Hi Everyone! Happy Start of another Love-A-Thon Year! Here are my answers for the 

QUESTIONNAIRE

An Introduction to You and Your Blog

1. What’s your name? Where in the world are you blogging from? Valerie, Greater DC area
2. Tell us your history with reading. Were you always a reader? Were you a reluctant reader? Was there a book that convinced you to become a reader?
   I have always been a reader since I was a little girl. I can safely say it has always been in my blood!
3. How did you get involved in the online book community? We have a personal blog, but my mother in law had an idea about creating my own book blog and so I did :)
4. How did you choose your primary platform (blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc)? I thought blogspot seemed easier to use!
5. What’s your favorite thing about the online book community? The people!
6. What sort of posts can readers expect from you? All kinds, I try to mix it up as much as I can.
7. What book genres do you talk about most?  YA, Womens Literature, Memoirs, all over the place :)

Favorites

1. Favorite food? Beverage?  Hot Chocolate/Spaghetti
2. Favorite color? It changes, but usually orange or green.
3. Favorite things to do apart from reading? Traveling, Hiking, Running, :)
4. Favorite tv shows? Gilmore Girls
5. Favorite movies?  The Wedding Singer, Armageddon, Cars
6. Favorite musical artists?  Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean
7. Favorite places to shop?  REI

Book Talk

1. Favorite childhood books?  Chicken Soup with Rice (Maurice Sendak)
2. Favorite books read in the last five years? I have a fave list on my good reads page.
3. Favorite genres? All sorts!
4. Underrated book, series or author you love?  The Richest Man in Town
5. A book you want to see made into a film or tv show? Ummm not sure.
6. Book boyfriend/girlfriend? Book BFF? Book family?  All of you!
7. Books you want to read in 2017? I set a goal to read the books I own!

500 Posts

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday! I just wanted to stop by quick and say that this is my 500th post on this blog! Can you believe it? I certainly cannot!

Thanks for hanging around with me!!

Here's to 500 more!

Happy Reading!

Book Promotion: 15 Minutes

15 Minutes 

By author: Larissa Reinhart  

Release Date: January 24th, 2017  

Genre: Cozy/Humorous Mystery

Blurb:

#10days #findthewoman #getthejob #doNOTfallinlove

#WannaBeDetective

When ex-teen star Maizie Albright returns to her Southern hometown of Black Pine, Georgia, she hoped to rid herself of Hollywood tabloid and reality show hell for a new career as a private investigator. Instead, Hollyweird follows her home. Maizie’s costar crushing, but now for her gumshoe boss. Her stage-monster mother still demands screen time. Her latest rival wants her kicked off the set, preferably back to a California prison.

By entangling herself in a missing person’s case, she must reprise her most famous role. The job will demand a performance of a lifetime. But this time, the stakes are real and may prove deadly.

Buy the Book:

AmazonUS AmazonUK

What readers are saying:

“Hollywood glitz meets backwoods grit in this fast-paced ride on D-list celeb Maizie Albright’s waning star—even as it’s reborn in a spectacular collision with her nightmarish stage mother, her deer-pee-scented-apparel-inventing daddy…and a murderer. Sassy, sexy, and fun, 15 Minutes is hours of enjoyment—and a wonderful start to a fun new series from the charmingly Southern-fried Reinhart.” — Phoebe Fox, author of The Breakup Doctor series

“Child star and hilarious hot mess Maizie Albright trades Hollywood for the backwoods of Georgia and pure delight ensues. Maizie’s my new favorite escape from reality.” — Gretchen Archer, USA Today bestselling author of the Davis Way Crime Caper series

“I was already a huge fan of Larissa Reinhart’s Cherry Tucker series, but in her new mystery series, FIFTEEN MINUTES, she had me at the end of the first line: ‘Donuts.’

Maizie Albright is the kind of fresh, fun, and feisty ‘star detective’ I love spending time with, a kind of Nancy Drew meets Lucy Ricardo. Move over, Janet Evanovich. Reinhart is my new ‘star mystery writer!’” — Penny Warner, Author of Death of a Chocolate Cheater and The Code Busters Club

“Larissa Reinhart’s newest heroine, Maizie Albright, is at once naïve and worldly. As a former child star, she craves life in the real world by becoming a PI, just like the TV character that made her famous. Armed with humor, charm, and stubborn determination, Maizie is a breath of fresh air. I adored every second of 15 Minutes. Viva la Maizie!” — Terri L. Austin, author of the Rose Strickland mysteries and the Null for Hire series.

About the Author:

 

Larissa Reinhart Bio:

A 2015 Georgia Author of the Year Best Mystery finalist, Larissa writes the Cherry Tucker Mystery and Maizie Albright Star Detective series. The first in the Cherry Tucker series, Portrait of a Dead Guy, is a 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist, 2012 The Emily finalist, and 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner. She loves books, food, and travel in any and all combinations.

Her family and Cairn Terrier, Biscuit, live in Nagoya, Japan, but they still call Georgia home. You can see them on HGTV’s House Hunters International “Living for the Weekend in Nagoya” episode. Visit her website, find her chatting on Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads, and sign up for her newsletter at http://smarturl.it/larissanewsletter. If you enjoy her books, please leave a review. She sends you virtual hugs and undying gratitude for your support!

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Visit all the stops on the tour:

Feb 12th

Blog on the Run - Promo/Spotlight Post

Feb 13th

Ali's Book Nook - Book Review Steamy Book Momma - Promo/Spotlight Post

Feb 14th

Judging More than Just the Cover - Author Q&A

Feb 15th

Hello...Chick Lit - Book Excerpt

Feb 16th

Kristin's Novel Cafe - Book Excerpt Jenabooks - Book Review

Feb 17th

Book Lover in Florida - Author Guest Post

Feb 18th

He Said Books Or Me - Author Guest Post

Book Promotion: The Frog Theory

 The Frog Theory

Tragedy and comedy in perfect proportion.

Hi Everyone!

I am excited to be here today to talk with you about a book, The Frog Theory. I have not had a chance to read this one yet, but I am looking forward to it! 

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About the Book:

Kim and Flow are the best of friends, living on a council estate, making money selling drugs. 

 

Just around the corner in a smarter part of Fulham is Clea, a well-heeled young woman coping with a violent home life at the hands of her twisted step-father.

The Principal runs a famous college for problem teens. Fostering guilty secrets which distance her from her own children, she resists the advances of a man she sees on the train every day. 

When Kim and Clea meet by chance, Kim is smitten but worried about her. Using the anecdote of the frog theory - that it will jump straight out of boiling water and live, but stay in and die if heated slowly from cold - he wakes her up to the dangerous situation she’s in at home.  

Serendipity and a cake-fuelled food fight that goes viral will bring Kim, Clea, Flow and The Principal together in weird and wonderful ways in this frenetic, laugh-out-loud story about love, conscience and lion-hearted nerve.

Purchase from Amazon UK 

Purchase from Barnes & Noble  

About the Author:

After attending school for model-making, Mordaunt started Image Casting in 1998, specialising in customised body castings. Over the course of 13 years, she worked on such films as Atonement and The Wildest Dream, as well as for personal clients like Lionel Richie. In 2012, she relocated to Botswana with her husband and daughter where she currently resides.

http://www.fionamordaunt.com/

Happy Reading! 

Waiting on Wednesday: Always and Forever Lara Jean

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week I am excited to feature a book that is the next in a series I enjoy. 

Jenny Han
Always and Forever Lara Jean Release Date: May 2nd, 2017

Summary from Goodreads: 
Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.

Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?
Have you read the first two books? They are super good and I am excited for this one! 

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Six Passions of the Red Hot Lover

Hi Everyone!

Happy Valentines Day! I hope that you have a wonderful day. Today, I am happy to be here to share with you a book about love.  When we think about love, it goes hand in hand with Valentines Day. This book is perfect for that conversation.

In this book, we get to learn about the different types of passions that people have as it relates to others that they feel closely about. I enjoyed this book because it was a quick read, but also because it is jammed packed with information for the reader to reflect on.

I would recommend this book for those who are interested in self-discovery, who want to know about those love, and those looking for a good read.

 Author bio:   Wendy Brown is an individual and couples therapist who estimates that she has done over 35,000 hours of therapy and discussed love in most of them. She is in private practice in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Her first book 'Why Love Succeeds or Fails' won the National Indie Excellence Award for a relationship book in 2014.

What you want your readers to get out of your book:   Red-hot Love is all about steamy sex and heart-felt closeness; truly, madly and deeply loving. If you are a Red-hot Lover, you may have noticed that you have this capacity. But, you might not realize that you have one of the six passions: heartbreak, challenge, pursuit, gallantry, vindication or attention. There is a script or role to go along with each passion. This tells you your love-life path. Understanding this critical piece of information may well help you succeed in love. 

Main Website: http://whylovesucceeds.com/http://whylovesucceeds.com/

Buy the Paperback: Amazon
Buy the E-Book: Amazon Kindle | Apple iBookstore | Kobo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Why-Love-Succeeds-or-Fails/121239521398900

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhyLoveSucceeds                            

Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from the publisher. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.

Happy Reading!

Book Tour: Dreamland Burning

Hi Everyone!

I am excited to be here with today as part of the Dreamland Burning tour, brought to us through Hannah at the Irish Banana. 

PERSONAL REVIEW: This book was so moving! I loved that it goes back and forth and that you get to see both perspectives on a situation. It's like having your own time machine and I wish that we had more books in this format.

This book addresses some topics that are not easy to write about. That said, I thought it was presented in a way that informative and makes you think. I appreciate that I am not told what to think, but that it is from a very place of 'this is what happened.'  I certainly would welcome the opinions of others on the topic.

This book was an interesting read and kept me reading right up until the end. Thank you for the opportunity.

 


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ABOUT DREAMLAND BURNING:

Some bodies won’t stay buried.
Some stories need to be told. 

When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family's property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of painful discoveries about the past... and the present.

Nearly one hundred years earlier, a misguided violent encounter propels seventeen-year-old Will Tillman into a racial firestorm. In a country rife with violence against blacks and a hometown segregated by Jim Crow, Will must make hard choices on a painful journey towards self discovery and face his inner demons in order to do what's right the night Tulsa burns.

Through intricately interwoven alternating perspectives, Jennifer Latham’s lightning-paced page-turner brings the Tulsa race riot of 1921 to blazing life and raises important question about the complex state of US race relations – both yesterday and today.

LINKS: Amazon | B&N

 

ABOUT JENNIFER LATHAM:

I'm a grown-up army brat with two kids, two dogs, and a husband. After working in a morgue, a maximum-security prison, a heroin detox, and assorted middle and high schools, I decided to try may hand at writing. Happily, it stuck.

I love watching people.

And I love writing about the characters who live inside my head—even when they don’t play nice.

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Tour Schedule:

Week 1:

2/13: He Said Books or Me - Review

2/14: Bookmark Lit - Cover Colors

2/15: Megnificient Books - Review

2/16: Here's to Happy Endings - Guest Post

2/17: The Story Sanctuary - Review

Week 2:

2/20: Awkwordly Emma - Q&A

2/21: Rattle the Pages - Review

2/22: Such A Novel Idea - Guest Post

2/23: Lekeisha the Bookworm - Review

2/24: The Irish Banana Review - Fast 5

Giveaway:

3 Finished Copies of DREAMLAND BURNING (US/Canada Only)

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway