Happy New Year 2012 Blog Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to the Happy New Year 2012 Giveaway Hop!
Thanks to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer;
Babs from Babs Book Bistro for co-hosting.

Nearly 200 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. 

The hop runs from Friday, December 30 through Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

Giveaway Details
I'm giving away a copy of

Identity
by Betsy Love
Nominated for a 2011 Whitney Award

About the Book:  While vacationing in Mexico, two similar-looking young women find themselves caught in a chain reaction of mistaken identities. Amelia is a wealthy heiress and business owner, and Savannah is a sweet Mormon girl deciding whether or not to serve a mission. When they end up on the same flight to Phoenix, Savannah and Amelia unravel the sequence of events that wreaked havoc on their trips, and they make plans to resolve the subsequent misunderstandings. But their flight is cut short when the plane crashes, killing one of the young women and plunging the other into a world of intrigue and deceit where identity means everything.

Super Simple to Enter

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to THREE extra entries by:

1 for Following by Email
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Facebook - leave link
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Twitter - leave link

List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Winner will be announced Thursday, January 5, 2012

Thanks for stopping by.
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here -
we have a few other giveaways going on.

Once you're done here, HOP on over to the other blogs and check out their giveaways! 

Blog Tour & Book Giveaway: Savvy Savings by Melissa Jennings and Shelley King

Savvy Savings Blog Tour & Giveaway

by Melissa Jennings and Shelley King; Cedar Fort, Inc.

2012 Winter Books & Things Catalog, Pg.20

Order from a local Independent LDS Bookstore 

Stores are listed on the right of the blog

About the Book:   Working to stretch your budget? With their expert coupon strategies, menu planning, and other household management skills, Stockpiling Moms are the answer! Straight from their award-winning blog to your hands and home, they’ve compiled their best loved tips and tricks just for you. They know what it takes to live a frugal lifestyle within a budget, and now you can too!

About the Authors:   In 2009, Melissa Jennings and Shelley King founded StockpilingMoms.com and made it their mission to save money for their families. They share their journey to savvy living as they use coupons to build their stockpile and live a debt-free life. Melissa and Shelley are best friends who met through International Adoption.

Melissa taught family and consumer science (home economics) on the high school level for eleven years and holds a masters degree in education. 

Shelley spent three years as a substance abuse counselor, educating people and giving them the tools to aid them in living a healthy lifestyle. 

Melissa and Shelley are stockpiling experts who want to help you stretch your family budget. Melissa has one son (Peyton), and Shelley has two boys (Chase and Caleb), all of whom were born in Guatemala.

Kay's Kritique:  The New Year is upon us - How is your Resolution List coming?  How about adding to the the list to cut your grocery budget 50-70%?   Using tips in Savvy Saving you will learn how.

Here's some tips I picked up reading Savvy Saving:
-  Product sale cycles, Month by Month - Do you know the best month to buy potatoes?
-  All the ins and outs of using coupons - Do you know what "stacking" is?
-  The pros and cons of warehouse clubs and tips to get the most for your membership - Do you know how to stretch out a yearly membership to 18 months?
-  Shopping strategies - Do you know how to pick the best cashiers?
-  Product dating - Do you know the 4 types of open dating used by manufacturers and what they mean?
-  Storage and freezing tips - Do you know how to extend the life of sour cream?
-  Monthly Menu Planning - Don't forget the "left over" days!
-  Eating Out Strategies - Do your favorite eating spots have e-clubs?

If you can't answer the questions or want more tips - you now know where to find them - Savvy Savings.

Giveaway Details:

I'm giving away 1 Copy of Savvy Savings when it is released in January, if the winner lives in the US/Canada or if an International winner they will receive an eBook copy.

Super Simple to Enter:

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to Five extra entries by:

1 for Following by Email
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Facebook - leave link
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Twitter. - leave link
1 for "Liking" our new Books & Things Catalog Facebook Page - click through to "Like."
1 for "Liking" our Keepin' Up With LDS Bookstores Facebook Page - click through to "Like."

List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012
Winner will be announced Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012

Thanks for stopping by. 
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here.

Click Here for all the Savvy Saving Blog Tour Stops

Blog Tour & Book Giveaway: Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan

Fractured Light Blog Tour & Giveaway

by Rachel McClellan; Cedar Fort, Inc.

2012 Winter Books & Things Catalog, Pg. 30

Order from a local Independent LDS Bookstore 

Stores are listed on the right of the blog

About the Book:  I’m dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After a Vyken killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

About the Author:  I was born and raised in Idaho, a place secretly known for its supernatural creatures. When I'm not in my writing lair, I'm partying with my husband and four small children. My love for storytelling began as a child when the moon first possessed the night. For when the lights went out, my imagination painted a whole new world. And what a scary world it was… Oh, and my debut YA novel Fractured Light will be out February 2012.

Kay's Kritique:  Fractured Light was another stay up until 3 a.m. to finish.  I tried to put it down a couple of times, but thought "Oh I'll just read another chapter . . . " and then I was done and it was 3 a.m.  Rachel has written a great YA Fantasy with spunky Llona who just wants to live a "normal" teenage life, but can't because she is anything but normal.  She struggles to figure out who she really is and learn how to control the light and use it to save herself before it's too late.  Written for Young Adults but Adults will enjoy it too -- I did.

Giveaway Details:

I'm giving away 1 Copy of Fractured Light when it is released in February, if the winner lives in the US/Canada or if an International winner they will receive an eBook copy.

Super Simple to Enter:

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to Five extra entries by:

1 for Following by Email
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Facebook - leave link
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Twitter. - leave link

1 for "Liking" our new Books & Things Catalog Facebook Page - click through to "Like."
1 for "Liking" our Keepin' Up With LDS Bookstores Facebook Page - click through to "Like."

List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011
Winner will be announced Monday, Jan. 2, 2012

Thanks for stopping by.
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here.

Click Here for all the Fractured Light Blog Tour Stops

Mid-Winter's Eve Blog Hop Giveaway

Welcome to the Mid-Winter's Eve Blog Hop Giveaway!
Thanks to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer;
Jessie Harrell from Oasis For YA & The Daily Harrell for co-hosting. 

 

The holiday rush is winding down and it's time to slow down, enjoy family and friends 

and curl up with a good book.

Over 250 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another.  

The hop runs from Wednesday, December 21 through Tuesday, December 27.

 Giveaway Details
I'm giving away a copy of

Einstein's Trunk
a thriller by
James Haberkorn
Click here to read my review . . .

Super Simple to Enter

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to THREE extra entries by:

1 for Following by Email
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Facebook - leave link
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Twitter - leave link

List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Tuesday, December 27
Winner will be announced Thursday, December 29

Thanks for stopping by. 
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here.

Once you're done here, HOP on over to the other blogs and check out their giveaways! 

Blog Tour & Book Giveaway: Enduring Light by Carla Kelly

Enduring Light Blog Tour & Giveaway

by Carla Kelly; Cedar Fort, Inc.

Coming January, 2012

2012 Winter Books & Things Catalog, Sneak Preview

Pre-Order from a local Independent LDS Bookstore 

Stores are listed on the right of the blog

About the Book:  Julia Darling is finally able to marry her Paul for eternity. But it's a harsh world for a rancher in turn-of-the-century Wyoming, especially a Mormon rancher. When alienation and threats start coming, Julia must prove she's her husband's equal in strength and endurance as she learns to let go of scars on the outside and inside. Best-selling author Carla Kelly has woven a new story about the depths of love discovered by enduring to the end.

About the Author:   A newcomer to Cedar Fort Publications, Carla Kelly is a veteran of the New York and international publishing world. The author of more than thirty novels and novellas for Donald I. Fine Co., Signet, and Harlequin, Carla is the recipient of two Rita Awards (think Oscars for romance writing), from Romance Writers of America, and two Spur Awards (think Oscars for western fiction) from Western Writers of America.

The Kellys recently (last year) retired, and moved from North Dakota to Utah, where they have relatives.

Kay's Kritique:  Carla Kelly was a new author for me as I read & reviewed Marion's Christmas Wish a few weeks ago and really enjoyed.  So I was excited to read Enduring Light as a pre-release from NetGalley.  As I started reading, I realized this is a sequel to another book, Borrowed Light which I have not read.  This book is so well written that I was able to keep up and enjoy Enduring Light.  And even though I know the end of the story, Carla's writing is so good, I want to go back and read Borrowed Light.  I really like out heroine, Julia Darling, who relieves stress by cooking up a storm - and the wonderful chemistry between her and Paul makes it an exciting and clean romance (which I am always grateful for).  Because I also love to cook, I was glad to see recipes at the end of the book from a turn of the century cookbook that will be fun to try.  Although there are a few traditional ones from a Western Round Up I can assure you I will never make or try.

Giveaway Details:

I'm giving away 1 Copy of Enduring Light when it is released in January, if the winner lives in the US/Canada or if an International winner they will receive an eBook copy.

Super Simple to Enter:

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to Five extra entries by:

1 for Following by Email
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Facebook - leave link
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Twitter. - leave link
1 for "Liking" our new Books & Things Catalog Facebook Page - click through to "Like."
1 for "Liking" our Keepin' Up With LDS Bookstores Facebook Page - click through to "Like."

List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011
Winner will be announced Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011

Thanks for stopping by. 
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here.

Click Here for all the Enduring Light Blog Tour Stops

We Have a Winner in Our Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop

Thanks to everyone to hopped around the web 

and entered our 

Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop.

 Congratulations to our winner of a

 

 

Cold River

by Liz Adair

Featured on pg. 34 of the Christmas Books & Things

Click here to read my review

Our Winner was selected by using Random.org

DONNA
from Massachusetts
Thanks for entering - come back often!

Click here to buy your copy from an Independent Retailer

Blog Tour & Book Giveaway: Carving Angels by Diane Stringam Tolley

Carving Angels Blog Tour

by Diane Stringam Tolley; Cedar Fort, Inc.

2011 Christmas Books & Things Catalog, pg. 8

Order from a local Independent LDS Bookstore 

Stores are listed on the right of the blog

About the Book:   Papa Adam, the North Pole's oldest elf and Santa's former chief carver, has given up. Blind, frail, and feeling useless, he counts the minutes in every day as he waits to die -- until his youngest granddaughter challenges him to carve again. Together they prove that the most beautiful creations can come from the most unlikely sources and with the right love and encouragement, anything is possible.

About the Author:  Diane Stringam Tolley was born and raised on a ranch in Southern Alberta, Canada. Educated in journalism, she is the author of countless articles and short stories and a novel for young adults, Essence. She and her husband, Grant, are the parents of six children and live in Beaumont, Alberta, Canada.

Kay's Kritique:  5 year old Amy brings the sweet innocent belief of a child to Carving Angels which can help us all realize that we can do anything we put our minds to - we just have to believe. It's not hard to relate to Papa Adams and see all the reasons why we can't "carve" again in our own lives -- forgetting that to "see what's within" is really all the power we need to succeed - and maybe a little help from the innocence of a child that doesn't know they can't do something so they just do it.

One of my favorite parts was when Papa Adams explains to Amy how he creates his carvings like "Father Creator" creates his children - not with a knife but --

"He uses life and experience to mold and refine us.  Father Creator takes each of us and hold us  to the light, trying to see what sort of good person is inside.  Then he gives us experiences that bring out that person.  Experiences that carve off the rough, unwanted edges and slowly shape and refine us until we are perfect."

Carving Angels is a Christmas book that captures the spirit of the season and can be easily read in a quiet evening.

Giveaway Details:

I'm giving away 1 Copy of Carving Angels if the  winner lives in the US/Canada or if an International winner they will receive an eBook copy.

Super Simple to Enter:

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to SIX extra entries by:

1 for "Liking" us on Facebook - Click the "Like" button on this blog.
1 for Following by Email
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Facebook - leave link
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Twitter. - leave link
1 for "Liking" our new Books & Things Catalog Facebook Page - click through to "Like."
1 for "Liking" our Keepin' Up With LDS Bookstores Facebook Page - click through to "Like."

List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
Winner will be announced Friday, Dec. 16, 2011

Thanks for stopping by. 
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here.

Click Here for all the Carving Angels Blog Tour Stops

Blog Tour & Book Giveaway: Miracle of the Christmas Star by Susan Dean Elzey

Miracle of the Christmas Star Book Blog Tour & Giveaway

by Susan Dean Elzey; Cedar Fort, Inc.

2011 Christmas Books & Things, pg. 8

Available NOW from your Local LDS Reatailer

Stores are listed on the right of the blog. 

About the book:   Hannah died the night she was born. The new star's light brought her back to life, but left her stricken with palsy. Sariah, Hannah's mother, believes Hannah can be healed, if only she can find the Savior. Miracle of the Christmas Star is a tender story of love, faith and endurance that will touch your heart and remind you why miracles happen.

About the Author:   Susan Dean Elzey was raised an Army brat and moved to southern Virginia when she was a teenager. She is the mother of seven grown children, stepmother to two, and a grandmother to an ever-increasing brood of grandchildren. Her oldest daughter has cerebral palsy and is the inspiration behind the character of Hannah in her latest novel, "The Miracle of the Christmas Star."

Susan works as a writer and an adjunct English professor at a community college in a constant battle against comma mistakes and sentence fragments. For years, she has written a weekly humorous column entitled "7XMOM" (Seven Times Mom) for the "Danville Register & Bee" newspaper in which she shares the experiences of her life and of her family that, as her children say, "make us look stupid."

"Miracle of the Christmas Star" is Susan's fourth novel.

Kay's Kritique:  Miracle of the Christmas Star is a story of the value of each of God's children and that even in the struggles that life throws at us we are never alone and God is very aware of us.   He will send us "angels" in the forms of others walking through this life to aid us and lift us when the struggles seem to be too much to bear.  It also was a great story in learning to find the joy in a life that maybe doesn't go as you thought it would and you find that God has a different plan in mind for you.  It's a nice little book to curl up with on a quiet evening.

Giveaway Details:

I'm giving away 1 Copy of Miracle of the Christmas Star if the  winner lives in the US/Canada or if an International winner they will receive an eBook copy.

Super Simple to Enter:

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to SIX extra entries by:

1 for "Liking" us on Facebook - Click the "Like" button on this blog.
1 for Following by Email
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Facebook - leave link
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Twitter. - leave link
1 for "Liking" our new Books & Things Catalog Facebook Page - click through to "Like."
1 for "Liking" our Keepin' Up With LDS Bookstores Facebook Page - click through to "Like."

List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Friday, Dec. 9, 2011
Winner will be announced Monday, Dec. 12, 2011

Thanks for stopping by. 
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here.

Click Here for all the Miracle of the Christmas Star Blog Tour Stops

Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop!

This hop was organized by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and Alyson from Kid Lit Frenzy  


The busy holiday season is upon it.  Pamper yourself and curl up with a good book.

Over 250 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another.  

The hop runs from Friday, December 2 through Tuesday, December 6.

 Giveaway Details
I'm giving away a copy of

Cold River

by Liz Adair
Featured in the 2011 Christmas Books & Things, pg. 34

Click Here to Read my full review 

Finish your Christmas Shopping now or
just pamper yourself with a lot of good books --
the choice is yours! 

Super Simple to Enter

Just Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave me a comment with your contact info below.

You can have up to THREE extra entries by:

1 for Following by Email
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Facebook - leave link
1 for Sharing this giveaway on Twitter - leave link

List your extra entries in SEPARATE comments.
The winner will be selected using Random.org

Last Day to Enter is Tuesday, December 6
Winner will be announced December 8

Thanks for stopping by. 
Feel free to browse around the blog while you are here.

Once you're done here, HOP on over to the other blogs and check out their giveaways!  

Cold River by Liz Adair - Product Review

Cold River

by Liz Adair

Brigham Distributing

2011 Christmas Books & Things Catalog, pg. 34

Buy INDY - Support the Independents LDS Bookstores

About the Book:  Mandy Steenburg thinks her doctorate in education has prepared her to run any school district - until she tangles with the moonshine-making, coon-dog-owning denizens of a tiny district in Pacific Northwest timber country. She's determined to make a difference, but the local populace still looks to the former superintendent for leadership. When Mandy lands in the middle of an old feud and someone keeps trying to kill her, instinct tells her to run. And though she has to literally swim through perilous waters, she finds a reason to stay and chance the odds.

About the Author:   A native of New Mexico and mother of seven, Liz Adair lives in northwest Washington state with Derrill, her husband of 48 years.  A late bloomer, Liz published her first mystery (The Lodger) just as AARP started sending invitations to join. After writing three in the Spider Latham series, Liz moved into romantic suspense with The Mist of Quarry Harbor.  Liz took a break from suspense to write Counting the Cost, a novel based on family history. The book won the 2009 Whitney Award and was a finalist for the Willa Award and Arizona Publisher Association's Glyph Award.

Liz is back writing romantic suspense with Cold River and feels that's where she belongs. "I remember when I was a young mother with all those kids and a slender budget," she says. "I was so grateful for books that let me go places and meet people who carried on adult conversations That's what I want to write--cheap vacations."

Heeding advice given to writers not to quit their day job, Liz works as a forensic scheduler on schedule delay analyses. She also serves on LDStorymakers' Board of Directors, is a member of American Night Writers Association and the Skagit Valley Writers League, and chairs the annual Northwest Writers Retreat.


Kay's Kritique:   I love curling up on a chilly day with good mystery and Liz Adair's Cold River delivered over the Thanksgiving Weekend with a "couldn't put it down" read.  Having several projects I was working on, I kept having to take a break to read another chapter, finally staying up into the wee hours of the morning to finish it.  Not many books grab my attention like this one did - If you like a good mystery with a little romance, you'll definitely want to pick up this one up - great setting, quirky characters and a story that will keep you guessing until the end.

I saw on Facebook, that Cold River has already received the required votes to qualify for the 2011 Whitney Award Nominations - Congratulations Liz!

Other Reader Reviews: 

Click here to read the full review by Julie Coulter Bellon - . . . The thing I liked best about this story is that is was such a slow burn with the mystery and the romance. It all starts out so innocently, but the warmer we get to figuring things out, the hotter the plot seems to burn. It wraps you up like the water surrounding a frog in a pot, turning up the heat until you hadn’t even realized it’s all about to boil over. Very well done.

Probably the next best thing is that we are given an in-depth Northwestern setting with quirky characters in a charming town. I don’t know that I’ll ever hear someone say herbs again and not think of Mrs. Berman. The setting was just so well done and I could easily imagine the cabins, Qwik E Mart, and school district offices. It was obvious that the author loves this part of the world because it was so evident in the beautiful and lyrical descriptions . . .


Click here to read the full review from Wendy, Fully Authorized:  I don’t normally read romantic suspense. I’m more of a cozy-type gal. However, when I heard the premise for Cold River I was intrigued. . . Hmm. A lady superintendent? A small school district in the Pacific Northwest? I’m so there.

I bought the book and read for an hour one afternoon while my daughters were at piano lessons. When I got home, I couldn’t find the book anywhere. It was incredibly annoying. I looked in all the usual places, but it did not reveal itself. I read two other books over the next few days, but in the back of my mind I was gnashing my teeth. “What happens to Mandy? Does she fall in love with Vince? Does Grange get over his grudge?”

I found it that weekend (on the bookshelf, of all places!) and happily plowed through the rest of the book to reach the satisfying conclusion. . . . Cold River is a great read, with wonderful characters and several unique twists (steel drums, for one) in the plot. I enjoyed it very much.