Books à la Mode | a book, beauty, and fashion blog: 10.2014

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Double Strike by Gretchen Archer Giveaway! (US/Can only)

Double Strike
Gretchen Archer

Bellissimo Resort and Casino Super Spy Davis Way knows three things: Cooking isn’t a prerequisite for a happy marriage, don’t trust men who look like David Hasselhoff, and money doesn’t grow on Christmas trees. None of which help when a storm hits the Gulf a week before the most anticipated event in Bellissimo history: the Strike It Rich Sweepstakes. Securing the guests, staff, and property might take a stray bullet. Or two.

Bellissimo Resort and Casino Super Spy Davis Way has three problems: She’s desperate to change her marital status, she has a new boss who speaks in hashtags, and Bianca Sanders has confiscated her clothes. All of which bring on a headache hot enough to spark a fire. Solving her problems means stealing a car. From a dingbat lawyer.

Bellissimo Resort and Casino Super Spy Davis Way has three goals: Keep the Sanders family out of prison, regain her footing in her relationship, and find the genius who wrote the software for futureGaming. One of which, the manhunt one, is iffy. Because when Alabama hides someone, they hide them good.

Giveaway!

Books à la Mode is giving away one print copy of Double Strike—yay!!

To enter, all you have to do is tell me:

Do you prefer high-stake thriller mysteries (think Thomas Harris, John Grisham, etc.) or lighter, funnier cozy mysteries like Double Strike? What are some of your favorite titles of either category?

Please make your comment MEANINGFUL. Comments solely consisting of stock responses or irrelevant fluff like "Thanks for the giveaway!" will not be considered for entry. Gretchen and I really want to hear from you guys! :)

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the publicist—a huge thank you to the lovely folks at Claire McKinney PR!

Giveaway ends November 4th at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open to US and Canadian residents only—sorry, everyone else! Please check my sidebar for a list of running giveaways that are open worldwide. There are plenty to choose from!

Void where prohibited.

Winners have 48 hours to claim their prize once they are chosen, or else their winnings will be forfeited.
Although I do randomly select winners, I am in no way responsible for prizes, nor for shipping and handling.

As a reminder, you do not have to follow my blog to enter, though it is always very much appreciated ❤

Good luck!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

The Dance of the Spirits by Catherine Aerie Spotlight + Giveaway! (International!)

The Dance of the Spirits
Catherine Aerie

Spring 1951: it is the fiery zenith of the Korean War, a war that the youthful US Army lieutenant Wesley Palm and his men thought that they had won... until the Chinese swept across the Yalu River. Traveling with the million-man army bent on driving back the march of "American imperialism" is Jasmine Young, a Chinese surgeon who has volunteered herself into the war for unspoken, grave reasons.

Through a chronicle of merciless battles, freezing winters, and the brutality and hypocrisy of human nature, the two will find themselves weaving through the twists and turns of fate and destiny. Though their love is forbidden, their passion and pursuit of liberty cannot be quenched.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | Createspace

Giveaway!

Books à la Mode is giving away one $30 Amazon gift card—yay!!

To enter, all you have to do is answer Catherine's question in a comment below:

How do you make the decision to buy a book? For example, a friend's recommendation, Amazon review, text message, book store display, book review, newspaper, etc.?

Please make your comment MEANINGFUL. Comments solely consisting of stock responses or irrelevant fluff like "Thanks for the giveaway!" will not be considered for entry. Catherine and I really want to hear from you guys! :)

For additional entries, you can follow Books à la Mode via Bloglovin', follow Catherine on Facebook, friend her on Goodreads, and/or Tweet about the giveaway. Don't forget to fill out the Rafflecopter form for your entries to be counted!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the author—a huge thank you to Catherine!

Giveaway ends November 2nd at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open internationally—yay! That means anyone in the world can enter, provided you can redeem Amazon gift cards and have a verifiable email address.

Void where prohibited.

As a reminder, you do not have to follow my blog to enter, though it is always very much appreciated ❤

Good luck!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop 2014!

The 5th annual Spooktacular Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer, works like this: each participating blog hosts a giveaway and then we link up together allowing our followers to hop easily from one giveaway to another. For followers, it means lots of chances to win free books. For blogs hosting giveaways, it means lots of new visitors and followers. It's a win-win! The Spooktacular Giveaway Hop is scheduled from October 15th at 12.01 AM until October 31st at 11:59 PM (EST).

The Prizes

One lucky follower will win a $15 Amazon gift card! If you would prefer a gift card to a different book retailer such as Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million, I'm happy to make substitutions!

We'll have ANOTHER winner for this amazing set of eBooks:

That's two winners total! Woohoo!!!!

Top Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Fred Venturini, Author of The Heart Does Not Grow Back + Giveaway! (US/Can only)

The Heart Does Not Grow Back
Fred Venturini

Every superhero needs to start somewhere...

Dale Sampson is used to being a nonperson at his small-town Midwestern high school, picking up the scraps of his charismatic lothario of a best friend, Mack. He comforts himself with the certainty that his stellar academic record and brains will bring him the adulation that has evaded him in high school. But when an unthinkable catastrophe tears away the one girl he ever had a chance with, his life takes a bizarre turn as he discovers an inexplicable power: He can regenerate his organs and limbs.

When a chance encounter brings him face to face with a girl from his past, he decides that he must use his gift to save her from a violent husband and dismal future. His quest takes him to the glitz and greed of Hollywood, and into the crosshairs of shadowy forces bent on using and abusing his gift. Can Dale use his power to redeem himself and those he loves, or will the one thing that finally makes him special be his demise? The Heart Does Not Grow Back is a darkly comic, starkly original take on the superhero tale, introducing an exceptional new literary voice in Fred Venturini.

Interview with Melissa Marr, Author of Made for You + Giveaway! (US only)

I'd like to welcome one of my favorite YA paranormal authors, Melissa Marr, to the blog today to celebrate the exciting release of Made for You from HarperCollins. You guys may know Melissa for her phenomenal Wicked Lovely series, which definitely influenced me in my early teen years. Stick around until the end for a fabulous giveaway that you don't want to miss!

Welcome to Books à la Mode, Melissa! Let's get this interview started.

Will you please share a brief introduction with us?

Melissa grew up believing in faeries, ghosts, and various other creatures. After teaching college lit for a decade, she applied her fascination with folklore to writing.

Melissa writes fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into 28 languages to date and been bestsellers in the US, as well as various countries overseas. She is best known for the Wicked Lovely series for teens and Graveminder for adults.

Her newest HarperCollins release, Made for You, utilizes both her graduate degree in Southern Literature and her personal experience with stalkers in a story about a killer who terrorizes a small North Carolina town.

Currently, Melissa resides in Virginia with her spouse, children, and many dogs.

It's amazing to get to feature you today, Melissa! Readers, here's a bit about the book, which hits stores last month:

When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she's confused—who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why?

It seems impossible that anyone would have it out for the town darling. Thanks to her family's distinguished history and her own unassailable reputation in old-money Jessup, Eva is universally liked. But she has little time to consider the question when she finds that she's awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people's deaths when they touch her.

Eva is struggling to understand just what these visions mean when a slew of murders takes place back home. The victims, all classmates, are discovered alongside eerie messages that tie the incidents to her. There is a killer on the loose, and he is after Eva.

While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old friend, reappears. The two traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva's power to keep her friends—and themselves—alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the determined killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.

For the first time, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr has applied her extraordinary talent to contemporary realism. Chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance drive this racy thriller that Melissa’s devoted fans and new readers alike will find enthralling.

Describe the Made for You in six words.

Killer. Romance. Messages via friends’ bodies.

What was the inspiration for the book?

Made for You is a result of a confluence of forces: my interest in serial killers and sociopaths, my love of romance, and a long-standing desire to write a contemporary novel. And my real-life experiences influenced the story, as I drew on some difficult memories of being stalked and having to work with the police to protect myself.

Which character from the book was the most difficult to write?

Judge. Getting inside the head of a killer was unsettling... perhaps more so because I write at night. I tried to never write his sections last for the day because I gave myself nightmares if I did.

What do you consider your biggest strengths and weaknesses as an author?

I taught uni for 12 years. I spent the 7 years before that studying literature—how it works, how to break it down. That has given me my biggest strengths: revision skills, self-criticism, and copyedit skills. My biggest weakness is beginnings. I generally re-write the beginning the entire time I’m writing the rest of the book. I always start too late, and then write backwards. It’s maddening.

Name the top five novels that have made the biggest impact on your life or on your writing.

Sanctuary (William Faulkner)
The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Hardy)
American Gods (Gaiman)
Salem’s Lot (King)

How do you react to a negative or harsh review to your books?

I’m human. :) I suspect I respond like anyone else does. That said, I have no expectation that everyone will love my work, so professional criticism is fine.

Agreed, professional criticism can actually be very helpful, too! Blog babes, click "Read more" to find out Melissa's random favorites, her best personal and professional advice, and what dreams she's realized as a result of her writing. We're also hosting a giveaway for a finished hardcover copy of Made for You, so you don't want to miss that either!

Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios Giveaway! (US only)

Exquisite Captive (The Dark Caravan Cycle #1)
Heather Demetrios

Jinni. Empress. Warrior. Slave.

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she's now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters' every command. She'd give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna's revolution and Nalia's sworn enemy. He promises to release Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia's not sure she can trust him, but Raif's her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There's just one catch: for Raif's unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle—and keep the dangerously persuasive Malek from trapping her inside it.

Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at too terrible a cost...

In this gorgeous fantasy, Heather Demetrios brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light.

About the Author

When she's not traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, Heather Demetrios lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, she now calls the East Coast home.

Heather is a recipient of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real, which Publisher's Weekly calls “[An] addictive yet thoughtful debut” about reality TV stardom. Her newest novel, Exquisite Captive, is a smoldering fantasy about jinn in Los Angeles and what Kirkus called in its starred review "an intoxicating, richly realized realm of magic, politics, spirituality and history." She is also the author of the upcoming I’ll Meet You There (Winter 2015), a love story about a young combat veteran and a girl trapped in their small town, both struggling to escape the war at home.

Heather is the founder of Live Your What, an organization dedicated to fostering passion in people of all ages and creating writing opportunities for youth of limited economic means. She is proud to have an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Giveaway!

To enter, all you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

As a reminder, this is a generic tour-wide giveaway that Books à la Mode is not hosting or personally responsible for. I do not choose winners, nor do I have information about prizes and entry.
Sponsored wholly by the publisher and tour publicist—a huge thank you to Harper Collins and MMSAI Blog Tours!

Giveaway ends October 19th at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open to US residents only—sorry, everyone else! Please check my sidebar for a list of running giveaways that are open worldwide. There are plenty to choose from!

Void where prohibited.

As a reminder, you do not have to follow my blog to enter, though it is always very much appreciated ❤

Good luck!