A Hero's Blog Hop Giveaway

A Hero's Blog Hop - Destiny Unhinged

 Are you ready to hear what your favorite romance heroes have to say? Well, we authors are ready to share our hunky heroes! Starting on Friday and ending on July 31st, over 100 Authors and Bloggers will share their favorite things about romance heroes, a character post from them, and what we love about romance and men in general.

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 100 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that's not all....

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 100 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!

Now on to the Hero...(or should I say Heroes)

Destiny Unhinged is my debut Novel. It is written in Vanessa Wilkinson Randolph's POV. 

VANESSA, a soon to be 17 year-old, who anxiously awaits for her birthday, a boyfriend and some much needed excitement in her dull, boring, meager life.

She soon finds herself torn between her destiny that she is expected to have with MAX – a deceased alien from another planet who wants nothing more than to cherish her, offer her his world and make her his Queen - and the one she desires to have with TOBY - the down-to-earth (or so she thinks) good looking guy who will stop at nothing to protect her but also has his own destiny to fulfill, one that unfortunately doesn’t involve her but one he doesn’t want either.

Will she escape fate and what’s meant to be only to decide her own destiny or will life find a way of taking her down a different path only to end up where she was meant to be all along?

 

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Well that will be determined, but wouldn't you like to get in the head of Max and Toby?

 

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Meet Maxzinyea a.k.a Max Harper: A nineteen year old, gorgeous, tall and muscular. The image of Thor radiant from every description Vanessa could possibly describe him as. He appears to be genuinely interested into her and has a strong desire to please her. 

The catch? He is a ghost, oh yeah, he is also an alien, King of Najinial, thrown upon this Earth to find his queen so he may return home and rule as his father wished.

His powers are massive, even in death, on this world.  By making a physical connection to Vanessa by injecting her with part of his essence, he now has a bond with her, both physically and mentally.

Here are some of Max's thoughts on the morning of Vanessa's arrival to his cemetery:  I have been so lonely living as a non-existence piece of this world. I want so much to go home and rule Najinial as my father had planned.  How much of a disappointment I must be to my family?  If they were alive as well, they would surely hold contentment for my actions.  I tried not to get killed on this world.  I didn't know Ravagers were closing in so quickly.

I've found my queen. She is beautiful.  More than I ever could have imagined.  I see life pouring from her veins. I know she belongs with me. I feel her approach. This is it.  This is my chance to finally connect.  I'm tired of waiting, tired of being alone and so tired of not existing.  I must get her to come home with me to Najinial, not only for me but for our people and my parents.  With her return, I can bring my parents back into existence on our world.  She will be the savour for all of Najinial.  My love, my heart, my forever Mirellium.

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Meet Toby Clarkston: A friend to Harold, Vanessa's BFF Jules' boyfriend.  Vanessa is instantly drawn to him. His good looks, Will Smith dimples, dark hair that likes to sweep across his forehead to the side, who constantly pulls her heart strings. Not to mention the overwhelming determination to find herself a boyfriend.  She really thinks this down-to-earth kind of guy is just her type.

The catch? Well Toby apparently has another girl lined up to be his.  Unwanted and undesired by Toby, but also unknown to Vanessa.  Toby is part of a Destiny that requires him to be with another. His family moved here in hopes for Toby to fall in love with this girl on his own, rather than forced into an arrangement of some sorts that is required by all of his family.

Here are some of Toby's thoughts on Vanessa when finally getting some one-on-one time with her in the Cemetery: This is wrong, I know it in my heart. Her being so close to me is sending my heart into overdrive.  I shouldn't have feelings for her.  My father would not approve. I can't turn my back on my family or our family requirements. Tradition is tradition but it is so not fair.  If I had not been born into my family then I know I would have found her. Destiny or not, she would be the one I would choose to spend the rest of my life with.

Her long light auburn hair and blue eyes is too much for any man to deny. She deserves so much more than I can promise to offer her but I can't bear to see her with anyone else.  I know I have no right to claim what isn't mine but why can't I have what so many others wait an entire lifetime to find...love...

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I hope  you enjoyed a little bit of Max and Toby and if you would like to check the book out yourself, Destiny Unhinged. 

 I am giving away a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to the winner of my post.  Make sure you sign up by also leaving your name and email address in the comments below, you will have an opportunity to win one of the THREE grand prizes for the entire giveaway hop.  It's an amazing hop to be a part of. 

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Thanks for stopping by.  You can continue on with the hop by clicking on any of the list below. Oh & check out the hop below this one for another opportunity to win! WhooHoo!!

Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway Blog Hop

Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway Hop

July 27th to August 1st

Hosted by Colorimety & I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

Welcome to my blog. It is a work in progress as you can see. I've only been blogging since the beginning of the year but I honestly can say I love every minute of it!

I hope you are enjoying the remaining days left of your summer. I know mine has gone by way too fast. I have been spending alot of my time kayaking, biking, reading some really great books and writing. 

I have recently published my debut novel, Destiny Unhinged, so please check it out sometime.  It would be a great read on your kindle or nook, if you ever find a lazy afternoon of wanting something to read.

I hope you keep in touch since I will be doing many more blog hops, book reviews, possibly even author interviews and I will begin my own Promotional Book Tour for my debut novel,  starting August 27th, so please come back to check it out for great prizes!

Right now, please sign up below to win either a $10 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It's a great prize to use to purchase some really great books, then follow the link below to continue on with the hop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Free Ebooks!

Wow! I must admit that I cannot stay away from downloading free books unto my kindle.  First the cover will catch my eye, then the blurb and when I see it as free, whoohoo!

However, I have so many now on my kindle, that I don't see how I will ever read them all unless I never buy a book again for the rest of the year, plus I would need to read at least four a week. Maybe if I didn't have a full time job, maybe if I wasn't into writing more myself, and maybe if I gave up blogging all together.  Wouldn't that be the life, though? 

Blogging, reading, writing. . . all a part of a full time career. Awe. . . one can dream can't she?

Anyway I wanted to share a few with you. I don't know how long they will last, so you better grab them while you can.  As soon as I read them, if I haven't already, I will write a review to share with other readers as well as to help the author out.

 

 This is just a few I have discovered.  I will have more to come...

ENJOY!!!

Summer Lovin Giveaway Hop

Summer Lovin Giveaway Hop
July 11th to 17th

Co-hosted by Tifferz Book Review

Young Adult Romance
& Clean Adult Romance

I hope you are enjoying your Giveaway hop.  I am offering my debut novel, Destiny Unhinged to five lucky winners.  If you like Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, and Fantasy, then this is a book for you.

On a yearly trip to the cemetery to plant flowers for Memorial Day, Vanessa finds herself questioning her sanity when an invisible and unexplained occurrence prevents her from moving her leg as a sharp, piercing pain enters her calf.

With the admission of such a frightful event to her friends, Jules, Harold and Toby quickly take it upon themselves to investigate the cemetery for any possible explanations.

Vanessa soon finds herself torn between two guys. Well, I guess that is what she would call them, even though one is a dead Alien King from Najinial.

Max, the dead alien is trapped in limbo between two worlds and longs for Vanessa, his destiny, to help him home and become his Queen. He offers her his world, his heart and his future.

Toby, a good looking guy who has a soft spot for Vanessa, has confessed that he has a destiny that is meant to be with another girl. After Facebook stalking, Vanessa comes to the realization that Michele, must be the one Toby is destined to be with due to the over abundance of uploads he has posted on his page.

The connection that Vanessa has with Max is strong but the desire she has for Toby may be even stronger.



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Please continue on with the hop for even more great prizes.  Thanks for stopping by! If you want to leave me your blog link in the comments below, I would love to join. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Summer! Keep on reading!

Question - What's the best way to review and where should it be posted?

So a while back, I realized how important it was to give a review for a book. Not only for the author to help get the book noticed but also to the reader to help entice them on whether or not the book is worth their time.

Granted everybody has their own opinion and even though someone doesn't like the book, it doesn't mean it's a bad book.  It just wasn't right for that one person. I, myself, look at the cover first, look at the number of ratings, read the synopsis, look at the author's bio and then possible take a moment to read a review or two.  Unfortunately, the cover makes a first impression with me but doesn't hinder my purchase.

Price is another factor. I rarely have purchased an ebook for more than $8 unless it is by a well known published author. It's not that it may not be good, it's just that I can get so many for under $5 that are just as interesting. I also have taken every "FREE" option that I have discovered by authors I'm interested in, which is a reason I have about 70 books to read on my Kindle. (YIKES!)

Since I have made it my personal mission to make sure I write a review and tag a book whenever possible, I'm still unsure what is the best way to review.

I, personally, do not like to see spoilers given. I love being surprised when I read a book. I do like reading whether a person enjoyed the book but again I don't let their opinion hinder my choice of actually taking the time myself to find out if I have that same opinion.

That being said, is it better to write a full review with spoilers and all or a review just stating some good points without giving so much away. 

I have recently discovered in my own journey of finding people to review my debut novel, Destiny Unhinged, that there are so many review sites out there.

Amazon: Of course, is a big one for me since I have a Kindle and do most of my purchases through them.

Goodreads: This is a great one. I have been a member with them for several months and although I only have 25 friends at the moment, I really like to see what my friends are adding to their "to read" lists and what they have already "read".  This actually helps my personal read list to grow.

Shelfari: I've only recently discovered this one.  I have joined and added several of my "read" books as well as "to read". I figure I need to get my personal reviews out there to help as much as possible. I joined since I have run across some review blogs that mentioned that they post their reviews on this site. It is a branch off of Amazon and it is similar to Goodreads.

Smashwords: It is difficult to post a review on this site without having purchased from it.  I do not purchase many through this site so I'm unable to help out with adding a review.  However, I've noticed that authors do offer more coupon codes to this site which does may it a nice incentive to purchase from here.

Librarything:  This is another one I'm still learning the ropes on.  Again, you can add books that you've read or want to read. You can add friends and see what others have posted for reviews. I've discovered that some of the books I have read are even missing images. So I working on completing the books that I have at least read to help these authors out. 

Diesel-ebooks Store: This is an actual store that you can purchase books from.  You can add a review even though you didn't purchase from this site.  They even offer you a small amount of "reward money" if you do rate and write a review.  There reviews are limited to 40 words which doesn't let you write all that you would love to write.  I have discovered that not all the books that I have personally read are available on this site.

If I am missing any sites, please comment below along with what a reader would like to see in means of a review.  Like I mentioned earlier, it's my own mission to help an author out.

INDIE-pendence Day

INDIEpendence Day - A Celebration of Indie Authors

This INDIEpendence day, the Indelibles would like to celebrate indie authors (self-published and small-press) as a whole by holding up examples of outstanding indie works. The 25 Indelible authors all believe that amazing works of fiction can be found in indie novels. By highlighting and bringing greater awareness to quality indie books, people find great books to read, indie authors get support, and we continue to change hearts and minds about the gems that can be found among self-published and small-press novels.

My Indie-pendence Day pick is The Fairy Tale Trap by Emily Casey. I signed up for this Indiedepence Day Celebration to give credit and adoration to Emily Casey, Author of The Fairy Tale Trap.

I first ran across this novel back in February. I downloaded it onto my Kindle on a Friday night. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. As my husband was watching a movie on Netflix, I was thrown in the world of Ivy Thorne, a military brat that has been stuck moving from one base to another and soon discovers the real reason she was never keen of mirrors. She gets sucked into the world of Beauty and the Beast. At first she's the character of Beauty but with her scheming ways of not playing by the rules of a mischievious pixie that forces her to participate, she later becomes Beauty's sidekick. This novel has great characters that really keep you involved with them.

You can check out my orignial review for The Fairy Tale Trap at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12953656-the-fairy-tale-trap

This is my very first interview and I am so psyched that Emily Casey had agreed to grant me a little bit of her time and mind to answer my following questions. (and a little help with reworking question #5)

1) The Fairy Tale Trap was your first novel. What inspired you to start putting pen to paper with this story?

            I have a few “closet novels” that will never see the light of day. I wanted to write my first novel because I was excited to plan twists and create the magic that I loved to read. But The Fairy Tale Trap was a special book for me. It’s the first time I ever started writing a book because I loved the character so much. Ivy was the beginning of this series and she hasn’t let me down.

  2) How long did it take you to complete The Fairy Tale Trap?

            It took me one year, with a couple short breaks in between. I used that time to set up things like my website and plan the sequel to The Fairy Tale Trap.

 3) When you write out a novel, do you start with an outline first or just start and see where the story and characters take you on their own?

            I have an idea of where I want the story to go, but I don’t know how it’ll end. But when I start the second draft, every plot point is planned-out. And it’s usually really different from what I originally wrote in the first draft. (But first drafts are great for character development and other important things.)

 4) What is the best part that you have discovered of being an Indie Author?

            I love that I have control over everything. I’m a little OCD about things, so I like being able to change release dates, my book covers, that sort of thing. I also really like that I can get on facebook, ask my readers what they want, and then write it into the story. I know other authors can talk to fans, but being self-published makes me feel closer to my readers.

 5) If you were to choose any author that you could talk with for one hour, who would it be and what would you talk about?

            I’d love to sit down with J.K. Rowling and find out how she put her book together. Every time I read Harry Potter, I’m amazed by the details and the way she layered all the plots and characters.

If you would like a little teaser check at Emily's website for the first few chapters.  Emily has also graciously supplied a coupon code YS63F for Smashwords to get the great novel for .99.

Catch up with Emily at the following:
Emily's blog: http://emilycasey.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/emilycaseysmusings
Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmilyCaseysMuse
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/emilycasey
Smashwords page: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/115248
Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Tale-Trap-Thorn-ebook/dp/B006NBC3PU
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obNqYPZSUgE

If you would like to win a e-book version of The Fairy Tale Trap by Emily Casey, please leave a comment below along with your email address so I may contact you if you're a winner. (Winner will get a link to download version of choice from Smashwords.)

Please continue on with the Blog Hop by following the link below.
http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com/2012/06/indiependence-day-celebration-of-indie.html

Thank you for stopping by and giving me a little bit of your time.