Chick Lit Author Blog Hop 2012
I’ve been wanting to write an article recently reminiscing about Chick Lit Plus. I always tell people starting CLP was the best decision I’ve made (besides recently undergoing Lasik surgery), and it is the truth. The friendships I’ve made, the professional connections, and the knowledge and opportunities that have come my way make me think of how lucky I am. I wear many hats – book reviewer, editor, blog tour coordinator, publisher, author – but I love my busy life and working hard at something I truly enjoy and can say with all my heart I have a passion for.
I fell in love with books at a young age, thanks to the influence of my mother and grandmother. I knew I wanted to be a writer myself, and after graduating college with my BS in business, I decided to put some sort of plan into action. I bought my first laptop (even though I was online student the last two years of college – figure that out) and started researching. I kept coming across book blogs, since I didn’t even really know what the word “blog” meant, I had to do some research on that. After I had a better grasp on blogging and what book bloggers were doing, I searched for a web designer and Chick Lit Plus was put into motion.
So, I had my blog. Then I froze. I remember thinking – how do I get followers? What books do I review? What did I get myself into? I started making trips to the library once a week, checking out anything that looked interesting (mostly those with pink covers) and spilling my thoughts on the book, posting them for everyone to see. I joined Twitter and made a Facebook page for Chick Lit Plus, starting accumulating fans, and within three months had authors and publishers sending me books to review.
Before I started CLP, I had already joined the chick lit fan club. Most books I was checking out could fall in the category, and I was absolutely adoring them. I dove deeper into the genre, looking for some fabulous books to be my first reviews. Which made the top five cut?
- The Agency by Ally O’Brien
- The First Assistant by Clare Naylor & Mimi Hare
- Bliss by Danyel Smith
- Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
- The Truth About Diamonds by Nicole Richie
It’s fun to look back at those first few books that caught my attention purely based on covers alone (besides Nicole Richie – I’ve always just been a fan). I actually didn’t even know Emily Giffin as EMILY GIFFIN when I read Something Borrowed. I checked out the book with a pink cover. Anything with pink, drinks, lollipops, or shopping bags made it in my pile. Now, I’m super lucky to be sent amazing books each week for my reviewing pleasure. I love being a part of the chick lit community, I am so thankful to all the wonderful people I have met along the way, and I’m thrilled to be taking part in the Chick Lit International Month for the second year in a row. Cheers to chick lit – now go read a book!
Contest Info:
I am giving away an eBook copy of my debut novel, Destined to Fail to one lucky winner! To enter, please leave a comment below, and be sure to include the words “chick lit” in your comment in order to be entered!
Grand Prize:
For a chance to win the Chick Lit Author Blog Hop Grand Prize of a $150 Sephora gift card, simply do the following:
- Collect all 34 of the secret words (you will find a secret word in each of the blog posts on the hop.) The word will be italicized, so it will be easy to locate. ***HINT***The secret word in my blog hop post is in the last paragraph, and is not a book title.
- Submit your list of 34 secret words to CLABlogHop@aol.com before midnight on Sunday, May 20th and you will be entered into the Grand Prize Drawing!
- The Grand Prize winner will be announced on Monday, May 21st, and the $150 Sephora gift card can be redeemed online, or at any Sephora store in the US.
- Chick Lit Author Blog Hop contests are open to residents of the United States only.
Please see the post below for a Linky list with all 34 participating authors/blogs. You will have an opportunity to win a different e-book at each blog hop stop. Good luck!
**The winner of Destined to Fail is Sidne! Thank you to everyone who signed up and participated in the author blog hop!**
GIVEAWAY: Prosper in Love by Deborah Michel
A good marriage lasts forever…until it doesn’t.
From the start, Lynn and Jamie Prosper were one of those couples who seem meant to be—so content with each other that they barely notice the rest of the world nodding approvingly at their wedded bliss. But sometimes, even in the very best of marriages, all it takes is a mischievous outsider to bring the perfect couple toppling off the top of the wedding cake…
True, Jamie has been working so hard and traveling so much as a young lawyer that he hardly has enough energy to show his devotion. Not that Lynn, a junior museum curator, has any reason to question it. But when Lynn’s old college friend turns up at a cocktail party, chinks in their marriage’s previously unassailable armor start to show.
Suddenly, without meaning to, Lynn and Jamie have both acquired divorce lawyers. And those benevolent onlookers—meddling in-laws and competitive friends alike—eagerly bear witness to each new misstep. Is love really enough to make a marriage last?
I have one print copy of Prosper in Love by Deborah Michel up for grabs! To enter, please leave a comment below. A winner will be chosen on Wednesday May 9. Please note this open to US/Canada residents only. Thank you to Erin @ Penguin Group for sponsoring this giveaway!
**The winner is Jennifer Starr!**
GIVEAWAY: The Wedding Beat by Devan Sipher
Sometimes the best man isn’t even in the wedding party…
Gavin Greene is a hopeless romantic. He’s also a professional one: He writes the wedding column for a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper, covering spectacular parties from coast to coast. But there’s a thin line between being a hotshot reporter on assignment…and being a single guy alone on a Saturday night at someone else’s wedding.
Everything changes on New Year’s when Gavin meets Melinda, a travel writer with an adventurous spirit. A moonlit stroll across a Manhattan rooftop seems to seal the deal. But then she slips away.
Gavin crisscrosses New York City to find her again, navigating stressed-out brides, gossip blogs, a budget-cutting boss and his daft but well-meaning parents. Along the way, he learns that there’s something worse than losing the woman of his dreams — having to write an article about her wedding.
I have one print copy of The Wedding Beat by Devan Sipher up for grabs! To enter, please just leave a comment below. The winner will be chosen on Thursday, April 12. Please note this is open to US/Canada residents only. Thank you to Erin @ Penguin Group for sponsoring this giveaway!
**The winner is Amanda Bordner!**
GIVEAWAY: Momnesia by Lori Verni-Fogarsi
She’s smart, pretty, and runs her own business. So then why does she feel so dead inside? Between work, two kids, and a husband who finds her about as exciting as furniture shopping, this is the story of a (formerly-exciting but now way-too-typical) suburban mom who diagnoses herself with Momnesia and sets about finessing a new version of her old vivaciousness:
Momnesia (mahm-nee-zhuh) -noun-
Loss of the memory of who you used to be. Caused by pregnancy, play dates, and trying to keep the house cleaner than the Joneses.
She finds some adventure pursing her own interests, and does make some new friends (including the battery operated variety), but still feels like nothing more than a caretaker.
In between dealing with her husband’s manic-depresssive behavior, drama with her friends, and some naughty Internet escapades, she ponders, Is it that I haven’t been myself? Or is it that I am being myself, but just different than I used to be?
It isn’t until she tosses the Invisible Rule Book altogether, that she discovers life–and love–have more to offer than she ever imagined!
With custom-painted cover art that perfectly epitomizes the struggle of finding balance between “momminess” and “sexiness,” Momnesia is a must read for anyone who has ever been a mother, had a mother, wanted to be a mother, judged a mother, or even just wondered about mothers. A great gift book, too!
I have one copy of Momnesia by Lori Verni-Fogarsi up for grabs! The winner can choose between a print or eBook, but print books will be limited to US/Canada residents only. The winner will be chosen on Saturday, March 31. To enter to win, please just leave a comment below. Thank you to Lori for sponsoring this giveaway!
**The winner is Susan @ The Book Bag!**
GIVEAWAY: Gossip by Beth Gutcheon
“Did you know that the origin of the word gossip in English is ‘god-sibling’? It’s the talk between people who are godparents to the same child, people who have a legitimate loving interest in the person they talk about. It’s talk that weaves a net of support and connection beneath the people you want to protect.”
Loviah “Lovie” French owns a small, high-end dress shop on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Renowned for her taste and discretion, Lovie is the one to whom certain women turn when they need “just the thing” for major life events—baptisms and balls, weddings and funerals—or when they just want to dish in the dressing room. Among the people who depend on Lovie’s confidence are her two best friends since boarding school: Dinah Wainwright and Avis Metcalf.
Outspoken and brimming with confidence, Dinah made a name for herself as a columnist covering the doings of New York’s wealthiest and most fabulous. Shy, proper Avis, in many ways Dinah’s opposite, rose to prominence in the art world with her quiet manners, hard work, and precise judgment. Despite the deep affection they both feel for Lovie, they have been more or less allergic to each other since a minor incident decades earlier that has been remembered and resented with what will prove to be unimaginable consequences.
These uneasy acquaintances become unwillingly bound to each other when Dinah’s favorite son and Avis’s only daughter fall in love and marry. On the surface, Nick and Grace are the perfect match—a playful, romantic, buoyant, and beautiful pair. But their commitment will be strained by time and change: career setbacks, reckless choices, the birth of a child, jealousies, and rumor. At the center of their orbit is Lovie, who knows everyone’s secrets and manages them as wisely as she can. Which is not wisely enough, as things turn out—a fact that will have a shattering effect on all their lives.
An astute chronicler of everything that makes us human, Beth Gutcheon delivers her most powerful and emotionally devastating novel to date. Gossip is a tale of intimacy and betrayal, trust and fidelity, friendship, competition, and motherhood that explores the myriad ways we use and abuse “information” about others—be it true, false, or imagined—to sustain, and occasionally destroy, one another.
I have one print copy of Gossip by Beth Gutcheon up for grabs! To enter, please just leave a comment below. A winner will be chosen on Friday, March 23. Please note this will be open to US/Canada residents only. Thank you to Leyane @ FSB Associates for sponsoring this giveaway!
GIVEAWAY: Julia’s Child by Sarah Pinneo
A delectable comedy for every woman who’s ever wondered if buying that six-dollar box of organic crackers makes her a hero or a sucker.
Julia Bailey is a mompreneur with too many principles and too little time. Her fledgling company, Julia’s Child, makes organic toddler meals with names like Gentle Lentil and Give Peas a Chance. But before she can realize her dream of seeing them on the shelves of Whole Foods, she will have to make peace between her professional aspirations and her toughest food critics: the two little boys waiting at home. Is it possible to save the world while turning a profit?
Julia’s Child is a warmhearted, laugh-out-loud story about motherhood’s choices: organic vs. local, paper vs. plastic, staying at home vs. risking it all.
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I have one print copy of Julia’s Child by Sarah Pinneo up for grabs! To enter, please leave a comment below. The winner will be drawn on Saturday, February 25. Please note this is for US residents only. Thank you!
**The winner is Marilyn Bonnette!**
GIVEAWAY: Favorable Conditions by Kathleen Kole
February 22, 2012 by Samantha
Filed under Chick Lit Plus, Updates
Pat Keegan thought, once her child rearing years were done, she would be throwing her arms around her husband and together they would be making big, romantic plans for their next stage of life. Suddenly, Pat is divorced and life starts to get messy for Pat when she dives into a new business venture, has to help plan a wedding and meets a charming, handsome younger man …
I have two print copies of Favorable Conditions by Kathleen Kole for giveaway! To enter, please just leave a comment below. The winners will be chosen on Friday, February 24th. Please note this open to US/Canada residents only. Thank you to Kathleen Kole for sponsoring this giveaway!
**The winners are Linda Kish & Sheena. Thank you to everyone who entered!**
GIVEAWAY: Stay Tuned Prize Pack
January 22, 2012 by Samantha
Filed under Chick Lit Plus, Updates
Lauren Clark is also giving away a special prize pack to any ChickLit Plus follower who buys Stay Tuned (99 cent ebook on Amazon) by January 20, 2012. To enter, forward a copy of your Amazon receipt to Samantha@ChickLitPlus.
The prize pack ($40 value) includes a 15 dollar iTunes gift card, a canvas Stay Tuned tote bag, and a paperback copy of Stay Tuned signed by the author.
The winner will be chosen using Random.org on January 22, 2012 and announced on the ChickLit Plus website following the drawing. Multiple entries are allowed- one for each book purchased.
**The winner is Pascale Poitras. Thank you to everyone who entered!**
Happy 2nd Birthday Chick Lit Plus!
November 13, 2011 by Samantha
Filed under Chick Lit Plus, Updates
I am a bad, bad girl. I forgot a very special birthday- the 2nd birthday of Chick Lit Plus! Man, I felt like such a tosser when I realized that earlier in the month. Who forgets their own blog’s birthday? I’m hoping I have a good enough excuse- the publishing of my first book! Destined to Fail became available as an eBook on October 20th, and the weeks leading up to that were crazy. Last minute edits and revisions, formatting woes, cover battles and choosing fonts. What a process! In all the craziness, I forgot that October is the anniversary month for Chick Lit Plus. But better late than never- right?
I want to give a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who has continued to make CLP a success. I can’t believe what has come from this little blog- almost 300 book reviews, dozens of author interviews and informative guest posts, plus branching out into editing and marketing. And now to be a published author- what a crazy two years this has been. The friends I have made are just the cherry on top for me. My world is now open to so many new ideas, and the support and encouragement just does not stop. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am truly one lucky lady.
Now on to the fun part- the giveaway! *Rubs hands together with glee* As usual, I need to tidy up my bookshelf. I give books away like they are going out of style, always pressuring my friends and family to read, read, read, but I still have some books for you! Check out all the books below I am giving away- and that includes copies of my own Destined to Fail. Yay! Check out the details and enter to win. Happy Birthday Chick Lit Plus!
Win copies of the following print ARCs:
The Summer We Came to Life by Deborah Cloyed
The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
Full Moon Bride by Shobhan Bantwal
Little Black Dress by Susan McBride
And three winners will win an eBook copy of my debut, Destined to Fail, published as Samantha March.
To enter, please leave a comment below letting me know which books you would like to win and why. This is open worldwide. Winners will be chosen Friday, November 11. Thank you!
The winners are:
The Lies We Told- Jennifer Fischetto – jennbooks@gmail.com
Little Black Dress- Kathleen Anderson- jerseygirlbookreviews@yahoo.com
The Summer We Came to Life- Nancye Davis- nancyecdavis@bellsouth.net
On Folly Beach- Lucie Simone- Lalucie@sbcglobal.net
Full Moon Bride- Lisa/Lost in Literature- llongi717@yahoo.com
Destined to Fail eBook:
Laura/The Reading Nook- Laurabcrupi@gmail.com
Cindy R- writeoncindy@yahoo.com
Michele W- brn2shop9@gmail.com
GIVEAWAY: What Came First by Carol Snow
First comes love, then comes marriage, then . . . things can get a little complicated.
Vanessa wants just one thing for her twenty-ninth birthday: an engagement ring from her longtime boyfriend, Eric. But when the ring turns out to be a mix CD and Eric turns out to be a guy who doesn’t want to get married or have children, Vanessa considers a new path to having a family.
When Wendy and her husband, Darren, couldn’t have children the old- fashioned way, a sperm donor seemed like the perfect solution. She never imagined she’d have out-of-control twins who’d drive her to cookie binges and scrapbooking while Darren escaped into the virtual world of computer games.
Single and career-driven, Laura didn’t need a man to have a baby – at least not one that she ever met. Thanks to an anonymous donor, she shares her life with her adored eight-year-old son, Ian. She’ll do anything for Ian – even fill their backyard with a bunch of noisy chickens. But the one thing Ian really wants is something Laura’s never been able to give him: a sibling.
Now, to grant Ian’s wish, Laura starts a search that will not only change her life but Vanessa’s and Wendy’s as well…
I have two print copies of What Came First by Carol Snow for giveaway! To enter, please leave a comment below. Please note this is for US residents only. The winners will be chosen on Friday, October 14th. Thank you to Alexandra at Penguin Group for sponsoring this giveaway!
**The winners are Erin & Chanpreet Singh. Thank you to everyone who entered!**
