GIVEAWAY: The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain
Dear Anna,
What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I’m so sorry…
The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle’s suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle—her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family—described a woman who embraced life.
Yet there was so much they didn’t know.
With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelle’s friends begin to uncover the truth about this complex woman who touched each of their lives—and the life of a desperate stranger—with love and betrayal, compassion and deceit.
I have one hard copy of The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain for a giveaway! To enter, please leave a comment below letting me know you want to win- easy! Winners will be announced Friday June 3rd. Please note this is for US/Canada residents only. Thank you to Tricia Carr at Media Muscle for sponsoring!
UPDATE:
The winner is Sherie Lagarde. Thank you to everyone who entered!
GIVEAWAY: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding.
I am giving away my ARC of The Sky is Everywhere to one lucky winner. You can read my review of this YA novel, and if this is something you are interested in, please send an email with the subject line ‘Everywhere’ to Samantha (at) chicklitplus (dot) com. Include your full mailing address in the email. The winner will be chosen on Tuesday, November 16th. Good luck!
UPDATE:
The winner is Colleen Turner- congratulations and thanks to all who entered!
One Year Blog Anniversary
Well today is officially the day- my one year blogiversary. I couldn’t be more excited, albeit a bit surprised, at how fast my blog grew. I absolutely love the new world I have been welcomed in to. I feel such a connection, even though it may be virtual, with so many other readers, writers, agents, publishers, etc etc. I have been so lucky to make great working relationships with so many in this industry, and I get excited each time a new book, interview, or just a simple email ends up in my inbox. I got the nicest email just yesterday from a woman telling me she bases all her book buying decisions on my reviews- quite a compliment!
One of the main reasons I started Chick Lit Plus was to help gain connections in the writing industry because I am trying to be a published author some day. The responses I received to help critique and edit my work overwhelmed me. I want to give a big thank you to Cathleen Holst who has been working so patiently with me while I take baby steps towards becoming a better writer. Without her continuing support and encouraging words, I fear I may have given up. I also want to thank Lauren from MyLifeIncomplete.com, who has turned into such a fantastic virtual friend. I have leaned on Lauren when I needed some unbiased advice and she is always coming up with some great ideas for my site. I hope we can keep working together in the future! I also have one more thank you and that goes to Crystal Patriarche of BookSparks PR. Crystal kindly asked me to be a part of the SheKnows Book Club earlier in the year, and I had a great time working with the SheKnows community. I look forward to coming back next year, and for any readers that haven’t signed up for the SheKnows Book Club, I suggest you do! An interactive Q&A session with authors is such a great experience!
I hope everyone is enjoying my giveaways so far for my blogiversary week. If you haven’t already entered to win The Kiss Test by Shannon McKelden or Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow be sure to get your emails in! I have one more giveaway to post tomorrow, so come back to read all about it. A big thank you to each and every one of you that check out my entries each day, and I hope you keep coming back for more!
Samantha
GIVEAWAY: Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow
Keeping up with my blogiversary week, I have another giveaway! Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow is a hysterical book that I know will have chick lit readers laughing until the end. I gave the novel a 5 of 5 star review for the excellent writing and well written plot, and I wanted to give away my ARC of the book to one lucky winner.
Ever since Veronica’s husband found the love of his life-not her-she’s been a walking zombie with runny mascara. It doesn’t help that she keeps getting mistaken for Haley Rush-the Hollywood starlet whose dazzling life is plastered on every magazine.
When Haley’s manager offers Veronica a job as a celebrity double, it only takes a moment before she says yes. Veronica gets to drive Haley’s car, wear her phenomenal clothes-and have fun with her hot celebrity boyfriend, Brady Ellis. Too bad the job’s only part-time, and at the end of the day she has to return to her life as a cash-strapped substitute teacher and cub scout mom.
But when real sparks fly with Brady, is it a fantasy come true or a disaster in disguise?
To enter, please send me an email at Samantha (at) chicklitplus (dot) com with Only Better in the subject line, along with your full mailing address. US/Canada residents only. For extra entries, comment on my Facebook page. Winners will be chosen Sunday the 10th.
UPDATE:
The winner of Just Like Me, Only Better is Sarah Newman. Congratulations!
GIVEAWAY: The Kiss Test by Shannon McKelden
This week, I am celebrating my one year blogiversary! I can’t believe one year has gone by since I started my little site. I remember how ecstatic I became when Cara Lockwood was the first author I interviewed, and how shocked I felt when emails started pouring in from agents and publishers and authors hoping I would want to review their books and interview them. I have met so many wonderful people through Chick Lit Plus, and I want to thank everyone who has helped me succeed in the book blogging world.
To help celebrate, I have a few giveaways that will be running throughout the week. The first kicks off today, and I have two copies of The Kiss Test by Shannon McKelden:
Margo Gentry’s life is perfect. She loves her job as a country music DJ, and she has a great boyfriend who accepts her need to avoid marriage and tolerates her Elvis obsession – even the velvet Elvis painting in their bedroom.
But then it all falls apart. The radio station changes formats and fires all the DJs. Margo’s boyfriend decides he wants kids and a house in the suburbs and kicks her to the curb. And to top it all off, her Mom is getting married — for the 11th time! — and expects Margo to be there as maid of honor.
With no job and no place to live, Margo has to bunk on the couch of her best friend Chris, whose revolving bedroom door has played host to half the women in New York – at least, the ones that pass his “kiss test.” Worse, he’s insisting she attend her mother’s wedding, and is personally driving her cross-country to ensure she shows up.
Forget about surviving the road trip – can their friendship survive The Kiss Test?
To enter, please send me an email at Samantha (at) chicklitplus (dot) com with Kiss Test in the subject line and provide your full mailing address. For extra entries, comment on my Facebook page. Big thanks to Shannon for sponsoring this giveaway! Winners will be chosen Sunday the 10th.
UPDATE:
The two winners of The Kiss Test are Sara Palacios and Pia Bernardino. Congratulations!
GIVEAWAY: Falling Home by Karen White
In FALLING HOME, an NAL/Accent trade paperback on sale November 2nd, Cassie is pulled away from her fast-track career, her Upper West Side apartment and her metrosexual fiancé by the news that her father has suffered a heart attack. He knows he is dying and wants both of his daughters home by his side. Cassie left Walton, fifteen years ago with no plans to return after Joe, the man she loved, eloped with her sister Harriet.
Cassie can barely handle being with her sister, let alone Joe. Yet, there is no way she can keep her distance from them, not as her father lay dying and not with Aunt Lucinda, who helped raise the girls after their mother’s death, looking on. News that the family home has been willed solely to Cassie creates a new rift when she announces her plans to sell the house and its contents as soon as possible. Even long-time family friend Sam Parker, the town’s only physician and an admirer of Cassie since high school, can’t convince her to delay her decision. Soon, Cassie and her inheritance are at the center of the struggle between developers and the preservationists fighting to protect the small town’s sensibility and historic homes.
Despite falling in love with her sister’s children, being confused by her reactions to Sam’s advances, and beginning to realize she feels at home in this place where people ask how you are and actually expect to hear the truth, Cassie still plans to walk away. Meanwhile, developers seem to have gained the upper hand, threatening her family’s and the town’s way of life, even as the house itself begins to yield its secrets when letters and belongings from the past raise questions about heritage and legacies. Then, suddenly, an unseen enemy emerges and each member of the family finds their life has been changed forever.
FALLING HOME was originally published in 2002, and is being released again in November 2010 in response to the many readers who reached out after unsuccessfully searching for the out-of-print novel. It has been extensively revised for this new publication. “Readers told me they loved the story and characters, so it was hard to see what I might change,” says Karen regarding the revisions. “Then it clicked. I didn’t want to change the story. I wanted to change some of the writing—to take the experience and education of having written nine other novels and to work at creating a better book.”
A big thank you to Joy Strazza with Joan Schulhafer Publishing & Media Consulting for supporting this giveaway. I have two copies of Falling Home up for grabs for USA/Canada residents. Post a comment on this post, comment on Facebook, or RT on Twitter to be entered to win. Winners will be chosen on Saturday September 18th.
UPDATE:
The winners have been chosen! Congratulations to Renae N Cal Heald & Michelle (mjcruz3303@yahoo.com). Please email me at Samantha@chicklitplus.com with your mailing address by Wednesday the 22nd to claim your prize. Thanks to all who entered!
Chick Lit Plus Awards
And the Chick Lit Plus Award goes to……
BEST LOL NOVEL
Nominees:
Not Ready for Mom Jeans by Maureen Lipinski
Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank
Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Sleeping with Ward Cleaver by Jenny Gardiner
Winner: The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
BEST ROMANCE NOVEL
Nominees:
Summer of Two Wishes by Julia London
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Anyone for Seconds? by Fiona Cassidy
Winner: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
BEST BFF NOVEL
Nominees:
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
Second Time Around by Beth Kendrick
Winner: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
BEST VILLAIN IN A NOVEL
Nominees:
Miranda, The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Olga, Moonlight in Odessa, by Janet Skeslein Charles
Cici, I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk
Patty, The Icing on the Cupcake by Jennifer Ross
Valerie, Bulletproof Mascara by Bethany Maines
Winner: Cici, I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk
BEST SCANDAL IN A NOVEL
Nominees:
Perfect Blend by Sue Margolis
Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
Still Thinking of You by Adele Parks
Poor Little Bitch Girl by Jackie Collins
Pieces of Happily Ever After by Irene Zutell’
Winner: Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
BEST TEAR-JERKER NOVEL
Nominees:
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Promises to Keep by Jane Green
The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen
The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
On Folly Beach by Karen White
Winner: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
BEST NOVEL FROM A DEBUT AUTHOR
Nominees:
The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen
I’ll Have Who She’s Having by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
Reunion by JL Penn
Hook Line and Sink Him by Jackie Pilossoph
Perfect on Paper by Maria Murnane
Winner: I’ll Have Who She’s Having by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
BEST NOVL WRITTEN BY A CELEBRITY
Nominees:
LA Candy by Lauren Conrad
Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
The Truth About Diamonds by Nicole Richie
Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad
Star by Pamela Anderson
Winner: Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
MOST INTRIGUING CONCEPT
Nominees:
The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch
Tuesday Tells it Slant by Holly Christine
The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
Espressologist by Kristina Springer
Bulletproof Mascara by Bethany Maines
Winner: Espressologist by Kristina Springer
BEST FEMALE
Nominees:
Willa, Montana Sky by Nora Roberts
Darcy, Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Becky, Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella
Rachel, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Sammy, Sammy’s Hill by Kristin Gore
Winner: Becky, Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella
BEST MALE
Nominees:
Luc, See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson
Ethan, Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Luke, Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella
Alex, I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk
Dan, A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff
Winner: Alex, I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk
BEST SERIES
Nominees:
Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich
Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella
Heather Wells Series by Meg Cabot
I Heart Series by Lindsey Kelk
Enchanted Series by Shanna Swendson
Winner: I Heart Series by Lindsey Kelk
NOVEL THAT SHOULD BE A MOVIE
Nominees:
A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelder
I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk
Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Hook Line and Sink Him by Jackie Pilossoph
Winner: I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk
BEST NOVEL MADE INTO A MOVIE
Nominees:
Flirty With Forty by Jane Porter
My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Winner: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
CHARACTER WITH THE BEST JOB
Nominees:
Sophie, Sophie Katz Series by Kyra Davis
Lydia, The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
Becky, Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella
Heather, Heather Wells Series by Meg Cabot
Marla, Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker by Marla Martenson
Winner: Sophie, Sophie Katz Series by Kyra Davis
BEST WEDDING IN A NOVEL
Nominees:
Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella
Wedding Season by Katie Fforde
Scot on the Rocks by Brenda Janowitz
For Better, For Worse by Carole Matthews
I Do, But I Don’t by Cara Lockwood
Winner: Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella
BEST SUPPORTING CHARACTER IN A NOVEL
Nominees:
Suze, Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella
Kelly, Love in Mid Air by Kim Wright
Dot, The Icing on the Cupcake by Jennifer Ross
Jessica, Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella
Candace, Reunion by JL Penn
Winner: Suze, Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella
BEST COUGAR NOVEL
Nominees:
Flirting With Forty by Jane Porter
The Cougar Club by Susan McBride
The Infidelity Pact by Carrie Karasyov
Winner: The Cougar Club by Susan McBride
BEST COVER
Nominees:
Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
Misery Loves Cabernet by Kim Gruenenfelder
Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster
Secrets of the Hollywood Girls Club by Maggie Marr
Winner: Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster
BEST SEQUEL
Nominees:
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
The First Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare
Slightly Settled by Wendy Markham
Killer Cocktails by Sheryl J Anderson
Winner: Something Blue by Emily Giffin
BEST MYSTERY
Nominees:
I Scream, You Scream by Wendy Lyn Watson
Killer Heels by Sheryl J Anderson
Looks to Die For by Janice Kaplan
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Bulletproof Mascara by Bethany Maines
Winner: Bulletproof Mascara by Bethany Maines
THANKS TO ALL WHO VOTED AND THE AUTHORS WHO DONATED THEIR NOVELS!
Check to See if You’re a Winner!
Thank you to everyone who voted for the first annual Chick Lit Plus Awards! I am counting up the votes and can’t wait to announce the final results. Before that, I wanted to list the winners for all of you who voted for your favorites! I had some amazing authors donate their books, and below are the winners. Please check to see if your name or email is listed. If so, please send me an email at Samantha@chicklitplus.com before Friday September 10th to claim your prize. Thanks again everyone!
1 Winner receives three novels by Marla Martenson, Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate is Waiting, Good Date, Bad Date, and Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker – SAMANTHA SANDERS
1 winner receives Vivian Rising by Daniella Brodsky- CASEY (CASEYAMARA@GMAIL.COM)
1 winner receives Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger- SARAH REID
1 winner receives Swallow by Tonya Plank- LISA NELSON
Congratulations to the winners!
Final Votes for Chick Lit Plus Awards
Today is the last day to vote for your favorites to win the Chick Lit Plus Awards! A link is provided below to each category, please use the comment section on those posts to submit your vote. Every single person who enters their vote will be entered in a drawing to receive the following books:
Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate is Waiting by Marla Martenson
Good Date Bad Date by Marla Martenson
Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker by Marla Martenson
Swallow by Tonya Plank
Vivian Rising by Daniella Brodsky
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
If you vote for multiple categories, you are entered multiple times!
Best Novel from a Debut Author
Best Novel written by a Celebrity
Novel that should be turned into a Movie
Best Mystery Nominees
The nominees for Best Mystery or Cozy Mystery:
I Scream, You Scream by Wendy Lyn Watson
Killer Heels by Sheryl J Anderson
Looks to Die For by Janice Kaplan
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Bulletproof Mascara by Bethany Maines
Please vote for your favorite by commenting below. Everyone who votes is entered to win!
