Labor Day Blog Hop - Lots of Giveaways!

Starting 9/1 through 9/15, Romance at Random, & the participating sites below, are hosting a blog hop with FREE books! Enter at Romance at Random for your chance to win:

A Free Romance book! (10 winners in all)

Be one of 5 winners to win a prize pack from author Elisabeth Barrett

Grand Prize is a $25 eGC

I am giving away a $15 Amazon gift card (or a book of your choice from Book Depository up to $15).

All you have to do is complete the form below to be entered!  Contest ends September 15th at midnight EST.  Good Luck and Happy Labor Day!

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Check out the other participating blog! 

1.Romance At Random

2.Ruthie Knox

3.Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

4.Reading Reality

5.Storm Goddess Book Reviews

6.Manga Maniac Cafe

7.Full Moon Bites

8.Reading with Holly

9.Bookie's Book Reviews

10.All Things Books

11.Good Choice Reading

12.The Write to Make a Living

13.The Book Diva

14.Bea's Book Nook

15.Shawntelle Madison

16.Elisabeth Barrett

17.Socrates' Book Review Blog

18.Shelley Munro

19.Insane Hussein Reviews

20.Books R Us

21.Jessica Scott

22.Book Flame

23.Manic Readers Guest Blog

24.My Book Addiction and More

25.SOS Aloha

26.Pump Up Your Book

27.Sharon Cullen

28.Under the Covers Book Blog

29.The Book Tart

30.Reviews by Molly

31.Laurie's Thoughts & Reviews

32.Seductive Musings

33.Romance Junkies

34.Love To Read For Fun

35.Cassandra Carr

36.BookHounds

37.Otterwise

38.From the TBR Pile

39.Love Saves the World (INT)

40.Sharon Cullen

41.So You Think You Can Write

42.Babbles From Scott Eagan

43.Bronwyn's Writing

44.TE Garden of Book Bloggers

45.Bookshelf Confessions

46.Review From Here

47.Celticlady's Reviews

48.Labor Day Hop

49.Romantic Reads and Such

50.In Love with Romance

51.The Bookpushers

52.Reviewing Romance

53.Queen of The Night Reviews

54.Queen of All she Reads

55.Romantic Crush Junkie Reviews

56.Saucy & Sinful Reviews

57.Romancing the Book

58.Book Faery

59.Harlies Books

60.Love, Laughter, Friendship

61.Ramblings From This Chick

62.My Secret Romance

63.Rambling Reads

64.Delighted Readers

65.suzy henderson

66.Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance

67.Blackraven's Erotic Cafe

68.HEA Romances With a Little Kick

69.AJ's Reading Nook

70.Blackraven's Reviews

71.The Readers Roundtable

72.Dark Divas Reviews

73.T B R

74.Romance Book Club

75.Seaside Book Nook

76.Cheeky Reads

77.Mimmi's Musings

78.Kindle Fever

79.Not Now...Mommy's Reading

80.herding cats & burning soup

81.Kindles and Wine

82.Harlequin Junkie

83.Caribbean Accent Book Reviews

84.Sara Jane's Eclectic Reading Blog

85.Sharon Hamilton Author

86.Coffey Brown Books

87.From the Bootheel Cotton Patch

88.Teena in Toronto

89.Me and Reading

90.The Romance Dish

91.All Things Books

92.Amber Kallyn

93.Book Review Diva

94.Leigh Ellwood

95.Me Want Food

96.Captain marketing

97.One Word At A Time, Joan Swan, Author

98.You've Been Hooked

99.The Things You Can Read

100.The Autumn Review

101.Day Drmzzz

102.Confessions From Romaholics

103.The Book of Terrible

104.Between the Bookcovers

Book Blogger Hop: The One Book/Series I Want to See Turned Into a Movie/TV Series is… (Aug 31-Sept. 6)

The Book Blogger Hop (hosted by crazy-for-books) is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weeks question:

"What is the one book or series you are dying to see turned into a movie or tv series?"

Answer:  At first, I thought this was such a hard question as there are many books I would love to see turned into a movie or tv series, but I decided to go with a book that I just read......Souviens by Barbara Darling Saxena.  Souviens takes place in Michigan (primarily the Lansing area) where I grew up.  The story is fast past and absolutely amazing.  I will be posting a review soon!

By the way - there are only 9 copies left at Amazon - I 100% recommend you buy Souviens.

What is your answer to the question?  Please leave a comment below letting me know your answer.  Also make sure you go by Crazy-For-Books.com and play along.

Have a wonderful weekend.

What Happened To My Sister - TLC Book Tours + Giveway

My Rating:  Great Read+!

Synopsis:  Nine-year-old Carrie Parker and her mother, Libby, are making a fresh start in the small town of Hartsville, North Carolina, ready to put their turbulent past behind them. Violence has shattered their family and left Libby nearly unable to cope. And while Carrie once took comfort in her beloved sister, Emma, her mother has now forbidden even the mention of her name.

 When Carrie meets Ruth, Honor, and Cricket Chaplin, these three generations of warmhearted women seem to have the loving home Carrie has always dreamed of. But as Carrie and Cricket become fast friends, neither can escape the pull of their families’ secrets—and uncovering the truth will transform the Chaplins and the Parkers forever.

My Review:  I really liked this book.  I have to admit, I struggled with the first 40 pages and after that....I couldn't put it down.  Carrie just pulled me in the story so deeply.  I couldn't let go of her.  I really wanted to dislike Libby, but I think she just needed help and never received it.

When Carrie meets the Chaplins...oh my heart just couldn't believe it.  I loved how they took her in and all the "first/new" things Carrie experiences.  SPOILER ALERT: Most of all, I loved how they all save each other.  What Happened to my Sister really moved me and is one of those books that will just stay with me (in a good way) for a very long time.

Lets not forget the Chaplin family.  I liked how we learn about the Chaplin family from different narrators.  I made some terrible assumptions, which didn't pan out in the book.  I totally love what unravels and should be a lesson to us all, not to jump to conclusions.

I just found out today (yeah, not sure how I missed it either), that What Happened to my Sister is a follow up to Me & Emma.  I know other bloggers are suggesting that you read Me & Emma before reading What Happened to my Sister.  Given I didn't even know there was a "first" book out there, I don't think you do need to read them in order.  However, I can't wait to read Me & Emma.  Also, I believe it might have set the story up more for me (remember those first 40 pages I struggled with), if I had read Me & Emma first.  Do I think you must read Emma & Me first - absolutely not.  What Happened to my Sister is a great book all on its own.

What Happened to my Sister is a really good read and I recommend that you purchase it today (chance to win a copy below!!).

Meet the Author:  New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Flock is a former journalist who reported for Time and People magazines and worked as an on-air correspondent for CBS. She is the author of several acclaimed novels, including But Inside I’m Screaming and Me & Emma. She lives in New York City.  Connect with Elizabeth Flock on Facebook, her website, and on Goodreads.

Purchase:  You can purchase What Happened to my Sister online at Amazon for $15.00 ($10.20 prime members and $9.99 Kindle version).

Win it!:  I am so excited to let you know that one lucky participant will win a copy of What Happened to my Sister.  All you have to do is complete the form below.  Contest ends August 22nd, midnight EST.  Good Luck!

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TLC Book Tours:  Check out the other raving reviews of What Happened to my Sister at TLC Book Tours.


Tuesday, August 7th:  Jenn’s Bookshelves
Wednesday, August 8th:  Book Addiction
Monday, August 13th:  WV Stitcher
Tuesday, August 14th:  Life in the Thumb
Wednesday, August 15th:  Seaside Book Nook
Thursday, August 16th:  Kritter’s Ramblings
Monday, August 20th:  The House of the Seven Tails
Wednesday, August 22nd:  Reviews by Molly
Thursday, August 23rd:  Marybeth Whalen
Monday, August 27th:  Life in Review
Wednesday, August 29th:  The Lost Entwife
Thursday, August 30th:  Chaos is a Friend of Mine
Thursday, September 13th:  A Novel Source

As Always, Jack Giveaway

I just realized that I never had "Giveaway" in the title of my As Always, Jack, TLC Book Tours Review.  I wanted to make sure everyone knew that I had one copy of this good book available as a giveaway.  All you need to do is complete the rafflecopter form below.

For a link to my review of As Always, Jack, please click here.

Thanks and have a great day!!

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Contest ends August 2nd, midnight EST.  Good Luck!

As Always, Jack - TLC Book Tours

My Rating: Really Good

Synopsis: In the days just after the end of World War Two, a young Texas Navy pilot named Jack Sweeney falls crazy in love with a California girl just before he is shipped off to the Pacific with his squadron. He woos her with letters and makes away with her heart. He returns safely; he marries her.

Over thirty years later, a young woman returns to her childhood home in California for her mother’s funeral. Before leaving the house for the last time, without knowing what she’s looking for, she opens a dresser drawer in her mother’s room. Towards the very back of the drawer she discovers a packet of old letters tied up with a pink ribbon. In these letters she meets the man she has forever longed to know and love, the man her mother rarely spoke of during all the years of her childhood. In these letters she meets her father, Jack Sweeney, for the first time.

As Always, Jack is in part the bittersweet story of a daughter’s search for her father, an account of her struggle to unlock the mystery of his disappearance on the eve of her birth. Preserved in this story, however, is another, more universal one: the sweet and classic tale of true love in a time of war.

My Review:  I like to read love stories that take place in the past, as well as stories that are told through letters/emails.  As Always, Jack is a great love story that is told through letters during WWII.  Emma Sweeney (author) never knew her father as he died when his plane went down near the Bermuda Triangle.  Here mother was pregnant with her at that time.

When her mother passed away, she found a bundle of letters her father wrote to her mother during WWII.  The letters are what makes up most of As Always, Jack.  They are written from the heart, but with a sense of humor too.  I really think my favorite part was the last 20 pages.  Emma opens up about what she did and knowledge she obtained after finding the letters.  She seemed to find peace and closure that she never had.  For me, the last 20 pages wrapped the whole book up and made it a great read.

If you are looking for a quick read, love/war story, memoir, and a great read - pick up As Always, Jack.  You will not be disappointed.

Meet the Author:  Emma Sweeney is the author of several gardening books as well as a literary agent based in New York. She formed her own agency in 2006 and has had five New York Times bestsellers, including the #1 New York Times best seller, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. She is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives and the Women’s Media Group, where she served as its president in 2003. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in English Literature. She divides her time between New York City and Rhinebeck, New York.

Connect: You can connect with Emma on GoodReads.

Purchase It: You can purchase As Always, Jack from Barnes & Noble for $15.95.

Bond Girl - TLC Book Tours

My Rating: Great Read! 


Synopsis: When other little girls were dreaming about becoming doctors or lawyers, Alex Garrett set her sights on conquering the high-powered world of Wall Street. And though she's prepared to fight her way into an elitist boys' club, or duck the occasional errant football, she quickly realizes she's in over her head when she's relegated to a kiddie-size folding chair with her new moniker—Girlie—inscribed in Wite-Out across the back. 


No matter. She's determined to make it in bond sales at Cromwell Pierce, one of the Street's most esteemed brokerage firms. Keeping her eyes on the prize, the low Girlie on the totem pole will endure whatever comes her way—whether trekking to the Bronx for a $1,000 wheel of Parmesan cheese; discovering a secretary's secret Friday night slumber/dance party in the conference room; fielding a constant barrage of "friendly" practical jokes; learning the ropes from Chick, her unpredictable, slightly scary, loyalty-demanding boss; babysitting a colleague while he consumes the contents of a vending machine on a $28,000 bet; or eluding the advances of a corporate stalker who's also one of the firm's biggest clients. 


Ignoring her friends' pleas to quit, Alex excels (while learning how to roll with the punches and laugh at herself) and soon advances from lowly analyst to slightly-less-lowly associate. Suddenly, she's addressed by her real name, and the impenetrable boys' club has transformed into forty older brothers and one possible boyfriend. Then the apocalypse hits, and Alex is forced to choose between sticking with Cromwell Pierce as it teeters on the brink of disaster or kicking off her Jimmy Choos and running for higher ground. 


Fast-paced, funny, and thoroughly addictive, Bond Girl will leave you cheering for Alex: a feisty, ambitious woman with the spirit to stand up to the best (and worst) of the boys on the Street—and ultimately rise above them all. 

My Review: I couldn't get enough of Bond Girl! I wanted to read this when it came out earlier in hard cover and for some reason never did. I absolutely loved Alex and her co-workers at Cromwell. Bond Girl is a very easy, quick and funny read.  Because I just had to keep reading one more page...one more page...my family would yell at me, as they were all waiting for me to join them.  I couldn't put Bond Girl down and didn't want it to end.


Alex has always wanted to work on Wall Street and she lands her dream job upon graduating from college.  We get to experience Alex's first few years of Wall Street at Cromwell right by her side.  The "guys" all call her "Girlie" and she doesn't even have her own desk.  She has to move around the floor with her fold up chair as she learns "the trade."  The after work events/parties/get togethers are all pretty fun, except when the creepy Rick hits on her!  Let's not forget Will...no spoiler alert...I had a feeling and I was right.  


I also happened to be in NYC for a few days on vacation (that is why my family was waiting for me to join them) while I read Bond Girl, which made it even that more fun!  I love books that take place in NYC.  If you haven't read Bond Girl, I recommend you pick it up today.  Bond Girl is great chick lit with a different type of story.  I thought it was a mix of Working Girl (movie in the 80s) and Bridget Jones.  I know people have mentioned it is similar to Devil Wears Prada, but I don't think that is exactly it.  I hope Erin is writing (or already has!!) another novel that will be published soon.  I, for sure, would pick it up as soon as it was published.  I am so glad I have another new author to read!

Meet the Author: Erin Duffy graduated from Georgetown University in 2000 with a B.A. in English and went on to spend ten-plus years in fixed-income sales on Wall Street. Bond Girl is her first novel. She lives in New York City. 

Connect with Erin: You can connect with Erin on Facebook! 

Purchase It: You can purchase Bond Girl at Amazon for $14.99 ($12.72 Prime Members and $9.99 Kindle version).

Check out the other reviews that are part of the TLC Book Tours:

Tuesday, July 17th: Girls Just Reading

Wednesday, July 18th: Life In Review

Thursday, July 19th: Seaside Book Nook

Monday, July 23rd: The Book Garden

Tuesday, July 24th: Twisting the Lens

Thursday, July 26th: Life in the Thumb

Monday, July 30th: Kritters Ramblings

Tuesday, July 31st: A Bookish Affair

Wednesday, August 1st: Stephany Writes

Thursday, August 2nd: Walking With Nora

Wednesday, August 8th: Reflections of a Bookaholic

Miles to Go by Richard Paul Evans

My Rating: A Good Read


Synopsis:  Alan Christoffersen, a once-successful advertising executive, wakes one morning to find himself injured, alone, and confined to a hospital bed in Spokane, Washington. Sixteen days earlier, reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, his home, and his business, Alan left everything he knew behind and set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. Carrying only a backpack, he planned to walk to Key West, the farthest destination on his map. But a vicious roadside stabbing has interrupted Alan’s trek and robbed him of his one source of solace: the ability to walk.


Homeless and facing months of difficult recovery, Alan has nowhere to turn—until a mysterious woman enters his life and invites him into her home. Generous and kind, Angel seems almost too good to be true, but all is not as it appears. Alan soon realizes that before he can return to his own journey, he must first help Angel with hers.From one of America’s most beloved and bestselling storytellers comes an astonishing tale of life and death, love and second chances, and why sometimes the best way to heal your own suffering is by helping to heal someone else’s.Inspiring, moving, and full of wisdom, Miles to Go picks up where the bestseller The Walk left off, continuing the unforgettable series about one man’s unrelenting search for hope.


My Review:  Like all of Richard Paul Evans' book, Miles to Go is a good, wholesome story.  It is full of wisdom and great messages for all of us to ponder.  Miles to Go is the second book in the Alan Christoffersen/Walk series.  I enjoyed the first book in the series more than I did this one, but Miles to Go was still a good read.  I loved the whole story line with Angel/Nicole.  It made the book!  I can't wait to read the third book in the series, The Road to Grace.  


I have had the pleasure of attending different book signings of Richard Paul Evans when I lived in Ohio.  He is a very genuine person who I think believes there is good in everyone.  He has done some amazingly good things with his fame and fortune.  

Meet the Author:  Richard Paul Evans is the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box. His novels have each appeared on the New York Times bestseller list; there are more than 13 million copies of his books in print. His books have been translated into more than twenty-two languages and several have been international bestsellers. He is the winner of the 1998 American Mothers Book Award, two first place Storytelling World Awards for his children’s books, the 2010 German Leserpreis Gold Award for Romance, and the 2005 Romantic Times Best Women Novel of the Year Award. Evans received the Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award for his work helping abused children. Evans lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children.

Purchase It:  You can purchase Miles to Go from Amazon for $7.99 (paperback, prime members and kindle version).

Connect:  You can connect with Richard on his website and Facebook.