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Nicholas Sparks Giveaway!

Giveaways September 1, 2016 Leave a comment

GIVEAWAY

Do you love Nicholas Sparks? Then I have a treat for you! Thanks to Grand Central Publishing, I’m able to giveaway (1) copy of four Nicholas Sparks Reissue Edition books! Thank you to the wonderful people at Grand Central Publishing for generously providing these books as giveaway items to Stories Unfolded followers.

I have read all four of these books and highly recommend each one. The Last Song is #1 on my Top 5 Favorite Nicholas Sparks Books.

Enter Here: a Rafflecopter giveaway (Giveaway ends on September 16 and winner will be announced on September 17)

One lucky winner will receive all four of the following Nicholas Sparks reissue editions:

At First Sight (Reissue Edition) by Nicholas Sparks
There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he’d never do: he’d never leave New York City; never give his heart away again after barely surviving one failed marriage; and, most of all, never become a parent. Now, Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, married to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the birth of their daughter. But just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, an unsettling and mysterious message re-opens old wounds and sets off a chain of events that will forever change the course of this young couple’s marriage.
September 13, 2016; Trade Paperback; $15.99; 9781455571642

A Bend in the Road (Reissue Edition) by Nicholas Sparks
Miles Ryan’s life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. As deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina, he not only grieves for her and worries about their young son Jonah but longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews, Jonah’s second-grade teacher. A young woman recovering from a difficult divorce, Sarah moved to New Bern hoping to start over. Tentatively, Miles and Sarah reach out to each other…soon they are falling in love. But what neither realizes is that they are also bound together by a shocking secret, one that will force them to reexamine everything they believe in-including their love.
September 13, 2016; Trade Paperback; $15.99; 9781455571635

The Last Song (Reissue Edition) by Nicholas Sparks
Seventeen-year old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father…until her mother decides it would be in everyone’s best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels–first love, love between parents and children — that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts…and heal them.
September 13, 2016; Trade Paperback; $15.99; 9781455571659

True Believer (Reissue Edition) by Nicholas Sparks
As a science journalist with a regular column in “Scientific American,” Jeremy Marsh specializes in debunking the supernatural–until he falls in love with the granddaughter of the town psychic.
September 13, 2016; Trade Paperback; $15.99; 9781455571666

Print Release Blitz & Giveaway | Inside Out by Lia Riley

Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interview July 27, 2015 Leave a comment

The third book in Lia Riley’s Off the Map series is out in coming out in print! Inside Out is a great book and I would definitely recommend it and the rest of the series to those who enjoy New Adult novels. As part of the Print Release Blitz I had a chance to ask Lia a few questions. I’m really happy I had this opportunity because she’s easily become one of my favorite authors.

ABOUT THE BOOK

TITLE: Inside Out (Off the Map #3)

AUTHOR: Lia Riley

GENRE: New Adult

PUBLICATION DATE: July 28, 2015

PUBLISHER: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Talia Stolfi is deeply in love with the brooding Aussie surfer who stole her heart-but their infrequent letters only get her so far. While she fulfills her dream of being in the Peace Corps, a dangerous condition jeopardizes her life . . . and threatens to shatter her heart.

After nearly losing Talia forever, Bran Lockhart sailed to the stormy seas at the ends of the earth. Deep down, he knows that all roads worth traveling lead back to the beautiful California girl with the sunny smile. There’s no denying that he belongs with her, but to have her by his side means Bran must dare to do something he’s never done before: hope. Everything they’ve fought for has come down to this moment. Can Talia and Bran discover the courage to claim their future and learn that sometimes, in order to earn true love, you need to venture off the map?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Q: Was it always your intention for Bran to propose to Talia?

Great question and No! Nope! No way! In fact, the first draft had no proposal and for Talia and Bran to be happily living together in San Francisco but it was missing something. This is why a good editor is worth a million billion dollars. She challenged me to go bigger, dig deeper. I scoured the last few chapters and when I had them get lost backpacking, “off the map” all of a sudden I knew what I had to do. The characters were MUCH happier as a result.

Q: Did you have other proposal sites in mind or was it always going to be Yosemite?

Like I said, this was as much of a surprise to me as to the reader, but since I was married in Yosemite, I’m extra special happy that was the location.

Q: How did it feel to submit the final edits on Inside Out?

Surreal! I lived and breathed Talia and Bran for the better part of the year. and still miss them. They were a blast to write and I might have snuck Bran into my upcoming novella “Into You Arms” (out September 8^th) because I wanted to see him again.

Q: How has the blogging community helped you get to the point of printing the series?

The blogging community has been so much fun to get to know and interact with! Writing is such a solitary activity and it’s so wonderful that there is this whole tribe of avid, supportive readers out there. I’m so grateful for these friendships.

GIVEAWAY

Enter here for your chance to win the either the Off the Map set or a copy of Inside Out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | TWITTER

After studying at the University of Montana-Missoula, Lia Riley scoured the world armed only with a backpack, overconfidence and a terrible sense of direction. When not torturing heroes (because c’mon, who doesn’t love a good tortured hero?), Lia herds unruly chickens, camps, beach combs, daydreams about as-of-yet unwritten books, wades through a mile-high TBR pile and schemes yet another trip. She and her family live mostly in Northern California.

Check out my reviews of each book in the Off the Map Series:

Upside Down Book Review

Sideswiped Book Review

Inside Out Book Review

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Book Review & Giveaway | The Secrets We Keep by Stephanie Butland

Book Reviews, Giveaways July 14, 2015 Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEW | THE SECRETS WE KEEP

TITLE: The Secrets We Keep

AUTHOR: Stephanie Butland

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Landmark

RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

A tragic accident, a broken heart, and a marriage drowning in secrets…

Mike always walks the dog in the evening while Elizabeth relaxes in the bathtub–but one night he doesn’t come back. Mike has drowned while saving a teenage girl named Kate, his dog standing on the bank barking frantically as the police pull his body from the water.

But despite her husband being lauded as a hero, Elizabeth can’t wrap her mind around the fact that Mike is gone–and Kate won’t reveal the details of what really happened that night.

Elizabeth finds herself facing the unfathomable possibility that she may not have known her husband at all. Does she really want to know the truth? Or will the weight of Mike’s secrets pull her under.(Description from NetGalley.com)

MY THOUGHTS

Have you ever read a book that from the very first page, you knew you wouldn’t be able to put it down? Well that’s how The Secrets We Keep by Stephanie Butland is and I was hooked right from the very first sentence. I was so enthralled by this book that my husband was having a hard time pulling me away from it. He even tried to tempt me dinner (how cute!).

Stephanie Butland wrote this book to include letters Elizabeth was writing to her husband after his death. This was one of my favorite aspects of the book because it dove into the deeper feelings of Elizabeth. These are the feelings that many people won’t discuss with anyone else and the ones they keep to themselves. So being able to feel exactly what Elizabeth was feeling helped bring the book to another level.

There was one letter in particular that really stabbed at my heart and it read as follows:

People keep offering to “clear things out” for me. They mean, “Let me throw away Mike’s toothbrush, because I understand that you don’t want to. Let me get rid of the half-used shaving foam and the nearly gone shower gel and the new shower gel ready for when that one runs out, because it will be easier for me to remove these reminders than it would be for you to do it.” But I say, “No, thank you.”

That one small paragraph instantly made me think about my husband. It made me think, would I feel the same way? Would I grieve the same way? Would I want to keep his toothbrush and shower gel just to feel as though he’s still with me? I don’t know for sure, but when anyone loses the person they love it’s one of the hardest things to come to terms with and strange things,, like keeping their toothbrush don’t seem so strange.

As I read the book, I was able to predict what each “secret” was, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying the book. It actually made me want to read it more quickly so that I could find out how it was revealed to the characters.

There were several times when I felt really sorry for Elizabeth because as each secret came to light she seemed to go back to the beginning of the grieving process and couldn’t come to terms with anything. Everything was becoming too hard for her to handle and she was cutting herself off from the world, which is not what you should do in her situation. In the end, Elizabeth did come out of the darkness and started walking a path towards forgiveness.

The Secrets We Keep is a powerfully heart wrenching novel that takes you through the different stages of grief, time and time again, as each secret is revealed.

I would highly recommend this book to my followers who enjoy reading Women’s Fiction novels.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

GIVEAWAY

Enter here to win a copy of The Secrets We Keep by Stephanie Butland: a Rafflecopter giveaway

FAVORITE QUOTES

“Somewhere in the air around her drifts the understanding that the generations grieve differently, int he same ways that they love differently, dress differently, raise their children differently.”

“Tears fall from hers and gather on his face, and she wipes them away gently with the thumb that wears his wedding ring, and just for a moment these are his tears, and they are crying together.”

OVERALL RATING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS

Stephanie lives in Northumberland, England, and talks and trains in thinking skills all over Europe, most recently in Kazakhstan. She has written two books on her experience with cancer, and she is an active blogger and fundraiser. The Secrets We Keep is her first novel.

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Excerpt | The Secrets We Keep by Stephanie Butland

Excerpt, Giveaways July 13, 2015 Leave a comment

ABOUT THE SECRETS WE KEEP

TITLE: The Secrets We Keep

AUTHOR: Stephanie Butland

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Landmark

RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

A tragic accident, a broken heart, and a marriage drowning in secrets…

But despite her husband being lauded as a hero, Elizabeth can’t wrap her mind around the fact that Mike is gone–and Kate won’t reveal the details of what really happened that night.

EXCERPT FROM THE SECRET WE KEEP

Elizabeth has never been to a funeral home before. She and Patricia enter the building together and then take turns going into the room. Patricia goes first and comes out swollen-faced and silent, nodding and clasping Elizabeth’s hands. So, still unsure, she rises and faces the oak-effect door.

It’s a smaller room than she thinks it will be. The light is low, and the smell of flowers, from a complex arrangement in which some of the smaller blooms are dying, is a mixture of sweetness and must. There’s a cross. And there’s a seat, next to the coffin. Because there’s a coffin. There’s a coffin. Elizabeth closes her eyes and tries to make herself breathe. She looks again. Yes, there’s a coffin. Mike’s coffin. Her soul winces. The top part is open, the rest closed.

Experimentally, Elizabeth puts her hand on the wood near the bottom, where she would imagine Mike’s feet to be, were she able to think about his cold, dead feet in a box. She checks her heart and feels nothing new, nothing worse. She takes a step farther up. Her hand is where his knees would be. The wood is smooth. Her palm runs up thigh, over stomach, rests on chest, in a horrible pantomime of what she’s done so often in life. Her mind is saying, Well, if Mike was gone, this is how it would be, yes, but he can’t be gone. He can’t be.

Elizabeth knows what needs to come next. So she takes another step, and she looks down.

Mike’s face is swollen, only slightly, and an odd color, although that might be the light. Blake had driven them the short distance, neither of them ready for the walk, or the people, or the light of an ordinary day. He had told them in the car that Mike would look as though he was sleeping, but this face, solemn and enclosed, bears no resemblance to her sprawling, duvet-hogging, snoring husband, liable at any moment to throw out an arm and pull her in to him, even though he was fast asleep.

Elizabeth realizes she is holding her breath as she fights to recognize what’s in front of her. Cautious, she reaches out her left hand, her own skin dull in this dull light. She touches his face. Her thumb strokes the indentation to the left of his right cheekbone. He is cold, and his skin is powdery, and she watches, waiting for him to open his eyes. Tears fall from hers and gather on his face, and she wipes them away gently with the thumb that wears his wedding ring, and just for a moment these are his tears, and they are crying together.

Elizabeth bends down and whispers, “You can pretend all you like, but I know you haven’t left me. I know you wouldn’t leave me.”

She whispers, “I want to hold your hand.” Her own hands, free to rake through her hair and twist around each other and catch at tears falling from her chin, tingle at the horrible thought of being contained in the way his are.

She whispers, “Show me that you haven’t gone,” and she sits, and she waits, her hand on the coffin where she thinks Michael’s hand must be. She closes her eyes. “You promised you would never leave me,” she says, trying a different tack, thinking a prod might work where a plea has failed. Time stops, and the world stops, and even the tears stop for a while, as Elizabeth strains for a sign, all of her senses ready and oh so willing. But no sign comes.

GIVEAWAY

Enter here to win a copy of The Secrets We Keep by Stephanie Butland: a Rafflecopter giveaway

BUY LINKS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS

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Book Review | Pieces of My Mother by Melissa Cistaro

Book Reviews April 20, 2015 Comments: 3

BOOK REVIEW | PIECES OF MY MOTHER

ABOUT THE BOOK

“This provocative, poignant memoir of a daughter whose mother left her behind by choice begs the question: Are we destined to make the same mistakes as our parents?

One summer, Melissa Cistaro’s mother drove off without explanation Devastated, Melissa and her brothers were left to pick up the pieces, always tormented by the thought: Why did their mother abandon them?

Thirty-five years later, with children of her own, Melissa finds herself in Olympia, Washington, as her mother is dying. After decades of hiding her painful memories, she has just days to find out what happened that summer and confront the fear she could do the same to her kids. But Melissa never expects to stumble across a cache of letters her mother wrote to her but never sent, which could hold the answers she seeks.

Haunting yet ultimately uplifting, Pieces of My Mother chronicles one woman’s quest to discover what drives a mother to walk away from the children she loves. Alternating between Melissa’s tumultuous coming-of-age and her mother’s final days, this captivating memoir reveals how our parents’ choices impact our own and how we can survive those to forge our own paths.” (NetGalley Description)

MY THOUGHTS

Memoirs are certainly my favorite genre and it’s because of books like Pieces of My Mother by Melissa Cistaro. It’s such a heartbreaking story and shows just how much people are impacted by their parent’s choices. When a parent makes poor choices their children might follow the same path or spend their lives worrying that they might. That’s exactly what Melissa Cistaro was going through.

The book is formatted in flashbacks. It starts with Melissa as a young child watching her mother leave and then goes to her as an adult flying to be with her dying mother. The story continues on like this and follows Melissa’s childhood along the way.

Growing up, Melissa had an unusual relationship with her mother. Her mother had left, but was never really gone. She’d visit randomly and Melissa would occasionally take trips with her mother. Reading the book, you can really feel that she never understood why her mother left.

This book really hit home for me. Both Melissa and I had a mother that we didn’t really understand. We didn’t understand the decisions they made and why they continued doing what they did seeing how it effected their children. While my mother never left us like Melissa’s did, I feel that she left us mentally. I felt a lot of what she was feeling growing up. She asked why her mother wouldn’t stay while I’ve asked why my mother couldn’t stop taking her pills.

It was clear that Melissa kept her feelings bottled up…just like I tend to do. She had so much anger towards her mother, but didn’t want to tell her, fearing that her mother would run away again. I felt that in this paragraph:

“What good would it do me to unravel the anger inside me? I might hurl this heavy ceramic coffee cup across the table. I might stand up and tell her she sucks at being a mom. But that isn’t me. I’ll need to take her as she is right here, right now – fragrant, strip-searched, and full of mystery.”

There was a line in the book that also reminded me of my siblings. “We line up, three across, and stand over the grate with our legs apart until it gets too hot and the metal edge starts to burn the bottoms of our feet.” I laughed when I read this because that’s exactly what my siblings and I did when we’d get ready for school. We’d fight over it just like Melissa did with her brothers.

Pieces of My Mother is about learning to forgive even when you don’t fully understand the decisions that were made. It’s also about learning to forgive yourself and know that the decisions people make are their own.

I would highly recommend this book for those of you that love a good memoir.

FAVORITE QUOTES

“But memory is never linear. It’s as random as the wildflowers that grew behind our yellow house – a purple lupine here, a patch of California poppies there, a circle of yellow buttercups – and hidden among them, the slivers of broken glass that sliced our feet open. I was searching for the memories that could rescue me.”

“She pretends to be reading something on the page but her mind is somewhere else. I feel like she’s trying to show me that she’s okay, that she can still do the thins she’s always done. She is pretending to read and I am pretending that this does not break my heart.”

OVERALL RATING

PUBLISHING COMPANY: Sourcebooks

RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2015

GENRE: Biographies & Memoirs

BUY LINKS

INDIEBOUND | B&N | AMAZON

ABOUT MELISSA CISTARO

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

author photo © Adam Karsten

Melissa Cistaro’s stories have been published in numerous literary journals, including the New Ohio Review, Anderbo.com, and Brevity as well as the anthologies CHERISHED and LOVE and PROFANITY. She works as a bookseller and event coordinator at Book Passage, the esteemed independent bookstore in Northern California. Melissa graduated with honors from UCLA and followed her literary pursuits through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and the Tin House Writer’s Workshop in Portland. Between the years of raising her children, writing, bookselling, teaching horseback riding, and curating a business in equestrian antiques – Melissa completed her first memoir. Pieces of My Mother will be released on May 5th 2015. (Bio from Melissa Cistaro’s website, link above)

Book Review & Giveaway | The One That Got Away by Bethany Chase

Book Reviews, Giveaways April 2, 2015 Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEW | THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

ABOUT THE BOOK

Perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner, this bright, funny debut from a fresh voice in fiction offers a delicious take on love, family, and what it means to build a home of one’s own.

“Sarina Mahler thinks she has her life all nailed down: a growing architecture practice in Austin, Texas, and an any-day-now proposal from her loving boyfriend, Noah. She’s well on her way to having the family she’s hoped for since her mother’s death ten years ago. But with Noah on a temporary assignment abroad and retired Olympic swimmer—and former flame—Eamon Roy back in town asking her to renovate his new fixer-upper, Sarina’s life takes an unexpected turn. Eamon proves to be Sarina’s dream client, someone who instinctively trusts every one of her choices—and Sarina is reminded of all the reasons she was first drawn to him back in the day. Suddenly her carefully planned future with Noah seems a little less than perfect. And when tragedy strikes, Sarina is left reeling. With her world completely upended, she is forced to question what she truly wants in life—and in love.

Full of both humor and heartbreak, The One That Got Away is the story of one woman’s discovery that, sometimes, life is what happens when you leave the blueprints behind.”

MY THOUGHTS

We all have that one person. The person you thought was the one, but ended up disappointing you. The person that’s always in the back of your mind. This person is the one you don’t truly get over. This person is the one that got away.

Sarina Mahler is a strong woman who knows what she wants…at least career wise, but in the relationship department it’s a different story. While she believes that her future with her boyfriend Noah is set, she’s sorely mistaken when a ghost from her past comes back to town. That ghost comes in the form of a tall, handsome, and charming swimmer named Eamon.

If you’ve ever been in a situation where you had to choose between your head and your heart then you will totally relate to the character Sarina. She had to figure out what would ultimately make her happy even though each path would cause pain to someone else, but that’s the risk you take with love. You have to decide what’s best for you in the end and know that you won’t look back with regrets. This is what Sarina was going through while she was spending more time with Eamon and her boyfriend was miles away.

I related to Sarina most when it came to her family. She lost her mother, just like I did, and I felt Sarina’s pain every time she thought of her mom. It’s a pain that never leaves you, but becomes a part of who you are. The smallest reminder could bring you back to the day she left and bring the tears along with it. This is the part of Sarina that I was most fond of while reading.

Chase does an excellent job portraying real world dilemmas when it comes to a woman’s career and finding a man that will understand her dreams and aspirations, but also understands the importance of family. That is the story that Bethany Chase created. She created a character who’s strong willed, family oriented, and full of heart and passion. I think I would get along with Sarina if in some weird universe I was able to jump into the pages myself.

The One That Got Away is about following your heart and not worrying about what others will think of your decisions. It’s about deciding what’s important in your life.

I’m always open to reading books by new authors. I think they give a fresh take within their genre and Bethany Chase’s debut novel is definitely worth reading.

FAVORITE QUOTES

“It’s funny how, when you only get to spend a very finite amount of time with someone you wanted to know better, you find that certain details have cut deeper tracks in your memory than others-something about the way they looked, or one particular comment that made you laugh, out of hundreds of sentences.”

“Instead, it’s like groundwater. Pooling underneath my skin, seeping to the surface here and there, now and then. Endlessly replenished. Easy to forget about, until it startles me wit the depth of it.”

OVERALL RATING

BUY LINKS:

PUBLISHING COMPANY: Ballantine Books

RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2015

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

ABOUT BETHANY CHASE

A native of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Bethany Chase headed to Williams College for an English degree and somehow came out the other side an interior designer. When she’s not writing or designing, you can usually find her in a karaoke bar. She lives with her lovely husband and occasionally psychotic cat in Brooklyn, three flights up. This is her first novel.

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win a copy of The One That Got Away. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats Stories Unfolded Blogiversary Giveaway Winners!

Blogiversary, Giveaways April 1, 2015 Comments: 4

STORIES UNFOLDED BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY

Thank you to everyone who entered the Stories Unfolded Blogiversary Giveaway and followed all my posts throughout the month of March. I also want to thank all the authors who participated and donated to my anniversary celebration. My giveaway was amazing because of their generosity. Keep an eye out for next year’s Blogiversary celebration. I can’t wait!

Now to announce the winners!

(1) Grand Prize Winner – Mary Happymommy

$25 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) Signed physical copy of The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett
(1) Audiobook of The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett
(1) Signed physical copy of Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Signed physical copy of From a Grieving Mother’s Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Signed physical copy of For a Grieving Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Physical copy of Finding Zoe by Brandi Rarus and Gail Harris
(1) E-Book copy of the Off The Map Series by Lia Riley (Upside Down, Sideswiped, & Inside Out)
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith
(1) E-book copy of each book in the Meredith Series by Amanda Gale
(1) E-Book copies of three children’s books by Alva Sachs (Circus Fever, I’m 5, & On Your Mark, Get Set,Go!)

(1) Prize Winner – Ben Ditmars

$10 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Pub copy of Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Pub copy of From a Grieving Mother’s Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Pub copy of For a Grieving Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith

(1) Prize Winner – Kris Otto

$5 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) E-Book copy of The End of Feeling by Cindy C. Bennett
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith

(1) Prize Winner – Karrie Millheim

$5 Amazon Kindle Gift Card

Stories Unfolded Blogiversary Giveaway – Last Day to Enter

Blogiversary, Giveaways March 31, 2015 Leave a comment

Today is the last day to enter the Stories Unfolded Blogiversary Giveaway! Don’t miss out on a chance to win the great prize packages below.

STORIES UNFOLDED BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY

(1) Grand Prize Winner

$25 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) Signed physical copy of The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett
(1) Audiobook of The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett
(1) Signed physical copy of Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Signed physical copy of From a Grieving Mother’s Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Signed physical copy of For a Grieving Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Physical copy of Finding Zoe by Brandi Rarus and Gail Harris
(1) E-Book copy of the Off The Map Series by Lia Riley (Upside Down, Sideswiped, & Inside Out)
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith
(1) E-book copy of each book in the Meredith Series by Amanda Gale
(1) E-Book copies of three children’s books by Alva Sachs (Circus Fever, I’m 5, & On Your Mark, Get Set,Go!)

(1) Prize Winner

$10 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Pub copy of Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Pub copy of From a Grieving Mother’s Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Pub copy of For a Grieving Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith

(1) Prize Winner

$5 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) E-Book copy of The End of Feeling by Cindy C. Bennett
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith

(1) Prize Winner

$5 Amazon Kindle Gift Card

Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stories Unfolded Blogiversary & Giveaway

Blogiversary, Giveaways March 30, 2015 Comments: 3

Today marks the actual anniversary of my blog! It’s been an incredible 3 years and I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve received over the years. My blog wouldn’t be where it is today without my amazing followers who read my posts and the amazing authors who allow me to read their books.

I’m looking forward to another year of reading and reviewing new books and writing about anything and everything related to books.

I want to thank all the authors that participated in my month long Blogiversary celebration! I can’t wait to see what next year’s celebration will bring.

STORIES UNFOLDED BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY

Don’t forget to enter the Stories Unfolded Blogiversary Giveaway that’s running from March 1st – March 31st. Tomorrow is the last day so please share with your friends and family.

(1) Grand Prize Winner

$25 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) Signed physical copy of The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett
(1) Audiobook of The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett
(1) Signed physical copy of Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Signed physical copy of From a Grieving Mother’s Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Signed physical copy of For a Grieving Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Physical copy of Finding Zoe by Brandi Rarus and Gail Harris
(1) E-Book copy of the Off The Map Series by Lia Riley (Upside Down, Sideswiped, & Inside Out)
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith
(1) E-book copy of each book in the Meredith Series by Amanda Gale
(1) E-Book copies of three children’s books by Alva Sachs (Circus Fever, I’m 5, & On Your Mark, Get Set,Go!)

(1) Prize Winner

$10 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Pub copy of Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Pub copy of From a Grieving Mother’s Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Pub copy of For a Grieving Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith

(1) Prize Winner

$5 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) E-Book copy of The End of Feeling by Cindy C. Bennett
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith

(1) Prize Winner

$5 Amazon Kindle Gift Card

Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blogiversary | Meredith Out of Darkness by Amanda Gale – Book Review

Blogiversary, Book Reviews, Giveaways March 29, 2015 Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEW | MEREDITH OUT OF DARKNESS

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Meredith Beck is living the perfect life. She has a thriving career she loves and an apartment in New York City with the man of her dreams. But when she is devastated by tragedy, Meredith must rebuild her life in what she discovers is a shockingly less-than-perfect world.

In Book One, Meredith Out of the Darkness, Meredith stumbles through her day-to-day responsibilities without passion or hope. Her mundane routine is pleasantly interrupted when her brother introduces her to Nick Kelly, a quiet painter from a small town in Maine. Meredith is drawn to Nick’s love of nature and is comforted by his purity of heart. They begin a whirlwind romance, and as they plan their future together, she is delighted to have found peace once again, this time in a simple life far removed from the fast-paced life she’s known. But they are haunted by the past, competing with ghosts and desperate to meet unreachable expectations.

Full of colorful characters and leading the reader on an emotional journey from Philadelphia to Maine, Meredith Out of the Darkness is about two people’s awakening to a world of possibilities. But when their different visions of perfection come between them, the question remains: what is true perfection?”

MY THOUGHTS

Meredith Out of Darkness is the first in a four book series following the love life of Meredith Beck, a high school English teacher. I instantly fell in love with this series right from the start. It was easy to relate to Meredith and her longing to find that perfect relationship once again. That relationship that makes everyday worth while and makes getting out of bed easy.

Doesn’t everyone want to find that special someone that puts a smile on their face and makes their heart beat faster with every touch and every kiss? I found that for myself and Meredith felt she did too.

When Meredith met Nick Kelly she had embraced their passionate relationship and felt like she had finally found someone again. He made her laugh and she felt safe being with him. They talked and opened up to each other.

Nick and Meredith had fun together and connected on more than just a physical level. They had grown to trust each other and would eventually fall in love. Meredith felt she could spend her life with Nick, but Nick didn’t feel like he was good enough. This put a big strain on their relationship and became the focal point at the end of the book.

This book isn’t just about finding that perfect relationship, it’s also about finding yourself and figuring out what you want. Meredith had to look into herself once again and figure out what her future would hold.

This book is about finding out what you want and fighting for it. It’s about realizing that there’s still hope even when you feel it’s all been lost. It’s about pulling yourself out of the darkness to see that there’s still light at the end of the tunnel.

If you enjoy a great love story Meredith Out of Darkness is a book for you, but you’ll need to read the whole series to get the full Meredith Beck story. Trust me. You will want to continue reading to find out who Meredith Beck ends up with. I highly recommend this book and the rest of the Meredith series.

FAVORITE QUOTES

“She smiled as she relished the quiet of the room and the quiet of her mind. For the first time in a year, she saw peace and promise in the days ahead; for the first time in a year, she felt alive.”

“Nick had renewed her passion for life. He had reminded her that there was beauty to be found in every day, that one need not look so far to find it.”

OVERALL RATING

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N

PUBLISHING COMPANY: Brenda & Cobena Books

RELEASE DATE: July 3, 2014

GENRE: Women’s Fiction, Romance

ABOUT AMANDA

A graduate of Vassar College and Boston University, Amanda Gale taught high school English before she began writing women’s fiction. She loves history, classic literature, and quiet nights at home. She lives outside Philadelphia with her family. (Photo Credit: Lisa Schaffer Photography)

AMANDA GALE GIVEAWAY

Amanda has generously provided an e-book copy of the entire series. Her giveaway is running from March 22nd-29th. Today is your last chance to enter. I will be announcing the Amanda Gale giveaway winner tomorrow.

Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

STORIES UNFOLDED BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY

Don’t forget to enter the Stories Unfolded Blogiversary Giveaway that’s running from March 1st – March 31st.

(1) Grand Prize Winner

$25 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) Signed physical copy of The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett
(1) Audiobook of The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett
(1) Signed physical copy of Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Signed physical copy of From a Grieving Mother’s Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Signed physical copy of For a Grieving Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) Physical copy of Finding Zoe by Brandi Rarus and Gail Harris
(1) E-Book copy of the Off The Map Series by Lia Riley (Upside Down, Sideswiped, & Inside Out)
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith
(1) E-Book copies of three children’s books by Alva Sachs (Circus Fever, I’m 5, & On Your Mark, Get Set,Go!)

(1) Prize Winner

$10 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Pub copy of Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Pub copy of From a Grieving Mother’s Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Pub copy of For a Grieving Heart by Terri Ann Leidich
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith

(1) Prize Winner

$5 Amazon Kindle Gift Card
(1) E-Book copy of The End of Feeling by Cindy C. Bennett
(1) E-Book copy of any Ginger Scott book
(1) E-Book copy of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds by Jacqueline Smith

(1) Prize Winner

$5 Amazon Kindle Gift Card

Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to Amanda Gale for participating in the Stories Unfolded Blogiversary.

Stories Unfolded

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Blogiversary | Meredith Out of Darkness by Amanda Gale – Book Review

BOOK REVIEW | MEREDITH OUT OF DARKNESS

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