Colleen Houck's Blog, page 19
March 3, 2016
March Contest of the Month!
To celebrate the up and coming release of RECREATED on August 2nd, we would like to theme the contest with this new book cover in mind.
Introducing March’s Contest of the Month. . .
“RECREATED Book Look” Pinterest Board Contest
Here’s how the contest will work.
Simply go to Pinterest (or any place with pictures that inspire you) and design your own book collage on Picmonkey.
The collage needs to have the book cover included and the contest will run for the month of March.
When you’ve finished it, leave a comment below including a link to your jpeg picture.
You may design two (or more if you want) “book looks” and can be entered for a chance to win up to two times. (You can design one for any of Houck’s books)
What will you win you ask? A FREE BOOK and a Reawakened theme prize pack!
Here are a couple examples,
I had fun making one and I’m sure you will too! Ready to get creative and enter for a chance to win?
Set. . .
Go!
Have fun!
March 1, 2016
Colleen Houck Book Club- March 2016
Our last book we featured for book club was Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke. If you’re just tuning in, or are new to this online book club, it’s super easy to join. I host the club on Goodreads and each month you get the chance to ask authors questions. You can ask anything from what they like to eat to what they’re writing right now. You don’t have to read the book to participate and every month I choose one lucky person from the chat to win a prize! The prize includes the book or books I’ve read from that author that month as well as your pick of any of my books as well and some extra fun stuff I throw in! What’s the catch? There is none, this is just a great way for us authors to network and for you, the readers, to branch out and have fun! So, for our next book club pick, I’m excited to feature . . .
Time’s Divide (The CHRONOS Files, #3)
by Rysa Walker
Here’s a little teaser
CHRONOS historians travel to the past to observe history as it happens.
But Saul Rand isn’t content with simply observing. His plan: reshape history by creating a new religion and then stop anyone—by any means necessary—who doesn’t fall into line. In The CHRONOS Files, seventeen-year-old Kate travels through time to retrieve CHRONOS keys before they fall into the hands of Saul and his Cyrists, all while trying to tread through the past without erasing the memories of those she loves or her entire existence.
The Cyrists are swiftly moving into position to begin the Culling, and Kate’s options are dwindling. With each jump to the past or the future, Kate may trigger a new timeline shift. Worse, the loyalties of those around her—including the allegiances of Kiernan and the Fifth Column, the shadowy group working with Kate—are increasingly unclear.
Kate will risk everything, including her life, to prevent the future her grandfather and the Cyrists have planned. But, when time runs out, it may take an even bigger sacrifice to protect the people she loves.
Learn more about this author and her books at rysa.com.
I’m very excited to check out this author and her novel! This is the third book in the series so you can also start at the beginning. Also, you can participate in an ongoing chat with Colleen and Rysa asking just about anything you’d like on Goodreads throughout March!
Also, remember that you don’t need to read the book to participate. It’s a GREAT opportunity to get to know the authors and ask any questions you’d like!
For fun there will be a GIVEAWAY for one lucky participant!
Happy reading everyone!
~Till next time,
Linda Louise Lotti
February 20, 2016
*Contest of the Month* Yesubai: The girl with the Lavender Eyes-Winner Announced
The Winner is Ana Barrios
She got every question correct!
Yesubai is a pivotal character in the 300 year old story, one that shaped the lives of Prince Ren and Prince Kishan of the Mujulaain Empire forever. The Rajaram family sought to protect young Yesubai, a rare gem, from her evil father Lokesh. Obsessively, Lokesh planned the destruction of the royal family by using his only daughter Yesubai as bait. She was betrothed to Ren the future King, and with Ren away at war, Kishan fell in love with the lovely Yesubai.
Yesubai grew up in a household of fear. She became independent in her lonely childhood. She was wise beyond her years and sought to protect others from her father’s wrath. Her only friend was her nursemaid Isha. She lived a life of solitude and had a quiet strength.
Lokesh slowly gained power by betrayal and murder. Eventually he became the military leader and 2nd in command of the Bhreenam kingdom. The naïve king of Bhreenam sought to extend his reach by finding a agreeable match and suitable marriage for Yesubai. He invited many powerful and rich men to gaze upon the beautiful young girl. All while her father, Lokesh, seethed at the kings presumption.
Eventually a deal was struck and Lokesh approved of a match between Prince Ren and Yesubai. As Yesubai visited the Rajaram family she fell in love with Kishan. The twist in Lokesh’s plans gave birth to even more sinister plans for the Rajaram family and their future.
Tiger’s Promise is some of Colleen’s most compelling story telling as young love tries to find a safe harbor and as a broken girl discovers what a real family should be. It’s hard to take this journey with Yesubai knowing what the end will be, but you have to ask yourself if love and doing what’s right are worth giving all you have.
Last year I found a doll that looked like Yesubai, and knowing how Colleen loves to gather collectibles from her books I knew she would love her. Unfortunately, the doll didn’t have lavender eyes. However my mother in law makes dolls for a living and I asked for her professional help. Soon the dolls eyes matched those of beautiful Yesubai. Isn’t she lovely?
February 18, 2016
Discover Your Egyptian Pharaoh Name
Houck’s new Egyptian series is not only rich with ancient myth and riddled with tombs and traps, but has ravishing heroes that steal your girly girl hearts and takes your breath away!
As is Colleen’s way, her story is jam packed with adventure and the male characters are just sooooo sooooo swoon worthy, hunkalicious, melt in your mouth kind of perfection with a capital OMGoodness!
I don’t know if your heart belongs to Ren, Kishan, Amon, Asten, or Ahmose (or heck… each and every one of them!), or whether you typically fall for the good guy or the bad boy, Colleen doesn’t hold back!
For fun, I thought we could have some fun Egyptian trivia and give you a chance to see what YOUR EGYPTIAN PHARAOH NAME is, check it out below:
Anubis- One of the most iconic gods of ancient Egypt. Anubis is the Greek version of his name, the ancient Egyptians knew him as Anpu (or Inpu). In the Pyramid Texts of Unas, Anubis is associated with the Eye of Horus who acted as a guide to the dead and helped them find Osiris. In other myths Anubis and Wepwawet (Upuaut) led the deceased to the halls of Ma´at where they would be judged. Anubis watched over the whole process and ensured that the weighing of the heart was conducted correctly. He then led the innocent on to a heavenly existence and abandoned the guilty to Ammit.
Bastet- one of the most popular goddesses of ancient Egypt. She is generally thought of as a cat goddess. However, she originally had the head of a lion or a desert sand-cat and it was not until the New Kingdom that she became exclusively associated with the domesticated cat. However, even then she remained true to her origins and retained her war-like aspect. She personified the playfulness, grace, affection, and cunning of a cat as well as the fierce power of a lioness. Her name could be translated as “Devouring Lady”.
Cleopatra-Immortalized in books, movies and a Shakespearian play, Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator became Egypt’s most popular ancient Egyptian ruler. Known simply as Cleopatra, she would lead her country despite its declining power. Her name means “glory of the father”. At only 18 years old, Cleopatra became Queen of Egypt.
Darius– He was later referred to as Darius the Great, and was considered the last great “law-giver” of Egypt. He was a fair and even-handed king and supported many social and political reforms. Unlike his predecessor he respected the traditional Egyptian religions and was reasonably well accepted by the people. During his reign he undertook the completion of the canal that extended from the Nile to the Red Sea.
Echnaton– Translated, Echnaton means “benevolent one”. As a religious reformer he made the Aten, the sun disc, the center of Egypt’s religious life.
Florianus– A Roman Emporer. His full name as Emperor was Imperator Caesar Marcus Annius Florianus Pius Felix Invictus Augustus.
Geb– Ancient Egyptian God of the Earth. Geb was the third divine pharaoh, reigning after his father, Shu, and before Osiris. He also supported Horus’ right to the throne following the death of Osiris. As the Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was the living image of Horus, the pharaoh was sometimes known as the “Heir of Geb”. In the book of the dead, the Pharaoh says “I am decreed to be the Heir, the Lord of the Earth of Geb. I have union with women. Geb hath refreshed me, and he hath caused me to ascend his throne.” One ceremony to mark the accession of a new pharaoh involved the release of four wild geese, to the four corners of the sky, to bring luck to the new king. During the Ptolemaic period, Geb became identified with the Greek god Kronos (time).
Hapy– The Egyptian Nile God. was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egyptian religion. The flood deposited rich silt (fertile soil) on the river’s banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops.[1] Hapi was greatly celebrated among the Egyptians. Some of the titles of Hapi were, Lord of the Fish and Birds of the Marshes and Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation.
Inyotef– was an Egyptian king of the Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt at Thebes during the Second Intermediate Period.
Jacab-Baal-16th king of the 16th Egyptian Dynasty. Because of the name Jacob, being Hebrew in origin, tells us that Jacob is an Israelite.
Khufu– also known as Cheops, ruled during the Old Kingdom and built the Great Pyramid.
Licinius– a Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan that granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire.
Mentuhotep– is an ancient Egyptian name meaning “Montu is satisfied“. Mentuhotep was the name of several Pharaohs and nobles of Egypt.
Nun– In ancient Egyptian thought, there is something before creation. This state-of-no-state is approached using two fundamental concepts: the limitless waters (Nun) and the autogenous potential of procreation (Atum). Both form a dual-union and express opposite ideas: Nun is lifeless, inert, dark and everlasting, Atum is life, differentiation, light and eternal recurrence (eternity-in-everlastingness). These notions are as old as the Pyramid Texts and probably older.
Osiris-was an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead, but more appropriately as the god of transition, resurrection, and regeneration. He was classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh’s beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and holding a symbolic crook and flail. Osiris was considered not only a merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River.
Pami– an Egyptian Pharaoh who ruled Egypt for 7 years. Pami’s name, in Egyptian, means the Cat or “He who belongs to the Cat [Bastet].”
Qar– Qareh’s name is West Semitic and means “The bald one“. His existence is only attested by thirty royal seals inscribed with his name, only one of which has a known provenance: Jericho in Canaan. Qareh’s name was earlier misread as Qar, Qur, and Qal.
Ramses I– Ramses was not of royal blood, yet he became the founding pharaoh of the 19th dynasty. Although the world would come to know him as Ramses, his birth name was Paramessu. He excelled as a military commander, exceeding his father’s military rank. He found favor with Pharaoh Horemheb and soon became the second most powerful person in Egypt.The name Ramses means “Ra has fashioned him.”
Shu– (Egyptian for “emptiness” and “he who rises up”) was one of the primordial Egyptian gods, a personification of air, one of the Ennead of Heliopolis. As the air, Shu was considered to be cooling, and thus calming, influence, and pacifier. Due to the association with air, calm, and thus Ma’at (truth, justice and order), Shu was portrayed in art as wearing an ostrich feather. Shu was seen with between one and four feathers. The ostrich feather was symbolic of light and emptiness. Fog and clouds were also Shu’s elements and they were often called his bones. Because of his position between the sky and earth, he was also known as the wind.
Tao-called “The Brave”, ruled over the last of the local kingdoms of the Theban region of Egypt in the Seventeenth Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.
Unas– the last king of the Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, was the first pharaoh to incorporate the Pyramid Texts in his pyramid. These texts include the famous “Cannibal Hymn” in which he is described as “the Slayer and Eater of Gods” but in reality he was not a particularly powerful king who perhaps felt the need to assert his greatness in part because he was aware of his lack of power in comparison to his illustrious predecessors.
Valerianus-also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260 AD. He was taken captive by Sassanian Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the first Roman Emperor who was captured as a prisoner of war, causing instability in the Empire.
Wasa– Unknown
Xerxes– Modern and ancient scholars often portray Xerxes I as a tyrant. His rule over ancient Egypt was harsh, disregarding local customs and beliefs left and right.
Yakbam– a ruler during the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt. On his seals he is usually called “the good god, Sekhaenre” (or simply “Sekhaenre”) and “, Yakbim”.
Zoser-The painted limestone statue of Djoser (aka Zoser), now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, is the oldest known life-sized Egyptian statue. Today at the site in Saqqara where it was found, a plaster copy of the statue stands in place of the original. The statue was found during the Antiquities Service Excavations of 1924–1925. In contemporary inscriptions, he is called Netjerikhet, meaning “divine of body.” Later sources, which include a New Kingdom reference to his construction, help confirm that Netjerikhet and Djoser are the same person.
Now that you know a little about these Egyptian Pharaohs, put your name together to see who you are the God or Goddess of!
For example if my name is Linda Louise Lotti, then my Egyptian Pharaoh name would be:
Licinius, Goddess of the Moon
For fun, respond with your name!
February 15, 2016
Modern Ink Society-February
FEATURING GUEST
April Genevieve Tucholke
A Peek Behind the Book Cover
Welcome to the twenty-fifth session of
THE MODERN INK SOCIETY!
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
Introducing April
Her Featured Book is
A Peek Behind the Book Cover
I’m April Genevieve Tucholke and my third Young Adult novel Wink Poppy Midnight comes out March 22, 2016. Here’s a sneak preview of the plot, gif-style.
My characters spend a lot of time in a hayloft, reading books and sharing secrets.
The story is set in a small town in the Colorado Rockies, craggy mountains looming in the background.
There is an abandoned house in the woods where a wild séance takes place.
One of the main characters is a girl named Poppy, who may or may not be a liar.
Once again, I have redheads in my book. Wink has red hair, as do her two twin brothers, Hops and Moon.
Midnight is the quiet, reader-boy at the heart of this story.
Mmm, I think I’m intrigued and if Midnight’s character looks like that, I could handle that :-). Thanks April! If you’d like to learn more about her and her books you can check her out at apriltucholke.com.
Also, don’t forget to participate in the ongoing chat right here on this blog with April and Colleen through the end of this month! Don’t forget, there will be a GIVEAWAY!
~Till next time,
Linda Louise Lotti
February 12, 2016
Book Review for Kids by Kids-Fairest
For those of you who are looking for new books appropriate for middle grade that both boys and girls might enjoy, this is the place to look!
Every month, at least one new book will be added for review right here and they will be reviewed by the best critics, KIDS! That’s right, the one’s who read them will be the judge!
This blog is written by my quirky and adorable niece, Madelyn. She’s super sweet and quite ambitious in everything she sets her mind to. She’s quick to help and give hugs, two of my favoritist things!
Introducing the lovely Madelyn,
“Hi, I was a seventh grader, but now I’m an eighth grader. I have a passion for dancing, singing, and acting. I’ve always loved to write silly stories and change lyrics to songs. I love to read. I’ve probably read about a gazillion books and I have rarely found a book I don’t like. Right now I’m reading The Kingdom Keepers.”
And now, introducing our next middle grade book review for kids, by kids!
Book review on Fairest
by Gail Carson Levine
Book Commercial
This book takes place in a magical kingdom of Ayortha. It takes place in the large castle and in a small inn. The main character is a girl named Aza who was adopted into the family who owns the inn. Aza can sing beautifully and can make her voice sing anywhere in the room.
The plot of this wonderful story is about Aza who gets a job as the new Queen’s Lady in Waiting. She helps the Queen with everything, including singing. Aza is challeneged by the Queen’s Authority when she is questioned about her past.
This is a wonderful book and is definitely a must read. If you love adventure and are a fan of Gail Carson Levine, this book is for you!!!!!
Here’s a list and link to the other books we’ve reviewed:
The Tale of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler
Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah and James Howe
A to Z Mysteries: White House White Out by Ron Roy
The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child by Michael Buckley
Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (In full color) by Dav Pilkey
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Invasion of the Overworld by Mark Cheverton
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony Di’Terlizzi and Holly Black
Artemis Fowl, book 1 by Eoin Colfer
The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) by Roald Dahl
How to Train Your Dragon: How to Break a Dragon’s Heart, Book # 8 by Cressida Cowell
~ Till next time,
Linda Louise Lotti
February 11, 2016
YA Scavenger Hunt Spring 2016!
Hello! I am Colleen Houck,
your hostess for this leg of the hunt.
About Me
My favorite holiday is Halloween.
I have eleven Koi fish.
My food therapy is a cheeseburger
I love the store Charming Charlie’s to accessorize
Gardenias are one of my favorite things to smell
And I may or may not have an obsession with holiday decorations
You are currently hunting on TEAM GOLD.
Looking for my exclusive bonus content? You’ll have to keep searching.
Somewhere on this blog hop, I’ve hidden three things; the title for book three in the REAWAKENED series, a steamy sneak peak from RECREATED and a screen shot from the upcoming RECREATED book trailer! Before you go looking for it, check out the amazing author I’m hosting.
But, first, a few rules.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE RULES
DIRECTIONS: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on TEAM GOLD, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!)
HINT: THE SECRET NUMBER IS HIGHLIGHTED IN GOLD !
ENTRY FORM: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
RULES: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by SUNDAY, APRIL 3rd, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
On this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each participating YA author, you also get a secret number. Add up the numbers, and enter it for a chance to win a major prize–one lucky winner will receive at least one book from each author on my team in the hunt! But play fast. This contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online until noon PST on Sunday, April 3rd!
There are NINE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM but there is also a RED TEAM, BLUE TEAM, ORANGE TEAM, PINK TEAM, PURPLE TEAM, TEAL TEAM, SILVER TEAM & GREEN TEAM! Check out each team for a chance to win nine different sets of signed books!
If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.
Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, I’ll introduce the author I am hosting on this hunt.
I am super excited to be hosting…
Pintip Dunn!
About Pintip: “When my first-grade teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I replied, “An author.” Although I have pursued other interests over the years, this dream has never wavered.
I graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. I received my J.D. at Yale Law School, where I was an editor of the YALE LAW JOURNAL. I published an article in the YALE LAW JOURNAL, entitled, “How Judges Overrule: Speech Act Theory and the Doctrine of Stare Decisis,” and received the Barry S. Kaplan Prize for best paper in Law and Literature.”
Colleen here-True, and much less impressive, school story, I once was forced to eat a huge pile of fish sticks before being dismissed from the elementary school cafeteria, I swear it was like 46 fish sticks! As you’d expect, I felt sick to my stomach and threw up everywhere!”
The book Pintip is showcasing is book one in the FORGET TOMORROW series,
In case you’re as curious about the story as I am, you’re in luck!
ABOUT THE BOOK
“Imagine a world where your destiny has already been decided…
by your future self.
It’s Callie’s seventeenth birthday and, like everyone else, she’s eagerly awaiting her vision―a memory sent back in time to sculpt each citizen into the person they’re meant to be. A world-class swimmer. A renowned scientist.
Or in Callie’s case, a criminal.
In her vision, she sees herself murdering her gifted younger sister. Before she can process what it means, Callie is arrested and placed in Limbo―a hellish prison for those destined to break the law. With the help of her childhood crush, Logan, a boy she hasn’t spoken to in five years, she escapes.
But on the run from her future, as well as the government, Callie sets in motion a chain of events that she hopes will change her fate. If not, she must figure out how to protect her sister from the biggest threat of all—Callie, herself.”
TOP SECRET BONUS MATERIAL STRAIGHT AHEAD!
Exclusive content! The scene below is from the POV of Logan, who is Callie’s love interest in FORGET TOMORROW. It takes place one day before the beginning of Book 1. Logan has just received his vision from his future self.
Logan opened his eyes. He’d been lost in a memory from his future — THE memory, the one for which he’d been preparing for seventeen years — and it took him a moment to readjust to the present. His surroundings melted into his consciousness like one of those screenshots that slowly came into focus. He saw color first, wide swaths of grays and silvers, which unfurled into the ordinary objects of the memory room. Dark, shiny tiles. A lounge chair with hard cylindrical cushions. White sheets hung on the walls for privacy.
Privacy. Ha. Like that meant anything when there was a guard next door, peering into his head, seeing everything he saw, feeling everything he felt.
He ripped the metal helmet-like contraption from his head, fighting the urge to fling it across the room. He’d told his parents he didn’t want this memory. All these visions had done for the people he loved was cause them terrible grief. He’d be just fine without his glimpse of tomorrow.
But his parents had insisted. They said it would arouse too much suspicion if he refused his memory. It might even clue in ComA, or the Committee of Agencies, to the existence of The Underground, the clandestine group of psychics working to escape the government’s persecution. The last thing Logan wanted was to threaten the group that kept his brother safe.
So he came, and he received the memory from his future self.
It was exactly what he expected — and exactly not.
The female guard rushed in just as he was winding his arm up for the throw. “So, a gold star swimmer, huh?” she cooed, taking the metal contraption from his hand and running the pads of her fingers across his knuckles.
He swore to the Fates she hadn’t been cooing a few minutes ago, before he received his memory.
“How does it feel knowing you’re going to be someone so . . . important?” Her cool, cool fingers traveled up his arm, inch by crawly inch, like a spider he wanted to flick away.
Yep, she was definitely hitting on him, never mind the years separating them. Who knew that a gold star status could render a ten-year gap irrelevant?
“Fine,” he said, trying to sound bored, even though his insides sizzled and popped. It wasn’t the gold star status that made him mad. That’s what his parents had been dreaming of ever since they tossed him into the swimming pool when he was three.
It was the part . . . after . . . that made him feel like a flame was being held to his toes. That part had him reliving memories of his childhood, memories he thought he had long since buried. (And, if he were being honest, that part also made something leap in the vicinity of his chest. But he wasn’t about to confess that particular truth, not to anyone.)
“Oh, I like that attitude.” The guard’s spider fingers reached his bicep and wrapped around it. “The confidence.
The arrogance. Why, you must’ve known this was your destiny, didn’t you?” She batted her tattooed eyelids at him. Was this suppose to be sexy? By Eden City’s standards, she was perfectly attractive. But the change in her attitude made the bile rise in his throat.
Just once, he’d like a girl to be interested in him for him. Not for his swimming, not for the body that came along with his hours in the pool. But him. Logan Russell. His thoughts, his wants, his feelings.
The way she used to be interested in him. The girl whose name he hadn’t allowed himself to speak for the last five years.
The one who had just appeared, unfathomably, in his future memory.
Callie Stone.
You can now add FORGET TOMORROW to your TBR list on Goodreads!
Are you as interested in this book as I am?
Here’s how you can get your hands on it!
You can buy her book HERE!
Check out more on her Website, Twitter, or Facebook pages
and sign up for her Newsletter so you’ll never miss out
o n any important book news or updates.
And don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me and many more! Just check out all these books on team gold,
To enter, you need to write down my favorite number, find all the other numbers on TEAM GOLD, add them up, and you’ll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
Thank you so much for visiting my website! While you’re here don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter bonus contest I am running exclusively during the YA Scavenger Hunt. Ten lucky winners will receive the first book in both my series, TIGER’S CURSE AND REAWAKENED! Good luck everyone!
Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win,
Ready to move on to the next link in the hunt? Then head on over to visit author Dhonielle Clayton’s page.
LINK TO NEXT BLOG
February 5, 2016
Valentine’s Day Make-up
This is a quick little blog full of pretty sweet romantic looks for Valentine’s Day.
Classic Red lip
Pouty Pink
Rose Gold
[image error]
Valentine’s Make-up Tutorials
I hope you have a romantic Valentine’s Day!
-Shara
February 4, 2016
Colleen Houck Book Club- February 2016
Our last book we featured for book club was Suspicion by Alexandra Monir. If you’re just tuning in, or are new to this online book club, it’s super easy to join. I host the club on Goodreads and each month you get the chance to ask authors questions. You can ask anything from what they like to eat to what they’re writing right now. You don’t have to read the book to participate and every month I choose one lucky person from the chat to win a prize! The prize includes the book or books I’ve read from that author that month as well as your pick of any of my books as well and some extra fun stuff I throw in! What’s the catch? There is none, this is just a great way for us authors to network and for you, the readers, to branch out and discover new favorites!
So, for our second book of 2016, I’m excited to feature . . .
Wink Poppy Midnight
by April Genevieve Tucholke
Here’s a little teaser
First of all, I just LOVE the cover!
“Every story needs a hero.
Every story needs a villain.
Every story needs a secret.
Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair and freckles. Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee. Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them. Wink. Poppy. Midnight. Two girls. One boy. Three voices that burst onto the page in short, sharp, bewitching chapters, and spiral swiftly and inexorably toward something terrible or tricky or tremendous.
What really happened?
Someone knows.
Someone is lying.
Learn more about this author and her books at apriltucholke.com.
I’m very excited to check out this novel, which comes out March 22, 2016!Also, you can participate in an ongoing chat with Colleen and April asking just about anything you’d like on this blog throughout February!
Also, remember that you don’t need to read the book to participate (which in this case, you can’t yet). It’s a GREAT opportunity to get to know the authors and ask any questions you’d like!
For fun there will be a GIVEAWAY for one lucky participant!
Happy reading everyone!
~Till next time,
Linda Louise Lotti
February 3, 2016
Romance that make us Ache
A Walk to Remember
Set in North Carolina, “A Walk To Remember” follows the rite of passage of a jaded, aimless high school senior (Shane West) who falls in love with a guileless young woman (Mandy Moore) he and his friends once scorned. The two develop a powerful and inspirational relationship in which they discover truths that take most people a lifetime to learn.
I love the way he looks at her during this song.
Twilight
Do we need to even talk about the forbidden love, danger, and copious amount of stunning well dressed perfectly quaffed vampires? I still remember reading about the drive home when Edward saved Bella from a group of ill-intentioned men, and how I could tell then, that there was intense amount of attraction on Edwards side. His actions spoke. He protected her, and he watched over her. I would love to visit their little cottage, and check out all Bella’s clothes and books. Would you wait for love as long as Edward did for Bella?
Enchanted
Enchanted is not the typical Disney fairy tale romance story. This movie is modern, twisted, and awakens the heart of a man who’s forgotten how love brings beauty into life. How would you choose between two good, handsome men?
If you watch closely he starts to sing the words to her…sigh.
Tangled
Could they be any cuter together? Disney knows how to do romance. Sweet tender romantic moments fill this animated movie, balanced with enough of Flynn’s roguish charm that Han Solo could have taken a lesson or two.
Grease
A musical about teens in love in the 50’s! It’s California, 1959 and greaser Danny Zuko and Australian Sandy Olsson are in love. They spend time at the beach, but when they go back to school, what either of them don’t know is that they both now attend Rydell High. Danny’s the leader of the T-Birds, a group of black-jacket greasers while Sandy hangs with the Pink Ladies, a group of pink-wearing girls led by Rizzo. When they clash at Rydell’s first pep rally, Danny isn’t the same Danny at the beach. They try to be like each other so they can be together.
Romeo and Juliet
A modern twist on Shakespeare’s classic play. Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes claim young love and all the turmoil it can cause.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Shara
