Loveswept - Holiday Hop! 12/12 - 1/8/2012

Happy Holidays To Everyone - 


Romance At Random is celebrating their Loveswept line with a random e-book Giveaway to 25 winners plus an opportunity to win one Grand Prize from www.romanceatrandom.com.


Enter here to be included in the FREE random e-book drawing (25 winners will pick up their FREE book from Net Galley) and then stop on by www.romanceatrandom.com and comment to enter the drawing to be the "ONE" Grand Prize winner, to win a selection of great books!


Good Luck & Happy Holidays to all!



INCREASE your chances to win by visiting all the participating 'Loveswept - Holiday Hop' sites (See Linky below)! Winners will be contacted after 1/10/12.




Happy Entering!


Michelle




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Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Winners

Welcome to the Announcement of the Winners for the Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. I have heard a lot of good answers to the question: What are you wishing for most for Christmas?

MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS WISHES

"I'm wishing to get through the holidays with my sanity intact." - Leslie

"But what I really want is snow on Christmas. It makes it so much more fun when there is snow on Christmas morning." - Rae M.

"I am hoping for lots and lots of books!" - Tiffany

"I am wishing for a cool pair of boots and a ferret anatomy poster." - Ash L

THE WINNERS

Prize #1: Signed Copy of Must Love Lycans by Michele Bardsley along with Michele Bardsley swag.

WINNER - ELIS

Prize #2: Signed Copy of Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells and swag.

WINNER - KATIE W.

Prize #3: Poison Diaries Tote Bag, Pens, and your choice of a copy of The Poison Diaries or Poison Diaries: Nightshade.

WINNER - NICOLE S.

Prize #4: Mystery Prize Packet. It is a pretty awesome prize packet!

WINNER - ARIANNE C.

Congratulations to all the winners! I will email you shortly, please respond within 72 hours. Also, I would like to thank everyone who entered and a big thank you to those that decided to follow.

Happy Reading!

Michelle

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Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. This will be a short and sweet giveaway, only running from Dec. 2nd to Dec. 6th with winners announced on Dec. 7th. There is the chance for four winners, so enter now!

The idea of this "hop" is simple, a whole bunch of bloggers got together and decided to giveaway different things on their blogs, then they linked up together on one post. I have a few great things to giveaway thanks to Felicia - The Geeky Book Blogger and the lovely ladies with DFW Tea Readers. 

THE PRIZES

Prize #1: Signed Copy of Must Love Lycans by Michele Bardsley along with Michele Bardsley swag.

Prize #2: Signed Copy of Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells and swag.

Prize #3: Poison Diaries Tote Bag, Pens, and your choice of a copy of The Poison Diaries or Poison Diaries: Nightshade.

Prize #4: Mystery Prize Packet. It is a pretty awesome prize packet!

THE RULES

Simple as always:

1. Name you want announced when you win.
2. Your email address OR twitter handle. (So I can contact you when you win)
3. Answer to the following question: What are you wishing for most for Christmas?

Contest ends 12/6/2011. Winner announced 12/7/2011. US Only.

Happy Reading!

Michelle

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REVIEW: Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt

What happens when you fall for the perfect guy...twice...in one day? Brenna Blixen spent her freshman year homeschooling in Denmark; now that she's back in the States, she's determined to make her sophomore year unforgettable. And by unforgettable, she imagined awesome classes, fun friendships, and maybe a little romance. What she got was a whole lot of romance, and all at once. (Taken from Goodreads)

Title: Double Clutch

Author: Liz Reinhardt (Check out her blog)
Publisher: CreateSpace 
Pages: 466

Teasers:

"She had a mom's neurosis about the internet, basically seeing it as a huge pool where pedophiles swam and lured unsuspecting children in their little floaties to the scary deep end." - pg. 104


"Every word he said, every action he made would be to trip me up, keep me on my toes. And I was positive he would get happiness from it, perverse or real." - pg. 135


"I don't know what made me angrier; his arrogance or the fact that I'd done exactly what he expected." - pg. 157

My Review: 

Double Clutch is the perfect title for a teen love triangle novel. Two guys in, but only one gets the girl. Reinhardt has this beautiful way of telling the story of Brenna Blixen, a girl who has the looks, the smarts, and the boys, but none of the "I've got it all" attitude. Brenna has this easy going way about her and a loving family so you are just waiting for the ball to drop, but Reinhardt does not take the easy way out. She shows you just what it would be like to have this close relationship with your parents and struggle with how to talk to them when you are trying to become an adult yourself. Just when you are in love with how she develops Brenna, then you are introduced to the boys of the story - Saxon McClean and Jake Kelly. Saxon is your typical intimidating guy who is good looking, has a nice car, a great athlete, and really smart, but that does not want others to know it. Jake on the other hand is this sweet gentleman, who works hard, is a little country and thinks he is stupid even though he really is not. It does not take you long to start forming your boy lines. Just so we are clear, I am totally on Team Saxon so if we could get a little more steamy Saxon action in the next book that would be great. He is pushy, but I feel like there is a refinement about him waiting to be discovered and I have always had a thing for tall, dark, and handsome. Jake on the other hand is more of a project and the project guy can be exhausting after a while. If you want to know who Brenna ends up with you will have to pick up Double Clutch for yourself. You will not be disappointed.  

Things I Loved:

Great first chapter! You know those moments when you just are on a conversation roll and you have no idea who is talking, whether it is you or your alter ego, well that is Double Clutch chapter one for me. I found myself relating to Brenna in so many ways. I have been to every variety of school: homeschool, public, private, technical and even online. A lot of what she experienced I have felt too, just in my own way. It is an amazing feeling when you connect with a character like that as a reader. Another thing I really enjoyed was that Reinhardt created characters that read. I think it is a great way to lead readers to other authors/books. I also loved how she captured the teen girl emotional roller coaster.   Obviously not every girl gets all high and low on you, but a lot do. Reinhardt's favorite candy is Raisinettes, which happens to be Brenna's favorite candy too. I thought it was a cool way of putting a bit of herself into the character. Finally, I loved that Brenna made an effort to reach out to those others would otherwise not notice (Devon). I think that is a powerful message to teens who would read this book.  

Warning: This is definitely an older YA read because there are some physical scenes that younger readers may not be ready for just yet.  

My Rating: 4 Stars

Keep your eye out for the next book in this series, Junk Miles, which is available now at Amazon.


Disclosure: Double Clutch was given to me by the author in exchange for my honest review.

GIVEAWAY

Just so you know there is still an opportunity to win a copy of this book. This giveaway is part of the Double Clutch Tour hosted by Missy's Reads & Reviews. I want to make it easier for people to enter, so if you have entered on the Interview Post you cannot enter here but comments are always welcomed. 

Rules are simple:

1. Name you want announced when you win.
2. Your email address or twitter handle. (So I can contact you when you win)
3. Answer to one of the following questions: Who inspired you to read? OR Which author made you love reading again?

Contest ends 12/11/2011. Winner announced 12/12/2011. International Giveaway.

Happy Reading!


Michelle

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Blog Tour: Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt - Interview & Giveaway

Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen! This is stop #11 (my favorite number) on Liz Reinhardt's DOUBLE CLUTCH Blog Tour, hosted by Missy's Reads & Reviews. This blog tour runs from November 13 - December 4 and includes Reviews, Interviews, Giveaways and even Guest Posts from Liz herself. If you have not been following the tour well now is your chance to catch up, just click here. 

This is an exciting day at O'Boyled Books because you are about to read my very first author interview post, plus a bonus for you - she is giving away a copy of Double Clutch. I think I scared my puppies when I got the email then screamed like a little girl with happiness. Later I found out that not only do I get to learn more about Liz herself, but she generously shared her book with me as well. You will have to come back though for my review later this week because this post is all about Liz. Alright, I think I have sufficently pumped up you for the interview so let's get this show on the road. 

SHORTENED BOOK BLURB

What happens when you fall for the perfect guy...twice...in one day?

Brenna Blixen spent her freshman year homeschooling in Denmark; now that she's back in the States, she's determined to make her sophomore year unforgettable. And by unforgettable, she imagined awesome classes, fun friendships, and maybe a little romance.

What she got was a whole lot of romance, and all at once. (From Goodreads)

MEET LIZ REINHARDT

Liz Reinhardt was born and raised in the idyllic beauty of northwest NJ. A move to the subtropics of coastal Georgia with her daughter and husband left her with a newly realized taste for the beach and a bloated sunscreen budget that exist right alongside an intense longing for the bagels and fast-talking foul mouths of her youth. She loves Raisinettes, even if they aren't really candy, the Oxford comma, movies that are hilarious or feature zombies, any and all books, but especially romance (the smarter and hotter, the better), the sound of her daughter's incessantly wise and entertaining chatter, and watching her husband work on cars in the driveway.

THE INTERVIEW

What is your interesting writing quirk?


Since I have to write with little kids running around at my feet, I am pretty addicted to music. I need it to drown out episodes of Max and Ruby and repeat viewings of Alice in Wonderland! I keep Pandora running constantly, and when I find a song I really, really love, I search it on Youtube and make a huge mix. When payday comes, I buy the songs and load them on my iPod. I have the longest, craziest playlists for every one of my books!


My Side Note: I know what it is like to have to drown out Alice in Wonderland, I know my sister is probably reading this, but she ruined the movie for me. Anytime it was her turn to pick the movie we just had to watch that one like the world depended on it for survival.


Did this book come naturally (from personal experience) or was it a struggle at times?


More than any other book, Double Clutch just poured out of me, no problems, no issues! I even found myself falling asleep over the keyboard because I had so much more to write and say! And this book really felt like the characters just took over and decided what to do and when and how. So if there's anything you don't agree with, I swear it's not my fault! You can totally blame Brenna, Saxon, and Jake though ;)!


My Side Note: I am always happy to hear when authors have to keep their characters in line because it is so cool to be able to channel so many different personalities. 


What does your family think of your writing?


Any time I ever have my laptop out, my daughter is like, "Oh, are you working hard? Are you writing a book?" That makes me feel so bad if I'm fooling around on Facebook! My husband is very proud, but always paranoid that I'm writing about him and making him look bad. My sister and sister-in-law read all my stuff and are my best cheerleaders. My parents think it's brilliant that I've self-published, and they brag to everyone and give me lots of strange advice about what I should be doing, even though they don't know all that much about self-publishing. So, all in all, I have a really awesome, supportive family!!


If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?


I know this is really weird for a YA author, but I would choose Maurice Sendak, who wrote Where the Wild Things Are among other amazing books. He had a passion and a vision, and he went with his gut, even when people complained that his work pushed the boundaries for what kids should be exposed to. But he didn't push boundaries just to do it; he had amazing respect for the children he wrote for. As a writer, anyone can pick up your work and judge it. People can say really hurtful things about what you pour your heart into. I hope I can be like Sendak; focus on the art, on the readers who I know will love what I do, and ignore the naysayers.


What is the message you hope your readers grasp from reading Double Clutch?


I hope they come away with the idea that these three (Brenna, Saxon, and Jake) are so crazily complex and still growing. I hope that they see that teenage years are a time for exploring yourself and your interests, and also a time when you're going to make mistakes and face situations that feel impossible. It's only by facing those kinds of situations that you find your true strength and build your character.

THE WRAP-UP

A big thank you to Liz Reinhardt!! I threw a few tough questions at her today, but she answered them all with grace and style points for choosing Maurice Sendak who is also a personal favorite of mine. I think Liz is well on way to being remembered for her art of writing like Sendak, especially by me since she my first author interview post and no one else can take that honor away from Liz. :-) The fact that her family sounds wonderfully supportive always makes me smile. It is always easier to achieve your dreams when you have people cheering you on. 


If you would like to learn more about Liz, then you should check out the very funny interview done by Liz's sister over at Team Unpubbed. You can tell that interview was done with love. In addition, don't forget that there are more stops on this wonderful blog tour! Up tomorrow is a Special Guest Post by Liz over at Vicky's Books, Biscuits, & Tea. Also be ready for my review of Double Clutch coming soon! 

THE GIVEAWAY

I do hope you will go out and pick up a copy of this great contemporary YA romance, Double Clutch. It is currently available at Amazon as an ebook. Although, you could just be lucky enough to win a copy.


Rules are simple:

1. Name you want announced when you win.
2. Your email address or twitter handle. (So I can contact you when you win)
3. Answer to one of the following questions: Who inspired you to read? OR Which author made you love reading again?

Contest ends 12/11/2011. Winner announced 12/12/2011. International Giveaway.

Thank you again to Liz for joining us today. It was lovely to have you!


Happy Reading,


Michelle 

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