Favorite Things Giveaway


The Favorite Things Giveaway Hop is hosted by Lauren at Shooting Stars Mag
If you're interested in participating in the giveaway, check out her post and join in.

There are few things I love more than books and reading. So it was kind of a no-brainer when I was deciding what to give away as my favorite thing. But just offering up the usual "winner's choice of book" seemed kind of boring and impersonal. So I decided to take it a step further. Kick it up a notch. 


Because while I do love my books, I really love my books that are signed by the author. There's something so special about owning a copy that the author took the time to sign. I love attending author events and getting my books signed in person. Having a few minutes (and sometimes longer) to speak to the author, making a quick connection, and walking away with a personalized copy. Sometimes signed copies come from other avenues, though. A bookstore might have a few signed editions, or maybe a signed copy came with a bookish subscription box. No matter how I got them, my signed books are pretty special to me. 


As it happens, I have duplicate copies of some signed books. Sometimes I met the author at an event and got an extra copy signed for a future giveaway (that I never got around to posting LOL) or maybe I received a signed copy in a subscription box and already had a personalized copy of my own. Either way, I have the following signed copies available and the winner of this giveaway has their choice of one book. (Note: While my last several giveaways have been open to everyone, I'm afraid this giveaway will be for U.S. residents only. International shipping rates being what they are makes shipping a book overseas cost prohibitive.)

And now for the books! The winner of the giveaway can choose one from the following signed editions:

  

a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Giveaway open to U.S. residents only. Must be 18 or over to enter. Winner will need to provide a mailing address for prize. Not responsible for items lost/damaged during shipping.

Be sure to visit the other participating blogs
 and enter to win their favorite things!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

WWW Wednesday #76 | February 12, 2020


WWW Wednesdays is a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words.
Just answer three questions and share what you're reading.


We're having record high temperatures for this time of year. It's supposed to be 85 degrees today. Eighty-five. Did Florida decide to skip winter and I missed the announcement? 

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

     


 It took me a little while to really get into Great and Precious Things since it felt like the story had a kind of slow start. Things really picked up, though, and I'm definitely invested in Willow and Camden. The people in this small town, though... wow. These people can seriously hold a grudge and assign blame. It's brutal. 
Current progress: 78%

I picked up The Music of What Happens based on Sam's review and I'm so glad I did. My library only had the audio version and it's been great. Max and Jordan are these wonderful, funny, flawed characters and I've loved watching their relationship evolve. I really need two things to happen, though, and I'm anxious to see how things will play out.
Current progress: 76%

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

My second read from Corinne Michaels was another hit. Come Back for Me, the first book in her new series, pulled me in from the very start and kept me on edge, so desperate for good things to happen for these characters. This was an emotional read and the audio performances were superb. Plus, the set-up for the next book was so good and I can't wait until it releases!

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL READ NEXT?

    


As I mentioned in my Sunday Post, I received a PR package for Malice even though I didn't request it. It's not something I ever would have picked up on my own but I've gotta say the synopsis is super intriguing. And Shannon raves about it. So I might just give it a try. 

What are you currently reading?
I wanna know! :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Love Edition

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.


This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic: 
LVE Edition

This week's TTT theme is a love freebie so I'm going with my favorite books with love in the title. I am sooo imaginative. Don't be jealous. :)



Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.

But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly teen friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother…only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.

Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco reading books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.

Love Scene, Take Two | Alex Evansley
Teddy Sharpe is kind of famous. He might actually be on his way to being really famous, especially if he'd nailed an audition for the lead role in the movie adaption of the newest bestselling young adult book series. There's just one problem: He totally blew the audition. And he's stuck in a tiny North Carolina airport. And his maybe-ex-girlfriend kind of just broke up with him.

The weekend isn't exactly looking good until Bennett Caldwell, author of the very book series he just auditioned for, takes pity on him and invites him to her family's lake house. Away from the glitz and glam of Hollywood for a few days, Teddy starts to relax . . . and somehow he and Bennett just click. But dating is hard enough when you aren't the subject of several dozen fanblogs, and the Internet is full of juicy gossip about Teddy and Bennett . . . gossip that Bennett might not be prepared to handle..

Rosie and Alex are destined for one another, and everyone seems to know it but them. Best friends since childhood, their relationship gets closer by the day, until Alex gets the news that his family is leaving Dublin and moving to Boston. At 17, Rosie and Alex have just started to see each other in a more romantic light. Devastated, the two make plans for Rosie to apply to colleges in the U.S.

She gets into Boston University, Alex gets into Harvard, and everything is falling into place, when on the eve of her departure, Rosie gets news that will change their lives forever: She's pregnant by a boy she'd gone out with while on the rebound from Alex.

Her dreams for college, Alex, and a glamorous career dashed, Rosie stays in Dublin to become a single mother, while Alex pursues a medical career and a new love in Boston. But destiny is a funny thing, and in this novel, structured as a series of clever e-mails, letters, notes, and a trail of missed opportunities, Alex and Rosie find out that fate isn't done with them yet.

Ugly Love | Colleen Hoover
When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she doesn't think it's love at first sight. They wouldn't even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn't want love, she doesn't have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don't expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can't handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

Say You Still Love Me | K.A. Tucker
Life is a mixed bag for Piper Calloway.

On the one hand, she’s a twenty-nine-year-old VP at her dad’s multibillion-dollar real estate development firm, and living the high single life with her two best friends in a swanky downtown penthouse. On the other hand, she’s considered a pair of sexy legs in a male-dominated world and constantly has to prove her worth. Plus she’s stuck seeing her narcissistic ex-fiancé—a fellow VP—on the other side of her glass office wall every day.

Things get exponentially more complicated for Piper when she runs into Kyle Miller—the handsome new security guard at Calloway Group, and coincidentally the first love of her life.

The guy she hasn’t seen or heard from since they were summer camp counselors together. The guy from the wrong side of the tracks. The guy who apparently doesn’t even remember her name.

Piper may be a high-powered businesswoman now, but she soon realizes that her schoolgirl crush is still alive and strong, and crippling her concentration. What’s more, despite Kyle’s distant attitude, she’s convinced their reunion isn’t at all coincidental, and that his feelings for her still run deep. And she’s determined to make him admit to them, no matter the consequences.
 

Maddie's not impulsive. She's all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment —

She wins!

In a flash, Maddie's life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she's talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun... until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now, Maddie isn't sure who she can trust.

Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn't seem aware of Maddie's big news. And, for some reason, she doesn't want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?

With tons of humor and heart, Kasie West delivers a million-dollar tale of winning, losing, and falling in love.

Rachel Blum and Andy Landis are eight years old when they meet late one night in an ER waiting room. Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she's intrigued by the boy who shows up all alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy's taken back to the emergency room and Rachel's sent back to her bed, they think they'll never see each other again. Rachel, the beloved, popular, and protected daughter of two doting parents, grows up wanting for nothing in a fancy Florida suburb. Andy grows up poor in Philadelphia with a single mom and a rare talent that will let him become one of the best runners of his generation. Over the course of three decades, through high school and college, marriages and divorces, from the pinnacles of victory and the heartbreak of defeat, Andy and Rachel will find each other again and again, until they are finally given a chance to decide whether love can surmount difference and distance and if they've been running toward each other all along. 

In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.

Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?
Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.


Maggie Larken is a reformed party girl. After her parent’s death, she’s left to raise Asher, her nine-year-old brother.

Luke Wilson has done everything his parents have ever asked of him. A new teacher, Luke constantly questions where his life is headed.

When Luke and Maggie meet, neither is in the market for a relationship. But sometimes life has other plans. Both navigate new waters as they try to decide where their priorities should lie, while also seizing what they want.

In this heartbreakingly real tale of love, Maggie and Luke discover what being a family truly means.



Most people dream about getting out of Sharon, Nebraska, but after three years away, Lauren Barrett is coming home. She has her reasons—missing her family, losing her college scholarship. But then there's the reason Lauren can't admit to anyone: Rob Conrad, her best friend's older brother. 

Football prowess and jaw-dropping good looks made Rob a star in high school. Out in the real world, his job and his relationships are going nowhere. He's the guy who women love and leave, not the one who makes them think of forever—until Lauren comes back to town, bringing old feelings and new dreams with her. 

Because the only thing more important than figuring out where you truly belong is finding the person you were meant to be with.




Have you read any of these books?


The Sunday Post #194


The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 
showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is
coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:

  • It was a crazy busy week at the office but I got a lot accomplished so that was a good feeling. 
  • We had an intense storm come through mid-week with wind so strong it did quite a bit of damage. Power outages, tree debris all over the place, small structures taken down, and a tractor-trailer was turned over on one of the higher bridges when a particularly strong gust of wind hit. Luckily no damage at my house.
  • Yesterday The Husband and I got a lot done but the day didn't feel overloaded. I made the coming week's meal plan and made a grocery list, went to a hair appointment, The Husband did some organization in the garage, we went grocery shopping, made a return (an impulse buy I made a couple weeks ago and since decided I didn't even want it LOL), and then went out to dinner. Busy day but still fun and productive. Today should be much more low-key. I have to go out to get one item from my grocery list that I couldn't find yesterday and otherwise I plan on hibernating all day. What's on your agenda today?
  • BookBub shared their 40 favorite book-to-movie adaptations of all time. There were some I'd forgotten even started as a book. A few where I've seen the movie but never read the book. And a couple where I actually liked the movie better than the book (I'm looking at you, Forrest Gump. The book was just ridiculous.)
  • This week's 80's music fix is Scandal's Goodbye to You. Everything about this one just screams 1980's - and I mean that in a good way. LOL I remember at the time (1982) wanting desperately to look just like Patty Smyth. :)

Tuesday, February 4
Top Ten Tuesday: Five Star Predictions

Wednesday, February 5
WWW Wednesday #75

Friday, February 7
Monthly Wrap Up | January 2020

WHAT I COMPLETED IN THE LAST WEEK:

     


Two good reads this past week. Birthday Girl (kindle version) wasn't quite what I had built it up to be but I still totally enjoyed it. It's one that had been on my TBR for ages and I kept putting it off to prolong the anticipation (something I do All. The. Time.) so after so much time I was convinced it would be a five star read. It wasn't quite that but still a good one. Come Back For Me (audio version) was my second by Corinne Michaels and was filled with the same emotion that pulled me into the first one. This one just released a few weeks ago and I already want the second book in the series! 

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING: 
    
     


Great and Precious Things has been just a bit slow-going for me. Not sure if it's the book or just the fact that I haven't made much time for reading the past several days. I'm about 40% in and it seems like things are picking up and the story is moving forward now, though. The treatment Camden receives by the people in this small town has me all kinds of ragey on his behalf. 

Sam reviewed two books on Thursday that both really caught my attention. One, Only Mostly Devastated, isn't available at my library yet, but they did have The Music of What Happens available on audio on the Hoopla app. I started listening yesterday and I'm already enjoying it. Konigsberg characters feel so genuine and main characters Max and Jordan are so likable. My heart hurts for Jordan and the pressure he feels to support his mom - both emotionally and financially. I have a good feeling about this one. 

KINDLE BOOKS:
    






How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 
I'd love to hear about it!

Monthly Wrap Up | January 2020


WHAT HAPPENED IN JANUARY
  • So is it just me or did January feel like an entire year unto itself? I thought it would never end. I guess it wasn't a bad month but it sure felt never-ending.
  • January was a month of change/adjustment at the office. Welcoming a new CEO/Board member has been interesting. As the executive assistant, I work side by side with the Board of Directors and we're a tight knit group. There are only the four of us in the executive suite so we know each other well and there's a level of familiarity there. A new personality in the mix has been interesting. 
  • Other happenings in the month were my niece turning twelve (how did that happen so fast?) and a little travel when The Husband and I took my mom to Beaufort, South Carolina for a weekend getaway.  


WHAT I READ IN JANUARY


January was the month that I started coming out of my months-long reading slump. *throws confetti and does a happy dance* Seven books may not sound like a lot but it was far better than December, which was positively dismal (I listened to three audio books - two of which were re-reads - and the only two books I tried to read were both DNF's). No five star reads in January but I was just so happy to actually be reading that it didn't even matter. 

What He Never Knew* by Kandi Steiner | 4 stars
The One For You by Roni Loren | 4 stars
Only Ever You* by C.D. Reiss | 3.5 stars
We Own Tonight* by Corinne Michaels | 4.5 stars
Echoes Between Us by Katie McGarry | 4 stars
Heartland by Sarina Bowen | 4 stars
The Family Upstairs* by Lisa Jewell | 4.5 stars
(* denotes an audio book)

FORMATS
Total Read: 7
1 physical book
4 audiobooks
2 e-books
(3 ARCs: The One For You, Echoes Between Us, Heartland)

TOP OF THE HEAP
We Own Tonight and The Family Upstairs
I discovered a new author in January, one I'd been meaning to try for a long time. We Own Tonight was my first by Corinne Michaels and I loved it. The story checked all my boxes and I found myself listening at every possible opportunity. I loved the characters, I loved the narration, I loved Corinne's ability to evoke emotion (because, yes I shed some tears). Loved it start to finish and I've already read another by Corinne since then. The other standout of the month was The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. This atmospheric mystery/suspense was stellar. The story was intricate and layered and Jewell doled out bits and pieces of information that slowly painted a picture that grew more and more disturbing. There were twists that shocked me and just when I thought it was over she managed to shock me again. I couldn't stop thinking about this one for days after I finished it.

THE ONE THAT ENDED WELL
The One For You
Roni Loren wrapped up a four-book companion series with The One For You and it was so satisfying. Main character Kincaid had long been the backbone and cheerleader for the friend group and I loved seeing the focus turn to her. And the epilogue truly brought it all home.

THE ONE THAT MADE ME WANT TO HUG A CHARACTER
Echoes Between Us
Both main characters were dealing with a lot in Echoes Between Us but it was Sawyer who made my heart hurt. The pressure he was under was crushing and he was buckling under it. Forced to take on the role as parent/responsible adult, he took dangerous risks as a relief from the stress he dealt with. I just wanted to step in, hug this young man, and promise things would get better. 

THE ONE THAT MADE ME LAUGH
Heartland
There were plenty of serious moments in Heartland - Dylan is still grieving his father, Chastity escaped from a cult only two years ago - but there was also plenty of Sarina Bowen's signature humor. Some of my favorite moments were Dylan's conversations with his two goats.
You have to do a better job of staying inside the fence, or Griffin is going to make me sell you. Nobody wants that. You might end up down the road at the Mittson place. And I heard there are trolls under their bridge. 

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BLOG
I had 17 blog posts in January and shared four reviews: 
I shared some of my most anticipated releases, my favorite new-to-me authors in 2019, and got salty about my least favorite book covers. I also took part in the January Of Books giveaway and was happy to gift Susan her choice of book. 

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING



WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE READ IN JANUARY?