TWO YEAR Blogiversary! (INT Giveaway)

It's been two years since I have this book blog. I'm kind of surprise to see that I manage to go this far. I know I didn't post regularly. I mean, I only got 20 posts on 2014. I had no excuse except being lazy and demotivated because it's almost like one of the lowest year of my life. I guess I'm not a good book blogger since I was not that committed. 

Somehow I can't express how much I thank you to all those who remain following this blog. Through this blog, I got the chance to jump from one book blog to another, from one book lover to another, from one book to another, from one author to another, and many more... It's a never ending wonderful journey and I'm grateful for that! It’s been a great two years and I really hope there will be many more years to come.

And since today (January 30th) is my birthday, why not giving something away for these two special events. So as a way of saying thanks to this blog loyal followers, we (me, along with some wonderful book-lover friends of mine, one of them is having her birthday in early February ^^), are giving away:

My Crochet Doll by Isabelle Kessedjian

(will be sent from Book Depository or Amazon for US/Canada residents)

and

$15 Amazon Gift Card

There will be 2 winners: 1 winner will get the book, the other will get the $15 Amazon GC.  I will contact the winner via twitter or email. If I don't get a reply within 72 hours the prize will go to someone else.
It's an international giveaway as longs as Book Depository ships to your country (Check it HERE) or as long as you're able to receive the Gift Card.
Ends in February 15th.

Enter the Rafflecopter below (if you didn't see it, please wait while it's loading)

Good luck!

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A LEAGUE OF HER OWN by Karen Rock: Book Tour – Review, Excerpt plus GIVEAWAY

This is my stop during the blog tour for A League of Her Own by Karen Rock. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 1 till 14 December, you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.

A League of Her Own

By Karen Rock

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age category: Adult

Release Date: 1 December, 2014

Blurb:

He was attractive, talented…and way off limits.

Heather Gadway may have been a world-class college pitcher and a top university coach, but she's a rank amateur when it comes to managing the Falcons, her father's struggling minor league team. And when it comes to managing her aggravating attraction to Garrett Wolf, their talented new pitcher. It's going to be difficult enough to make it as the first female manager in the league and prove to her overly critical father she's worthy. No distractions. No missteps. And certainly no romances with players. Everything stands between them—including their troubled pasts—even as Heather's world falls apart and Garrett's the one who's there to catch her…

Excerpt

“Are you ready?” She dropped a bag by the backstop, pulled out a blue visor and adjusted it over her head. When she swept off her glasses and peered up at him, his stomach jittered and his breath hitched. He reined in his slipping control and forced an easy smile.

“Sure. Would you like to pitch first?” He wanted her to say yes. Going last meant he could guarantee his score only topped hers slightly, just enough to make Holly Springs dust in his tire treads and Heather a dream that’d never materialize.

She angled her head so that her long ponytail slid over her tanned shoulders. The smile she gave him was as sweet as freshly squeezed lemonade, minus the sugar. “I’d like to observe you first, if you’d don’t mind.”

“Observe me?” The question leaped out of him in surprise.

She finished a gulp of her sports drink and lowered it, looking him dead in the eye. “So I can finish taking notes on you.”

He nearly swallowed the sunflower shell he’d just popped in his mouth. Her ego must be out of control if she thought he’d lose. He flexed his fingers and nodded curtly. “It’s your prerogative.”

Dean’s red hair appeared in the dugout, and he jogged around the fence, pulling on his catcher’s mask. “Sorry I’m late!” He dropped two bags of balls beside home plate and squatted behind it. “Who’s pitching first?”

“Looks like me.” Garrett sauntered toward the red clay mound, ignoring his jeering teammates.

“Whatever you do, don’t pretend you’re in a game or you’ll definitely lose,” heckled Hopson, whose comment earned a round of chuckles from the team.

“Go get ’em, wild thing,” put in Waitman, who did an impromptu dance Garrett caught out of the corner of his eye. The rest of the crowd joined in, laughing.

“Ignore them, Wolf.” Dean punched his mitt, his nearly colorless eyes squinting against the sun.

Garrett shrugged. “Who? I don’t hear anything but some whining gnats.” This was actually going to be fun. Pitching contests meant no batters. Nothing but mitt. And his throws would strike it every single time.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhh! That hurt,” guffawed another player, and some made boo-hoo sounds.

“Knock it off, Falcons,” snapped Heather, and the rowdy bunch subsided. Even Garrett gaped at her, surprised. Her voice might be low, but it demanded attention.

“Sorry, Skipper,” murmured the new shortstop. A few kissy noises erupted, then stopped when she turned her head and stared hard into the dugout.

“Thank you, Valdez. As for the rest of you, stay and act like the professionals you are, or leave before I ask you to. All right?” She leaned her defined arms on the padded top of the dugout fence, her shapely ankles crossed. But her casual pose didn’t fool him. She was deliberately acting like this to make him believe her victory was a foregone conclusion. It was the oldest trick in the book. She’d need to do a lot better than that if she hoped to best him.

“Ready whenever you are,” she said, her voice flippant, her lips turned up in a ready-for-anything smile.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

My Review

My very first of Karen Rock and I enjoyed reading it. Always love reading about sport romance though I'm not a big fan of sports. For some people, maybe the details about baseball was a bit too much. Since I knew nothing about baseball, I learned a bit about one thing or two and I liked it.

And what I loved even more was Heather, the female character who bravely taking the chance and managed to show to those all those male in the baseball team that she has something, that she's worth it. Though there were parts when I thought she should be this and that towards her father and Garrett, parts where I want to shake her hard, it was pretty understandable. I could imagine that I might be doing the same thing if I were in her shoes. Nevertheless, I really think that she's tough, smart and cool.

Garrett was pretty okay. I liked the way he interacted with kids in the foster care program, and the way he determined to win Heather's trust. Somehow he made me want to hug him for all the tough times he had all those years.

I loved the way Karen Rock wrote the story and the characters. The romance was sweet, well built with all the ups and downs. I learned about forgiveness (something that was easier said than done), about dealing with your and others' past, about fighting for your dreams and to prove others that you can do it. Definitely a sweet, light and heartwarming story because I felt that way by the time I finished reading it. 

Anyway, I wonder if there would be a story about Dean, Garrett's friend. :D

You can find A League of Her Own on

Goodreads.

You can buy A League of Her Own here:

Amazon (Kindle) * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * eHarlequin

About the Author:

Karen Rock is an award-winning YA and adult contemporary romance author. She holds a master’s degree in English and worked as an ELA instructor before becoming a full-time writer. Currently she writes for Harlequin Heartwarming and her first novel for the line, WISH ME TOMORROW, has won the 2014 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, the 2014 Golden Quill Contest and a finalist in the Published Maggie Awards. The first novel in her co-authored YA series, CAMP BOYFRIEND, has been a finalist in the Booksellers Best and Golden Leaf awards.

You can find and connect with Karen here:

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads * Tumblr * Quarterly Newsletter

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of A League of Her Own. These are the prizes you can win:

- a 100$ Amazon gift card (INT)

- a set of signed paperback of Wish Me Tomorrow, His Hometown Girl, Someone Like You and A League of Her Own (US only)

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
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Book Blast: Martian Goods & Other Stories + Giveaway

Martian Goods and Other Stories by Noelle Campbell 

On a barren world where air is priceless andsa women are bought and sold, one man longs for love, but is she worth the price? In this collection of short stories by science fiction author Noelle Campbell, Mars is the new frontier where men stake their claims for a new life. But some commodities are harder to come by than others--including women, who are often willing to sacrifice everything to escape an Earth that is no longer free."

Purchase your copy on

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Excerpt

Richard “Rock” Klein Captains Log 14.10.2665 Patraeus Station, Outside Luna Docking Bay 24 

They say space is cold. But it’s not *just* cold. No one has ever really felt how cold it is and lived to tell about it. We know instinctively that anything so vast and so empty must be cold. The irony is that all the things we spend time with while in space also make us feel cold and empty. We travel in cold metallic ships from cold empty space to cold empty space. 

Machines have no disability like perception. Filled with Artificial Intelligence and hundreds of processors heating up their hard drives, they are still only metal and plastic. They don’t care if they sit in space or in a shipyard for twenty years. They do not desire warmth and companionship. They just exist. If you have one of those new bioships it might feel a little more like a horse than a cold lifeless THING, but in the end, it’s still a machine. It gives out as much personality and intelligence as an animal and it only lives to fill its purpose. It knows exactly what it should be and do. 

There is no goal for a spaceship to one day become a station. It is what it is and will never be more. We try to fill the spaces with ego or warm it with personality. Those of us who spend so much time in space hardly know what exaggerated bravado is. We believe the lies we tell ourselves. We believe all the fantasies we create about ourselves and the things… and people, we love – or maybe it’s just ‘want.’ 

I’ve given up trying to tell the difference between love and desire. I just want warmth. We leave a planet’s atmosphere to be greeted by a sheet of black with pinpricks of light. There is so much empty blackness between each point of light, that space seems cold even without feeling the temperature drop. We spend much of our time trying to make it feel warm and filled. The ship is cold and empty this morning and I think of her. Samaya. 

Six months ago she warmed these halls. Maybe it was longer, but I remember it like it was yesterday. No one has ever turned me on, out and completely neutroned me like Sam did. We were good. No. That’s a lie. We were slammin’ fantastic. I know how good it can be between a man and a woman. That’s why I hate her and why I can’t get her out of my mind at the same time. I sit at these docs and the ship is so quiet, all I can think of is the noise that Sam used to make, the scents she used to leave, the warmth, the humanity, as flawed as it was. Every time I have to sit and wait for maintenance, I think of her. You might look at the logs from a year ago and come to the same conclusion I did then: She could be a cold-hearted bitch. Still. . .a cold hearted bitch is better company than an empty starship.

        

Author Noelle Campbell

Noelle Campbell has been involved in science media for more than a decade, covering stories for the entertainment sections of syfy (when it was still scifichannel), space.com, and local media in Houston, Texas—the home of the Space Center. As an advocate for the disabled, Noelle thinks the best way to prepare for the future is to imagine what it will be like and loves to imagine a life on Mars, which she does in her first published collection of short stories, Martian Goods & Other Stories.  

Website * Twitter * Facebook

Book Blast Giveaway

$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 11/27/14 

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.   

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Review: Chained by Night by Larissa Ione

Title: Chained by Night 

Series: MoonBound Clan Vampire #2

Author: Larissa Ione

Edition: Paperback, 416 pages

ISBN: 1476700184 (ISBN13: 9781476700182)

(Expected) Publication: September 30th 2014 

Publisher: Pocket Books

(GOODREADS):

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Larissa Ione sets the night on fire with a thrilling new novel of irresistible hungers and immortal enemies in a world as sensual and dark as her Demonica series.

THE FUTURE OF HIS TRIBE

Leader of the vampire clan MoonBound, Hunter will do what he must to save his people from extinction; or worse, a torturous eternity as vampire slaves and subjects of human experimentation. To keep his enemies at bay, he has agreed to mate a rival clan leader's daughter in return for peace between the clans and an ally in the looming war with the humans.

THE LOVER OF HIS SOUL

But survival comes at a price. First, Hunter must break an ancient curse by successfully negotiating three deadly tests. Then he must resist the searing passions of the gorgeous vampire warrior he despises but is bound to mate. Will Hunter stay true to his word? Or will he risk everything for the woman he really loves: the vampire seductress's identical twin sister?

MY OPINION:

Let's see... where do I start? I only know that for all I could remember, this could be the only book, that gave me goosebumps when I received it, ever. I was soooo thrilled.

HUNTER:

As you can read from the synopsis, Hunter is a leader vampire clan who has to mate to his rival clan leader's daughter as part of the deal to save his clans member (read book 1, Bound by Night). It's also part of a plan for vampires to join forces against humans. Hunter despises his rival, and the daughter, Rasha, as well, but the clan safety comes first.

On the day of his mate arrival, vampire-hunter humans strikes and captures Aylin, Rasha's identical twin, who comes along with Rasha as a company. First, Hunter mistakenly her as Rasha, but soon finds out about the truth, and it only makes him longing her for more.

AYLIN (and Rasha)

Rasha and Aylin are total opposite. A bit cliche I guess because you can easily hate the other and feel sympathy to another. While Rasha is tough, hard and seductive (and selfish in my opinion), Aylin is a caring and loving second-born daughter with deformed leg who's being treated badly as if she was the lowest creature and held no meaning in her clan. As a vampire, she has to drink from a male and feed a male also. But there are only unwilling male to give her blood and she never feeds any male in her life because people in her clan believe that she's cursed. While Rasha is bound to mate with Hunter, Aylin is going to be mated with another clan leader, only the worse, maybe the worst. But first, she must accompanies her sister and act as a decoy, just in case if something went wrong.

I loved Hunter, I mean, really, who can resist a tall, dark, tough, caring alpha male lore? But as much as I loved Hunter--I really thought I would fall head over heels on him when I finished reading book one, I loved Aylin even more! I really think she shun over him. She's not perfect, but that made her so perfect. She's tough, caring, with an ability which I thought much better and superior to Hunter's. :D There were many parts of her life, including when it came to telling about the clan leader she's planned to mate to, that made me cringed! No wonder she would rather be dead. There were also parts which involving Hunter, the chemistry between them, and the feeling (and the lust) she had for Hunter, that made me feel like shouting to her, "You go, girl!" or "Come one, you obviously CAN live without him!". Hahahaha... 

Reading this book, I was hooked, sucked, and fell deeper. I felt like riding a roller coaster for there were up and down moments. Yes, of course, there were moments that got me a bit disappointed, despising, and eew-ing, parts when  I thought it's not like I expect. Like I wonder why the author chose that way as a mean for Hunter and Aylin to pass the portal. It felt... weird and... cheap. But only for the first time when they had to enter the other world. I didn't feel that way on the second time when they had to go back to their real world, because it's more...accepted, understandable, considering that Hunter's feeling for Aylin grew more and more. But then I realize I really didn't know what I expect. I only knew I just can't put down the book. After going through half book, things were getting more interesting. The pace, the action, the conflict, the adventure, the chemistry, made me feel like I was watching those Hollywood adventure, colossal, action, fairy tale, paranormal, with romance and erotic sparks, all in one. 

I saw more and more stories behind the story. Another conflicts, problems, relationships were about to reveal, and this is why I couldn't wait to read more about the series. More about Myne, more about Rasha, more about the clan (and other clans as well).  I loved that Riker and Nicole showed up quite often in this book. I loved how that Braddon didn't really scare to Hunter though he's a clan leader. Because this way, I can see how the members of the clan see each other to be equal with respect, something that didn't available inside Aylin's clan.

I still think that I don't give the book enough justice for I'm not sure I can express how I feel about this book. This is one of the moment when I dread my ability in written English. -_-

In a very short, I found it to be adventurous, with lots of actions, steamy, and addictive! I really can't wait to read the next book(s)! And I'm not even a paranormal romance fan! XD

This book is part of a must have series. It's a standalone read, but I really suggest you read the first book, Bound by Night, so that you can get a better picture about what was actually going on in that world, especially conflict between humans and vampires, and between clans. When I read this book, I had to check few things from the first book to freshen up my memory a get a better grasp since there's a year time gap between book 1 and book 2. 

BUY IT FROM:

BOOK DEPOSITORY or AMAZON

Rewind To You - Book Blast + Giveaway

Rewind to You 

One last summer before college on beautiful Tybee Island is supposed to help Sienna forget. But how can she? This is where her family spent every summer before everything changed, before the world as she knew it was ripped away. But the past isn’t easily left behind. Especially when Sienna keeps having episodes that take her back to the night she wants to forget. Even when she meets the mysterious Austin Dobbs, the guy with the intense blue eyes, athlete’s body, and weakness for pralines who scooped her out of trouble when she blacked out on River Street. When she’s with Austin, Sienna feels a whole new world opening up to her. Austin has secrets, and she has history. But caught between the past and the future, Sienna can still choose what happens now…

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo

Author Laura Johnston 

Laura Johnston lives in Utah with her husband and two children. Growing up with five siblings, a few horses, peach trees, beehives and gardens, she developed an active imagination and always loved a good story. She fell in love with the young adult genre both through her experience in high school as well as her job later as a high school teacher. Laura enjoys running, playing tennis, sewing, traveling, writing, and above all, spending time with her husband and kids. REWIND TO YOU is her debut novel.

Website * Twitter * Facebook

Excerpt 

I’m increasingly aware of Austin—his shower-fresh scent, every curve of muscle and the rise and fall of his chest with every breath—as he stands behind me and wraps his arms around mine. “I’ll teach you,” he says, his hot breath against my ear seeping in. Whispering a thrill. His hand cups the back of mine. I watch as he positions my pinkie and ring fingers over the threads and slides my thumb down. “Hold the football with your fingertips.” I glance at his face above my shoulder, his blue eyes, strong jaw and his lips. And suddenly, football is the last thing on my mind.

Blog Tour Schedule

Praise for the Book 

“Johnston’s debut spotlights romance and familial relationships, including themes like grief and self-sacrifice. It’s an ideal story for readers looking for a deep-rooted YA love story with the emotional ups and downs and poignancy of a Nicholas Sparks contemporary. There’s also a touch of wit and a sigh-worthy hero – a definite on your TBR list.” – RT Book Reviews   

“This is contemporary YA fiction at its best! –Kay Lynn Mangum, author of The Secret Journal of Brett Colton   

“Rewind to You will steal your hear away.” –Kelly Nelson, author of The Keeper’s Saga

BookBlast Giveaway 

$75 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 10/5/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an iTunes Gift Code or River Street Sweets Gift Card. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. 

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