Feature & Giveaway: Forever's Contemporary Romance Blog Tour

Title: With This Kiss

Series: Emerald Lake #2

Author: Bella Riley | Website

Available: 3/1/12

Despite such a close friendship, Rebecca Campbell never saw fireworks with her fiancé. Now with a broken engagement behind her and a promise she has vowed to keep, Rebecca is determined to make a new life for herself in Emerald Lake – a quaint town in the breathtaking Adirondack Mountains.

When Sean Murphy heads home, he never expects to fall for his younger brother’s girlfriend – but that is exactly what has happened. With a smile like sunshine and a wonderful heart, Sean feels something he has never felt before…at home.

Neither Rebecca nor Sean anticipated the sparks to fly so quickly. Lingering secrets aside, Sean can't deny the obvious attraction and burning desire he has for Rachel. But how can he give his heart to a woman he can't trust – or can he? As the days pass and his resolve is tested, Sean begins to realize Emerald Lake is home sweet home and that it is the perfect place for falling in love.

Add With This Kiss on Goodreads

Title: Last Chance Beauty Queen

Series: Last Chance #3

Author: Hope Ramsay | Website

Available: 2/1/12

Gracious me, my daughter Rocky sure could use my help. I always knew she wasn’t much interested in the local boys—but who’d have thought she’d come home with English royalty. Trouble is, Hugh wants to buy some of our folks’ land. We don’t want to sell, but Rocky’s job depends on her closing the deal. And though Hugh’s obviously smitten, I’m not sure he’s right for my Rocky. After forty years with my Elbert, all I want is to see my little girl find the same. Well, always nice talking to you, and remember: the Cut ‘n’ Curl’s got hot rollers, free coffee, and the best gossip in town.

Add Last Chance Beauty Queen on Goodreads

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Giveaway Details:

3 sets of With This Kiss & Last Chance Beauty Queen are up for grabs courtesy of Hachette Book Group!

Open to the U.S & Canada

No P.O Boxes

Books ship directly from publisher

Winners are subject to Hachette's 1 copy per household rule

Fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter

Waiting On Wednesday - February 22nd

My WOW pick this week is:

While He Was Away

by Karen Schreck

Available - May 2012

Synopsis via Goodreads

"This is just something I have to do, okay?" I hear David say. "The right thing."

He cradles my face in his hands. He kisses me hard. Then he lets go of me. His eyes dart from me to whatever's next. 

When Penna Weaver's boyfriend goes off to Iraq, she's left facing life without him. As summer sets in, Penna tries to distract herself with work and her art, but the not knowing is slowly driving her crazy. Especially when David stops writing. She knows in her heart he will come home- but will he be the same boy she fell in love with?

Why I'm waiting on While He Was Away? Having been the girlfriend/fiancee/wife who was left waiting (& is waiting & missing my ♥ as I type this) on so very many occasions, there is no way I can't read this. 

What are you waiting on?

Meme details: Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine. Don’t forget to stop by her blog and share your WOW pick for this week.

Author Guest Post: Meredith Zeitlin

I'm excited to welcome Meredith Zeitlin, author of Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters, to the blog today!

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Things I learned in the Drama World that Are Essential in the Real World

I started doing plays in elementary school, because that's where they send hyperactive kids who can sing. Suddenly I got to stand on a stage and have a bunch of people clap whenever I opened my mouth and said stuff – which, let's face it, I'd've been doing anyway.

I took to it immediately.

I was on a track after that – school plays, after-school classes, theatre camp (Stagedoor Manor shout-out!), and then a major in theatre at Northwestern University, where I was also accepted into the Musical Theatre program. And then I graduated, moved home to NYC with a rock-solid plan to become the next Bernadette Peters... and was miserable.

It took me a while to figure out why, much longer than it took me to quit doing theatre professionally. Because I still loved to sing (and I definitely loved applause) and I still enjoyed going to the theatre and had so many wonderful friends who were – and still are - actors. But it was so different from what I expected.

It was – it IS – a job. And it is really hard work. And I didn't want to do it.

Finally coming to terms with that allowed me to do two things: NOT try to be an actor anymore, and KEEP the things I loved about being in the Drama World growing up. Here are some of those things, which I think are essential in everyone's life:

1. BEING NOISY. Actors are loud. (Musical theatre actors are crazy-loud.) In most situations out in the world, that's not really encouraged – and sometimes it should be. So speak up! Let people know what you're thinking! Don't hide behind the popular opinion, don't just laugh on the inside if you hear something funny, don't pretend you don't care because you're too cool for caring. Let people see your feelings. Sing randomly in a mall! Tap dance around your office! It's fun. Fun is good. 

2. IT'S OKAY TO PRETEND TO BE SOMEONE ELSE. Not all the time, of course. (That would be kind of psycho.) But think about what characters – in plays, in films, in books! - really are: carefully drawn sketches of people, designed to show us something. Why not step into those shoes for awhile and see if you learn anything?

3. WEARING ALL BLACK IS INCREDIBLY FLATTERING. On everyone. Sure, it's cliché, but so what? Embrace all black every once in a while. Feel dark and mysterious. Throw on some intense eyeliner. Let people wonder if they should be scared of you.

4. HAVE FRIENDS WHO REALLY GET YOU. Here's the thing about Drama Kids – they are linked by this incredibly powerful thing, this love of music and performing and being over-dramatic and a bit different. The minute I got to theatre camp, I knew I was someplace completely special, someplace where I didn't have to try to fit in, where knowing all the words to Les Mis was suddenly cool, where practicing my audition songs in the bathroom was encouraged. I was 14 and, though I'd always had lots of friends, I'd never truly felt relaxed enough to just be ME before. It was liberating. It was thrilling. And it's something everyone should get to feel. Find these people, whatever it is you like to do – they are out there! You deserve to feel completely welcomed and accepted by the people around you.

5. TAKE THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY SOMETIMES. When I got out of college, I suddenly realized I'd spent four years “finding my inner animal” and practicing authentic Shakespearean dialogue and all kinds of crazy Meisner exercises that involved repetitive motion... and on and on and on. And we took it so freaking seriously. I mean, all I wanted in life was for my professor to say something positive about my performance as a forty-year-old Russian widow. It's all ANY of us wanted. And yes, it's ridiculous. But it's also necessary. We needed that sacred, uber-serious space to be ridiculous, to experiment, to flail around like loons. Don't forget that out in the real world. Take things to a dramatic place every once in a while – so what if someone else thinks you're being absurd? It's your project/hobby/whatever. It can be that important to you.

Well, that's it for now. I expect all you readers to go out and make a scene in public now. Break a leg!

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What a fun post! Thanks for stopping by Meredith!

Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters releases March 1st!

Add it on Goodreads

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Find Meredith on the web:

Website | Twitter

Waiting On Wednesday - February 15th

My WOW pick this week is:

Darkness Before Dawn 

by J. A. London

Releases: May 2012

Synopsis via Goodreads

This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won. 

Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters....

Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series.

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Why I'm waiting on Darkness Before Dawn? It just sounds so cool! I also met the author at ALA last month. She spoke on the historical romance panel and the YA romance panel. I'm always impressed by authors who write more than one genre. I just don't think my brain could handle it :) I loved listening to her talk about both genres of romance and it got me even more excited to read this book that she wrote with her son. 

What are you waiting on?

Meme details: Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine. Don’t forget to stop by her blog and share your WOW pick for this week.

This or That with Lisa Bergren - River Of Time Series Blog Tour

Please welcome Lisa Bergren to the blog! She is here to play This or That.

Welcome Lisa!

Gold or silver?

Silver. Gold feels like my mom’s jewelry.

Ice cream or frozen yogurt?

Ice cream. Preferably dark chocolate.

Twitter or Facebook?

Twitter! But Facebook is a close second.

Mac or PC?

Mac. We became an all-Mac family in 2011, getting rid of our last PC. We now have 4 laptops, 1 iPad, 4 iPods, and 1 iPhone.

Desktop or laptop?

Laptop when I’m writing; desktop at home.

Heels or flats?

Flats. Life is too short for pain. And I’m too tall for heels.

Lipstick or lip gloss?

Lipstick. Which I’m lucky to get on my lips once a day.

Cat or dogs?

Dogs. We have a little white Westie named Talisker Beatrice.

Text or call?

Text. I’m not really a phone person.

Mountains or oceans?

Mmm, mountains feel like home. Oceans are a luxury vacation. Love ‘em both, but if I had to choose, mountains.

Early bird or night owl?

Neither. I’m a middle-of-the-day person.

Paris or Rome?

Are you kidding? Paris is swell, but it’s gotta be Roma! I’m a raging Italiophile.

I'm a Paris girl myself ;) Thanks for playing, Lisa!

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Lisa on the web:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Follow the River of Time Series Blog Tour

Lisa is also generously offering the chance to win 1 of 20 copies of the River of Time books or 1 of 3 Kindles ($79 version)! Gain entries by commenting and participating in a very cool scavenger hunt. All the details and the Rafflecopter form can be found on Lisa's website.

http://lisatawnbergren.com/2012/01/teen-scene-blog-tour-contest/

Author Interview: Kristen Simmons - Article 5 Blog Tour

I'm so excited to welcome Kristen Simmons, author of the amazing Article 5, to the blog!

Welcome Kristen!

Hi Christie!

Thanks for letting me stop by and visit with you and your friends. I’m excited. 

Would you consider your debut novel, Article 5, to be dystopian, post-apocalyptic, or something else completely?

Oh something else entirely, of course! Who wants to fit in the box? Not me! Ha!

A5 doesn’t cleanly fit into either topic, even though it’s written up as a “Dystopian Thriller.” It takes place in the US closely after a war, but unlike other post-apocalyptics and dystopians, life is otherwise very similar to the way things are now. With the exception of course of a new military regime that’s targeting civilians who are out of compliance with their moral rules, that is…

Honestly, when I wrote it I thought it was going to be marketed as a romance, so there you go!

Does your background as a mental health advocate play a part in your writing?

Absolutely. It plays a part in everything I do actually! Mental health is JUST as important as physical health – the brain is connected to the body, after all – and to ignore it, or downgrade its importance, or even worse, stigmatize those who struggle with their mental health, hurts us all.

When I write, I’m constantly aware of the mental health of my characters – they’ve been through some traumatic things, and as a result, are dealing with some pretty hefty emotional consequences. Things that anyone might feel after experiencing what Chase and Ember have. But, like with anyone struggling with a hardship, there is hope, as long as they can learn to trust and support each other.

If you had to tweet a less than 140 character description of your main character, Ember, what would it say?

Wow. This is hard. Okay, here goes. (lol – I just wrote a 140 WORD description and then realized that wasn’t the point of the exercise. Twitter moron, right here.)

Ember had it all figured out: soup kitchens, inspections, the moral statutes. Now she’s on the run, and her survival depends on the one boy who broke her heart.

Do you ever struggle with ideas or creativity while writing? If so, what are some ways you have found to “jump start” your muse?

Oh yes. This definitely happens sometimes. Ok, there are a couple go-tos for when I smack face first into the brick wall. The first is exercise. I teach fitness classes and can always find some mental relief in shakin’ my groove thang. On the other side, I’m sort of a cookie addict. I LOVE baking cookies. So I’ll do that if I get stuck. (Sometimes we have a lot of cookies in our fridge.)

But one of the best things I’ll do is call an author friend of mine. She always knows what to say to get me through it – even if her advice is to turn off my laptop and do something else.

What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited?

The most beautiful….hmmm… I am really partial to the beaches in South Carolina at sunset. There’s something so romantic about that. In fact, I just wrote a scene for A5: Book 3 where Ember and Chase are on a beach at sunset…

Thanks for stopping by Kristen!

Thanks Christie! I’m so glad we got to chat – this was so fun! I hope you enjoy ARTICLE 5!

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Article 5 is available now and this is a book you don't want to miss. It is that good!

Add Article 5 on Goodreads

Kristen Simmons on the web:

Website | Blog | Facebook | 

Review & Giveaway: Forever's Paranormal Blog Tour

Title: Firelight

Series: Darkest London #1

Author: Kristen Callihan | Website

Available: Now

Genre: Paranormal/Historical/Romance

Reading Level: Adult

Synopsis via Goodreads:

London, 1881
Once the flames are ignited . . .
Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . . Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

Quotable Quotes:

“He took a quick breath, and his voice dropped. "You've no notion of the effect you have on me" 

The words gave a hard tug to her belly. She closed her eyes and swallowed. "If by effect, you mean finding yourself in unchartered waters, wondering whether you are coming or going...." She stared at his shirt, watching his breath hitch. "Then I fear you have the same effect on me, my lord.”

My thoughts:

Wow, wow, wow! What a stunning debut! Historical paired with paranormal is not something we see very often. I was utterly impressed with the tale Kristen Callihan wove. Reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, Callihan takes us on a fascinating adventure through London in the late 1800's. The mystery of what Lord Benjamin Archer keeps hidden behind his mask makes this book wholly unputdownable.

I was just as impressed with the characters as I was the premise of Firelight. Archer and Miranda are both well developed and easy to fall in love with. Archer is a man with so many secrets. I really thought I had it all figured out. Imagine my surprise when the conclusion was not at all what I had expected. I truly appreciated the unpredictable plot. 

Miranda is an amazing heroine. I admired her free spirited nature and inability to shy away from adventure. You'll be hard pressed to find a match quite as perfect as Archer and Miranda. I loved watching the development of their romance from start to finish. Callihan's ability to build sexual tension on paper is truly an art form. Just stunning!  

  

While I loved the premise and characters, I was most impressed with the writing. Callihan's writing creates such vivid pictures and summons so many emotions. I was sucked in from page one and almost didn't want to see this story end. Had it not been for my strong desire to find out Archer's secret and the identity of the villain, I would have been content to soak up the beautiful prose indefinitely. 

Firelight also offers several very interesting secondary characters. I'm eager to see how they factor into this fascinating world as the series continues. 

Firelight is an amazing debut novel packed with skilled writing, keep you guessing mystery, heartwarming romance, and charming characters. I'm looking forward to seeing where Callihan takes us next! 

Title: Midnight Reckoning

Series: Dark Dynasties #2

Author: Kendra Leigh Castle | Website

Available: Now

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Reading Level: Adult

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Two separate worlds ... One passion that binds them

Wild and passionate by nature, Lyra Black is not just any werewolf. She's the future leader of the powerful pack of the Thorn - if she can stay alive long enough to inherit the title.

One of the Cait Sith bloodline of vampire cat-shifters, Jaden Harrison has no interest in the wars plaguing the world of night. But when he rescues Lyra from a violent attack, they're both captured by an insatiable desire that threatens to overwhelm them and bind them together for eternity... just as ancient enemies prepare to strike. And when they do, the Thorn and the Cait Sith - and Lyra and Jaden's love - may never recover from the deadly blow...

Quotable Quotes:

"Don't eat the cat. Be back soon.

                                                           --Dad"

My thoughts:

If you asked me when I first started blogging what my favorite genre was, I would have immediately replied paranormal romance. If you had asked me the same question a year into blogging, my answer would not have been the same. The similarities of characters and plots in this genre had caused me to stop reading it. Kendra Leigh Castle's, Midnight Reckoning, summoned a sweet sense of nostalgia and reminded me why I fell madly in love with Paranormal Romance a few years ago. She has paired multi-layered characters with a complex and beautifully built world. Midnight Reckoning is PNR done right. I'm so glad I gave this book a try.

The characters in Midnight Reckoning break from the cliches I've come to expect from PNR. Lyra is a female werewolf longing to become Alpha of her pack in a society that doesn't view females as their equal. She manages to maintain her strong-willed nature without carrying a chip on her shoulder. I'm so over angry characters and admired Lyra's desire for change and understanding of how much work it would be. She was opinionated without being argumentative. She wasn't afraid to accept the help of others. She was absolutely refreshing! 

Jaden is another wonderful character. He is a man with so many layers. I felt like I learned a little more about Jaden with each page I turned. It was like Christmas! I was completely in love by the time I reached the final page and had unwrapped each of his complex layers. I was impressed with his ability to feel possessiveness towards Lyra without acting like a caveman. He respected her desire to be viewed as an equal and gave her room to make her own choices. Their romance was so sweet, and I adored watching it develop over the course of the novel.

Midnight Reckoning is the second book in the Dark Dynasties series. I feel this is a series that would benefit from being read in order. I haven't read the first and felt like it may have offered needed insight into the world where the characters live. It is very complex, but in a good way :) I definitely recommend this talented author to all fans of paranormal romance!

Giveaway Details:


3 sets of both Firelight & Midnight Reckoning are up for grabs
U.S & Canada Only
No P.O Boxes
Books will ship directly from publisher
Winners are subject to Hachette's 1 copy per household rule
Fill out the Rafflecopter from to enter