Marie's Birthday Celebration!

Today is my birthday! *hands out cupcakes* It's a big one too...today I turn...*chokes on words*...I turn 30. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! It's okay. Really. It's not that bad. I'm not having a meltdown, I swear. I'm determined that this year I will embody the phrase '30, flirty, and thriving'. This year is going to be all kinds of awesome, because I'm going to make it all kinds of awesome.  How's that for optimism?

So as I say goodbye to my 20s *wipes away a nostalgic tear* I'd like to celebrate with you, my lovely, oh-so-wonderful bloggy friends. I've been at this whole book blogging thing for three years now and there have been a lot of ups and downs but I wouldn't trade a minute of it. I've made some incredible friends, had a chance to work with authors and publishers, and I've read a boatload of books, many of which touched my heart and left me changed. 

Despite my love of books, if it weren't for this amazing community, I don't think I would keep blogging. You guys - your passion and love and humour and insanity and support - make it worthwhile. I cherish each and every comment left on this blog, every follower, and every new friend I make.

And because I love you guys so much, I figured what better way to celebrate my birthday than by celebrating with you? How am I doing that? GIVEAWAYS! All year long I've been trying to come up with something fun...my #1 choice would have been to have 30 prizes, but alas, I can't afford that. So I came up with a few different things, and hopefully there'll be something for everyone. 

~Giveaway #1~

Signed, personalized Waiting for the Storm postcard, plus signed sticker (not shown) from yours truly

Scarlet bookmark signed by AC Gaughen 

The Archived bookmarked signed by Victoria Schwab

The Secret Diamond Sisters bookmark signed by Michelle Madow

Undeadly bookmark signed by Michele Vail

*Open internationally*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~Giveaway #2~

Winner's choice of one (1) of the ebooks pictured here (the top four books are mine and the rest are books by friends and/or books I've read and loved)

Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry {GoodReads}

The Game Changer by Marie Landry {GoodReads}

Waiting for the Storm by Marie Landry {GoodReads}

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Marie Landry {GoodReads}

The Boys of Summer by CJ Duggan {GoodReads}

An Endless Summer by CJ Duggan {GoodReads}

That One Summer by CJ Duggan {GoodReads}

If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz {GoodReads}

A Scottish Ferry Tale by Nancy Volkers {GoodReads}

Scotland by Starlight by Nancy Volkers {GoodReads}

Being Human by Patricia Lynne {GoodReads}

The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers by Angie Fox {GoodReads}

*Open internationally*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~Giveaway #3~

Last week I did an 'If we were having coffee...' post and I shared my mixed feelings about turning 30. My friend Suz told me I should watch Sex and the City because it's the best cure for the 'Turning 30 Blues'. I immediately got out my copy of season 1 and popped it in the DVD player. Later my mum told me she was going to get me the series set for Christmas, so I wondered what I should do with my barely used season 1...then I decided I might as well pass it along to a friend. This set is used, but I've only watched the first few episodes, the case is in great condition, and the discs are pristine. Sex and the City is one of my favourite shows ever, so I want to spread the love!

*Open Canada and US ~ must be 18+ to enter this one!*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~*~*~*~*~

  While I have your attention, I just want to talk about the very first year-long challenge I'll be hosting in 2014: the Historic Fiction Reading Challenge. It starts January 1st, 2014 and runs until December 31st, 2014. Love historic fiction? Never really read it but want to give it a try? Consider signing up for the challenge!

Thank you for celebrating my birthday with me! 

What was your favourite birthday? What's the best gift you've ever gotten? What do you hope to do for your next birthday?

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Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours presents Nancy Volkers: A guest post

Today I'm very pleased to introduce you to Nancy Volkers, author of A Scottish Ferry Tale and Scotland by Starlight. I read both books recently, and enjoyed them immensely. In fact, A Scottish Ferry Tale is one of my favorite books so far in 2012. The main characters, Cassie and Ralph, will stick with me for a very long time. As a romance junkie, I was curious why Ms Volkers chose to write romance, and she's here to talk to us about that very subject.

Thanks, Marie, for giving me space on your blog to ramble on. ;-) Marie asked me to focus on why I write romance. I am fascinated with relationships. Plenty of relationships don’t involve romance, of course, but romantic relationships are so mysterious and multifaceted…there’s a lot to think about. Why are we attracted to certain people, and put off by others? How do we express our attraction? What are we afraid of in a relationship? There’s always something that we’re afraid of, even if we don’t admit it. Showing our “true self” and being rejected…losing hard-won independence…getting taken advantage of.

The romance novels that I’ve enjoyed reading have given me a window into an intimate dance between two people that we’re not afforded in real life. In a novel, you “watch” people interact with one another in very private situations. Sometimes I look at a couple on the street and wonder what they’re like with one another in private. That stodgy, analytical couple could be snuggly and sweet when no one else can see them; likewise, that affectionate, bordering-on-disgusting couple that calls one another “Pookie” in public might be putting on an act. Maybe when they get home at night, they avoid one another. You just never know.

The romance between Cassie and Ralph is the main relationship in A Scottish Ferry Tale and Scotland by Starlight, but there are many other relationships as well. Cassie and Jason. Ralph and April. Cassie and her sister, Rachel. Ralph and his four sisters. Ralph and Jamie, Jamie and Lynn, Cassie and Leslie, Leslie and Rose, Ralph and Tenney, and on and on…for me, there would be no books without these relationships. Some writers focus on action, or plot, or mystery; I focus on characters. So romance, I guess, is a natural fit.

Thank you so much for that great insight, Nancy! I'm fascinated with relationships, too. I suppose that's why I read and write romance. As I said, Cassie and Ralph will stick with me for a very long time, but so will the other characters in this series - the familial bonds and friendships were fantastic, believable, and memorable. I wanted to be part of their world so badly! Oh, and find a man like Ralph - YUM! ;-)

Nancy is a writer/editor/website manager who has lived in Vermont since 2003. She grew up in Western New York State and went to Drew University (N.J.), Stanford University (Calif.), and the University of Minnesota (um, Minn.), accumulating two degrees and an incredible store of knowledge, most of which fell out of her head right after the test. Nancy has written two novels, A Scottish Ferry Tale and Scotland by Starlight. She's working on some others. She rarely dusts anything.

Connect with Nancy!

{Nancy's website || Nancy's Twitter || Nancy on GoodReads}

Buy the book!

{Amazon || Barnes & Noble || iTunes || Smashwords}

We all have rules that we use to get through life. You always put your right sock on first. You refuse to buy generic cream cheese. You don’t date anyone named Wayne. Cassie Wrentham has a book of these rules, and they suit her fine. Until she flies to Scotland to visit her boyfriend and he dumps her the first night.

Cassie doesn’t run back to the United States. She goes to Coll, a tiny island off the west coast, hoping to find the answers to life’s questions on a wind-washed beach or at the end of a rock-strewn road. Instead, she may have found the love of her life… if she can get past her own self-doubt, skepticism and inner conflict.

Read my review of A Scottish Ferry Tale

Cassie Wrentham is on her way to Scotland again... but this time it's not vacation. She's moving in with Ralph Macnair, the charismatic Scotsman who stole her heart. But Cassie wouldn't be Cassie without doubts. Will she find a job in a tight U.K. economy? Would marrying Ralph now be only for convenience's sake? Will she fit in, make friends, make a life there? Or will it all fall apart? Bursting with a lively cast of characters, all with their own stories and challenges, Scotland By Starlight follows Cassie and Ralph from the new beginnings of their intense relationship to a conclusion like no other.

Read my review for Scotland by Starlight

  

 

Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours presents Scotland by Starlight by Nancy Volkers

Scotland by Starlight by Nancy Volkers

Sequel to A Scottish Ferry Tale

Published: January 22nd, 2011

Publisher: Independent

291 pages (paperback)

Genre: Contemporary romance/women’s fiction/chick lit

Acquired this book: From the author as part of Chick Lit Plus’s Scotland by Starlight blog tour

Warning: may include spoilers

{GoodReads || Purchase this book on Amazon}

Note: Since this book is a sequel, there will be spoilers regarding the first book. With some sequels, you don’t really need to read the first book, but this is not one of those cases. Unless you want to be completely lost and miss a lot of references and inside jokes, you should read A Scottish Ferry Tale first. And I really do mean that - you should read it!

Synopsis: Cassie Wrentham is on her way to Scotland again... but this time it's not vacation. She's moving in with Ralph Macnair, the charismatic Scotsman who stole her heart. But Cassie wouldn't be Cassie without doubts. Will she find a job in a tight U.K. economy? Would marrying Ralph now be only for convenience's sake? Will she fit in, make friends, make a life there? Or will it all fall apart? Bursting with a lively cast of characters, all with their own stories and challenges, Scotland By Starlight follows Cassie and Ralph from the new beginnings of their intense relationship to a conclusion like no other.

I adored A Scottish Ferry Tale. It’s one of my favorite books that I’ve read so far in 2012. I enjoyed Scotland by Starlight very much, and thought it was a great sequel, but I enjoyed the first book more. Sometimes you read a sequel and you end up wishing the author had left well enough alone, but I loved getting to follow Cassie and Ralph as they continued their journey in life and love. I thought they were such a great couple - they were flawed, they made mistakes, they got angry, they fought, they had very real emotions, but at the base of it all they were deeply in love.

There was less tension in this book, and less emotional complications and obstacles for Cassie and Ralph. I have to admit, I enjoyed the tension in the first book - that will they/won’t they excitement. Scotland by Starlight was like a glimpse into their every day lives, and I enjoyed that a lot. It was still funny, sexy, at times heartbreaking, and always very believable.

I enjoyed the secondary characters just as much in the second book as the first. It felt like being reunited with old friends. I also liked that there were subtle subplots worked in there, too. It all worked very well. It made me wish I had a bigger family or lots of friends to have gatherings with the way Cassie and Ralph did with their friends and family. I could picture it all so clearly - the chaos, the noise, the laughter, the camaraderie, the music, the food, and I loved it.

Overall I enjoyed this book, and this series, very much. I know that Cassie and Ralph will stay with me for a long time.

SPOILER ALERT: (highlight the blacked-out text if you're interested in reading the spoiler) The epilogue almost ruined the entire book for me. I realize something like that must be a hard decision for an author to make, because they know it won’t make some people happy, and I respect the author’s decision, but I can’t say I agree with it. Cassie and Ralph’s love story stretched across two books and was epic, and then she dies?! WTF?! I was shocked and heartbroken. It left me with this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was beautifully written, but I just really wish she hadn’t done that.

This book counts toward the following 2012 challenges: 2012 Self-Published Reading Challenge, 2012 Sequels Challenge. See my progress in these and other challenges here.

Connect with Nancy!

{Nancy's website || Nancy's Twitter || Nancy on GoodReads}

Buy the book!

{Amazon || Barnes & Noble || iTunes || Smashwords}

Be sure to come back tomorrow, because Nancy's going to visiting Ramblings of a Daydreamer to talk about why she writes romance!

Book Review: A Scottish Ferry Tale by Nancy Volkers

A Scottish Ferry Tale by Nancy Volkers

Published: June 22nd, 2009

Publisher: Independent

225 pages (ebook)

Genre: Contemporary romance/chick lit

Acquired this book: Bought

Warning: may include spoilers

{GoodReads || Purchase this book on Amazon}

Synopsis: We all have rules that we use to get through life. You always put your right sock on first. You refuse to buy generic cream cheese. You don’t date anyone named Wayne. Cassie Wrentham has a book of these rules, and they suit her fine. Until she flies to Scotland to visit her boyfriend and he dumps her the first night.

Cassie doesn’t run back to the United States. She goes to Coll, a tiny island off the west coast, hoping to find the answers to life’s questions on a wind-washed beach or at the end of a rock-strewn road. Instead, she may have found the love of her life… if she can get past her own self-doubt, skepticism and inner conflict.

 

I loved this book. Loved. I can understand why some people don’t like contemporary women’s fiction/romance/chick lit - it’s a lot of dialogue and self-reflection on the main character’s part, but I love that sort of thing. It’s like getting a look into someone’s life and thoughts and dreams and fears, and sometimes seeing yourself there and knowing you’re not alone.

A Scottish Ferry Tale was unbelievably romantic, laugh-out-loud funny, heartbreaking, sexy, and so many other things. I’ve always had this secret fantasy (or not-so-secret to those who know me well) of going to Ireland or Scotland or England (I love boys with accents, what can I say) and falling in love. It just seems so spontaneous and romantic. In so many ways, I felt like this was my story come to life on the pages of a book.

I completely fell in love with Ralph. He was sweet and sexy and romantic and thoughtful, and not afraid to show his emotions or tell Cassie what he was thinking or how he was feeling. It was a refreshing change from guys in books who feel like they have to be ‘manly’ and keep all their emotions hidden. The relationship between Ralph and Cassie had me sighing and swooning. The romance junkie in me approved 100%.

Cassie was a great character, too - very relatable in her insecurities and self-doubts. Her inner dialogue was frank and often humourous, and I found myself relating to her very easily. There were fantastic secondary characters, too. Everyone just seemed so real, and I loved that. I wanted to know these people and be part of their world.

This was hands-down the best self-published book I’ve read. It was well-written and well-edited, which isn’t always the case with self-published books (and I am in no way bashing self-pubbed authors, since I am one myself…I’m just stating a fact). As a writer and editor, it kills me a little on the inside each time I read a book that clearly hasn’t been edited, or that has been written with no thought to plot or character development. That’s part of the reason self-published authors still get looked down on by some people. I found it hard to believe this was a self-pubbed book because it was of a caliber I’m not accustomed to seeing (yet) in the indie world. Well done, Ms Volkers.

 

This book counts toward the following 2012 challenges: 2012 Self-Published Reading Challenge, 2012 Ebook Challenge, 2012 New Authors Reading Challenge, Let’s Talk About Love: A 2012 Romance Reading Challenge, 2012 “New Adult” Challenge. See my progress in these and other challenges here.

In My Mailbox Week 20 - January 15th

In My Mailbox is weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.  The idea is to share books you've acquired during the week, whether you've won them, bought them, picked them up at the library, received them for review, whatever.  It's a great way to bring attention to books and authors and share the love!

Books mentioned: 

Won:
Shut Out by Kody Keplinger {GoodReads}

Thank you very much to Kathy from I Write, I Read, I Review ♥

Library:

10 Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski {GoodReads}

Withering Tights by Louise Rennison {GoodReads}
Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey {GoodReads}

Illuminated by Erica Orloff {GoodReads}

Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston {GoodReads}

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake {GoodReads}

Ebooks for review:

Near Death by MB Mulhall {GoodReads}

Hope's Daughter by Melanie Cusick-Jones {GoodReads}

Ebooks I bought:

The Man Code: Exposed by Rachel Thompson {GoodReads}

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Darkside by Beth Fantaskey {GoodReads}

Hollowland by Amanda Hocking {GoodReads}

A Scottish Ferry Tale by Nancy Volkers {GoodReads}

DVDs mentioned:
U2: From the Sky Down {Amazon} ♥♥♥♥♥
Crazy Stupid Love {Amazon} 

Be sure to check out the information and prizes for the Blue Sky Days launch party!

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

~Marie

In My Mailbox Week 12

In My Mailbox is weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.  The idea is to share books you've acquired during the week, whether you've won them, bought them, picked them up at the library, received them for review, whatever.  It's a great way to bring attention to books and authors and share the love!

I didn't participate in the usual Friday posts this week because I had too much else going on, so I'm posting my weekly recap here!

Reviews:

Being Human by Patricia Lynne

Hearts at Stake (aka My Love Lies Bleeding) by Alyxandra Harvey 

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Memes:

In My Mailbox Week 11

Cover Crazy Week 5 

Top 10 Tuesday: Cover and title lovin' 

Waiting on Wednesday (8) & WWW Wednesday (18)

Other:

Author Interview - Patricia Lynne

The Keeping it Real Reading Challenge 

Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-Thon

*****

At the end, I said I thought I was forgetting something, and I remembered what it was lol...a few things actually. I tried to do the video as quickly as possible because last week I had so many issues, and I couldn't upload the first video I made because it was too long, so I tried to keep this one shorter. Anyway, I wanted to mention that this weekend, I'm participating in my first ever read-a-thon - the Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-Thon. I'm having a great time, especially chatting with people on Twitter. The 2 books I've been reading are Farsighted by Emlyn Chand and Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill. The other thing I wanted to mention was what to expect this week on the blog: I'm participating in Emlyn Chand's blog tour for Farsighted, so my review will be up Monday, and I'll have an excerpt of the book on Tuesday. As for the rest of the week...I'm not 100% sure what I'll be doing other than my regular memes, and a review for Some Girls Bite.

Books mentioned in the video:

Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love Anthology

13 on Halloween by Laura A. H. Elliot

Scotland by Starlight by Nancy Volkers

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Special thank you to Kathy from I Write, I Read, I Review for sending me Lola and the Boy Next Door!

I also meant to mention in the video that Kathy lives about half an hour from me. She's the closest blogger I've found so far, which is pretty cool! :-)
Also, I was featured in Kathy's Saturday Spotlight yesterday! Check out my interview with Kathy here: Saturday Spotlight #3: Ramblings of a Daydreamer

What did you get in your mailbox this week?