Books à la Mode | a book, beauty, and fashion blog: St. Martin's Griffin

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Tuesday, October 2, 2018

The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo + Giveaway (US/Can)

The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel
Alyssa Palombo
St. Martin's Griffin // St. Martin's Press

When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. Ichabod knows that as an itinerant schoolteacher of little social standing, he has nothing to offer the wealthy Katrina—unlike her childhood friend-turned-enemy, Brom Van Brunt, who is the suitor Katrina’s father favors.

But when romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together – all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is, until All Hallows’s Eve, when Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.

Enlisting the help of her friend—and rumored witch—Charlotte Jansen, Katrina seeks the truth of Ichabod Crane’s disappearance, investigating the forest around Sleepy Hollow using unconventional—often magical—means. What they find forces Katrina to question everything she once knew, and to wonder if the Headless Horseman is perhaps more than just a story after all. In Alyssa Palombo's The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel nothing is as it seems, and love is a thing even death won't erase.

Giveaway!

Books à la Mode is giving away one print copy of The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel—yay!

To enter, all you have to do is tell me in the comments below:

What popular life advice do you disagree with?

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. Alyssa and I really want to hear from you guys! :)

It irks me when people insist that bad things only happen to bad people. In reality, bad things may happen to bad people, but bad things happen to an equal number of good people as well. It seems random, sometimes just depends on luck rather than effort or morals. To claim otherwise only feeds into the just-world fallacy.

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the publisher—a huge thank you to the lovely folks over at St. Martin's Press!

Giveaway ends October 16th at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open to US and Canada residents only—sorry, everyone else! Please check my sidebar for a list of currently 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!

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey Giveaway (US/Can)

Not Her Daughter
Rea Frey
St. Martin's Griffin // St. Martin's Press

Gripping, emotional, and wire-taut, Not Her Daughter raises the question of what it means to be a mother—and how far someone will go to keep a child safe.

Emma Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes, brown hair. Missing since June.

Emma is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude.

Sarah Walker. Successful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Kidnapper.

Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal. When a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her—far away from home. But if it’s to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?

Amy Townsend. Unhappy wife. Unfit mother. Unsure whether she wants her daughter back.

Amy’s life is a string of disappointments, but her biggest issue is her inability to connect with her daughter. And now Emma is gone without a trace.

As Sarah and Emma avoid the nationwide hunt, they form an unshakeable bond. But what about Emma’s real mother, back at home?

Giveaway!

Books à la Mode is giving away one print copy of Not Her Daughter—yay!

To enter, all you have to do is tell me in the comments below:

What is a brand you are loyal to? It can be anything! Are there any products you'd never even consider trying another brand of?

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. Rea and I really want to hear from you guys! :)

I loooove Kettle brand potato chips. I won't touch any other type of potato chip :D For skincare, I love everything Dr. G releases (BB cream, moisturizer, sunscreen, essence, etc.) I'll use other things of course, but I consistently like everything they come out with, without fail. It's a comforting feeling!

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the publisher—a huge thank you to the lovely folks over at St. Martin's Press!

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

Open to US and Canada residents only—sorry, everyone else! Please check my sidebar for a list of currently 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!

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Top 10 Real-Life Inspirations for The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam + Giveaway (US/Canada)

The Lost Season of Love and Snow
Jennifer Laam
from St. Martin's Griffin (MacMillan)

The unforgettable story of Alexander Pushkin’s beautiful wife, Natalya, a woman much admired at Court, and how she became reviled as the villain of St. Petersburg.

At the beguiling age of sixteen, Natalya Goncharova is stunningly beautiful and intellectually curious. At her first public ball during the Christmas of 1828, she attracts the romantic attention of Russia’s most lauded rebel poet: Alexander Pushkin. Finding herself deeply attracted to Alexander’s intensity and joie de vivre, Natalya is swept up in a courtship and then a marriage full of passion but also destructive jealousies. When vicious court gossip leads Alexander to defend his honor as well as Natalya’s in a duel, he tragically succumbs to his injuries. Natalya finds herself reviled for her perceived role in his death. In her striking new novel, The Lost Season of Love and Snow, Jennifer Laam helps bring Natalya’s side of the story to life with vivid imagination—the compelling tale of her inner struggle to create a fulfilling life despite the dangerous intrigues of a glamorous imperial Court and that of her greatest love.

Interview with Jeanne Kalogridis, Author of The Orphan of Florence + Giveaway (US only)

It is my utmost pleasure to introduce Jeanne Kalogridis to the blog today to celebrate the exciting release of The Orphan of Florence from St. Martin's Griffin!

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

Will you please share a brief bio with us?

Okay, here are the bare facts: I was born in Florida on December 17, 1954, and I've been interested in books ever since. My interest in language led me to earn a B.A. in Russian in 1976 (although my major was microbiology until my senior year).

That was soon followed by a two-year stint as a legal secretary. The good part about that was, I learned how to type, which comes in useful these days. Then I wound up in grad school, and earned an M.A. in Linguistics from the University of South Florida. I also took a few post-graduate classes in computational linguistics at Georgetown University, just for fun.

With freshly earned M.A. in hand, I traveled with my beloved consort, George, to Washington, D.C., where I managed to land a job teaching English as a Second Language at The American University. I taught there for eight years before retiring to write full time.

At the moment, I live on the West Coast with the aforementioned beloved consort and two overly adored Labradors. My outside interests include yoga, Buddhism, quilting, dog training and reading everything ever published.

It's amazing to get to feature you today! Readers, here's a bit about the book, which just hit shelves last week:

In this irresistible historical novel set in the turbulent world of the Medicis, a young woman finds herself driven from pick-pocketing to espionage when she meets a mysterious man.

Giulia has been an orphan all her life. Raised in Florence's famous Ospedale degli Innocenti, her probing questions and insubordinate behavior made her an unwelcome presence, and at the age of fifteen, she was given an awful choice: become a nun, or be married off to a man she didn't love. She chose neither, and after refusing an elderly suitor, Giulia escaped onto the streets of Florence.

Now, after spending two years as a successful pickpocket, an old man catches her about to make off with his purse, and rather than having her carted off to prison he offers her a business proposition. The man claims to be a cabalist, a student of Jewish mysticism and ritual magic, who works for the most powerful families in Florence. But his identity is secret—he is known only as "the Magician of Florence"—and he is in need of an assistant. She accepts the job and begins smuggling his talismans throughout the city.

But the talismans are not what they seem, and neither is the Magician. When Giulia's involvement with him ends with his murder, she's drawn into a treacherous web of espionage and deceit involving the forces of Rome, Naples, and a man known as Lorenzo the Magnificent. Accused of the Magician's murder, Giulia is pursued by the handsome policeman Niccolo, Lorenzo's henchmen, and foreign spies, and in order to survive, she must not only solve the mystery of the mystery of the Magician's murder, but that of her own past.

As a huge fan of first lines, I’d love to hear the first line of The Orphan of Florence. Could you give us a brief commentary on it?

The night I was caught with my hand in a gentleman’s pocket—the night my life completely changed—it was burning cold, so bitter I’d never felt anything like it before or since.

I wanted the first line to grab my readers' attention thoroughly, and to place them right in the middle of the action. It also tells them a bit about the character. My hope is that it’ll keep them interested long enough to read the second line.

Tell us about your road to publication.

I actually sold my first novel in 1981, and I submitted it “over the transom”—that is, without an agent. It was easier to sell a novel back then, fortunately for me, although it took thirteen months for the publisher to read the manuscript and buy it.

Are the characters from your book based off anyone you know in real life? How much else of your actual life gets written into your fiction?

Well, the main character in The Orphan of Florence is a pickpocket. Luckily, I don’t know any pickpockets personally, so I resorted to online research. As for how much of my actual life winds up in my fiction: Writers who claim their protagonists aren’t at least partially based on them—and whatever personal emotional journey they’re currently on—are lying. All a therapist needs to do to get inside my head is to read my latest book. In terms of basing other characters on real people that I know, I tend to be cautious and make composite characters based on traits from many different people.

Out of all the fantastic books out there, what makes The Orphan of Florence stand out from the rest?

The fact that my heart is in those pages. At the very least, the book belongs in the category of page-turners; I guarantee you won’t be bored.

Blog babes, click "Read more" to find out Jeanne's best personal and professional advice. We're also hosting a giveaway for a finished copy of The Orphan of Florence, so you don't want to miss that either!