am delighted to endorse, I would LOVE it if you took some time to vote for On Little Wings. Or you can vote for one of the other books too, but just VOTE!

To go straight to the voting page and vote for On Little Wings go HERE.

To read about the other entries for the contest and then vote go HERE.

To read about why I liked it go HERE.

To see how well it is rated on goodreads go HERE.

LOVE IN BLOOM GIVEAWAY HOP: SIGNED COPY OF MIDNIGHT IN AUSTENLAND

I love books about LOVE. I can't help it, they are just my thing. While I am not a reader who minds a bit of language or wild scenes in a book, I still REALLY appreciate when an author can write a book that is amazing while still being a clean read. That is why I have a special blog label for the ones that fall into the category of a clean read.

For this giveaway I have a SIGNED copy of Shannon Hale's Midnight in Austenland, which in case you are wondering is a clean, sweet, and sassy read.


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This giveaway is sponsored by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Portrait of a Book Check out the Linky for many more giveaways!

LDS AUTHORS GIVEAWAY HOP: SIGNED COPY OF THE SAVAGE GRACE

                                         

I am participating in my first giveaway hop. I found this one interesting since I am LDS and I think it is awesome when LDS authors put themselves out there with their writing.

               

I'm choosing to giveaway another copy of my BFF Bree Despain's book The Savage Grace. I got carried away at Barnes & Noble and I have an extra SIGNED copy to give to the blog world. I love that Bree's books are clean, but still a little bit edgy. I love how in The Dark Divine trilogy she has written about a character with a religious background and I have loved seeing what a huge part that played in her story.

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Be sure to check out the linky for loads of giveaways. 

CHASING DAISY: PAIGE TOON

               

There a few books that I have had my eye on, but the only way for me to read them is to actually buy them from Amazon and have them shipped to me (often from the UK). I know a lot of people buy books that they haven't read yet, but I had to stop doing that because I was ending up with all these books that I didn't like that I had spent way too much money on. Chasing Daisy was one of the gambles that paid off, because I loved it.

This one took me a while to figure out where it was going and a while to get into the setting, but pretty soon I was sucked in. As the book goes on the story unfolds and it is full of genuine surprises. The only downside for me was that I wished that it had gone on longer (it is already a long book, why can't we have a couple more pages instead of an epilogue?) But don't let that discourage you. 

This book has a little language, but no graphic love scenes. This is full of complex realistic characters and great dialogue. All in all this is my kind of adult romance. Even though the characters are mid-20s and still WAY younger than me.

BOOK BLURB:

If you fall too fast, you just might crash...
Daisy has been dumped, unceremoniously jilted. Not by any ordinary guy, no... Daisy has a secret in her past that she won't even tell her best friend, Holly. She's given up on men - and on her own family. But life still has to be lived and where better to recover than as far away from home as possible.
Grabbing a chance to see the world, Daisy packs her bags and joins the team catering to the world's highest-paid, supercharged racing drivers on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. From Brazil to Italy, from Melbourne to Monte Carlo, life passes in a dizzying whirlwind. But nothing - and no one - can stop Daisy from falling again... this time for a man who is prepared to risk his life, and his heart, for the sake of speed, danger and ultimate success.

Thanks to Amazon, this is not a hard book to find used for cheap.

Read more about it HERE.

THE DIARY OF A CRUSH TRILOGY: SARRA MANNING

I have discovered another favorite author and I have been found drowning myself in her British tales for some time now. After reading and loving Sarra Mannings' Let's Get Lost, I dug up a copy of one of her adult novels (which I will review here soon) and realized that I freaking love the way she writes.

But today I am going to chat about the Diary of a Crush series which first started out as something she wrote for a magazine and then after the end of the magazine run they were published into books. All three of these were desperately hard for me to put down. Especially since it is in a diary format and I kept thinking: "I'll just read another entry." Then that entry would turn into another one, and another one, and another one. It got a little out of hand at times.

BOOK BLURB: (From book #1)

When Edie and Dylan first see each other in photography class, an instant attraction draws them together. But true love never does run smoothly—the two spar as much as they can’t keep their hands off each other. Then comes the college trip to Paris: Edie’s willpower will be tested to the limit! In between furious arguments and trips to the Louvre, the two share some passionate moments—but will it last?

I think Manning's later stuff is more polished, but I'll tell you why these were so great to me. First of all I love Edie who is our voice for the three books. I love how she grows up and matures in the books. I love that she has the same weakness for moody art boys that I had when I was her age. I love all the kissing. I love the Britishisms that Edie uses in sassy ways to make me laugh. I love that this is a story about two people you cheer for, but aren't quite sure they are that good for each other either. 

Ok I am going to say it: I have a crush on these books. 

Check out book one HERE on goodreads.