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Blog Tour & Giveaway(s) | HarlequinTEEN’s Karen Ann Hopkins

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HarlequinTEEN’s spring Reading into Romance

Spring is in the air and HarlequinTEEN wants you to fall in love! And they have just the books to make that happen!

In this epic tour, we’ll be featuring 9 authors and their amazing, toe-curlingly romantic books!

Today’s Blog Tour stop features Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins and a look at Amish love and marriage

Amish Love & Marriage

by Karen Ann Hopkins

Living within an Amish community in northern Kentucky for five years, I’ve witnessed many interesting things about their culture.  Sometimes, I’m shocked at their strict beliefs and behavior, but usually I’m humbled and impressed with their culture.

The Amish are people who are always willing to come to the aid of their neighbors, whether Amish or not, and they hold their personal relationships in the highest esteem.  These are admirable traits for anyone, but I’ve witnessed firsthand that the basis for their success in life is their religious faith and their solid and loving relationships with their spouses.

Granted, the Amish culture is a man’s society, and you’d think that would cause all kinds of problems with the women…but it doesn’t.  Most of the Amish women I know are quite satisfied of the role they play within the marriage.  They run the household and oftentimes are full and respected partners in the family business.  They care for the children and participate in church activities.  They get together regularly with other women within the community to quilt or clean house together.  Amish women seem busy and content within their lives.

I think the contentment begins with the giving nature I’ve witnessed from most of the men toward their wives.  Even though they may be the ‘boss,’ Amish men tend to continue to display acts of romance long after the wedding ceremony.  Flowers, extravagant gifts and vacations are commonplace from the men of the community to their wives.  They recognize and respect the hard work that their wives do and are ever thankful for their partner in life.

When troubles do arise within an Amish marriage, the community will jump in and help through counseling to repair the damage.  Very rarely do the Amish divorce, which shows their ultimate dedication in the vows they spoke to each other.

Because the Amish live a life without the entertainment of television, radio, movies and internet, they seem to put more emphasis on romance and that’s one of the reasons they may have up to twelve children or more within a family.  Their religion prevents them from using birth control, which obviously contributes to the large number of pregnancies, but since there are few other things to do in the evenings, the Amish are focused on the pleasures between a man and a wife.  So much intimacy keeps Amish couples close.  Having so many children would be a nightmare to most outsiders, but the Amish women appear to enjoy having large families and have grown accustomed to it.

The Amish don’t hold hands and would never be caught showing public displays of affection, but the simplicity of their lives lends to a quiet and hidden romance that lasts forever.

 

Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins

HarlequinTEEN | June 26, 2012 | 383 pages

Paperback | Kindle |B&N | Indiebound

 

Summary

Your heart misleads you.

That’s what my friends and family say.

But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other’s arms. It should be ROSE & NOAH forever, easy. But it won’t be.

Because he’s Amish.

And I’m not.

Belonging the sequel to Temptation will be released April 30th by HarlequinTEEN – add it to your goodreads shelf!

Read my review of Temptation!

Connect with Karen Ann Hopkins

A native of New York State, Karen Ann Hopkins now lives with her family on a farm in northern Kentucky, where her neighbors in all directions are members of a strict Amish community. Her unique perspective became the inspiration for the story of star-crossed lovers Rose and Noah. When she’s not homeschooling her kids, giving riding lessons or tending to a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, she is dreaming up her next romantic novel.

Blog Tour Schedule

HarlequinTEEN Reading Into Romance Tour Page 

Monday, March 4th – Karen Ann Hopkins and Temptation:

Wednesday, March 6th – Liz Fichera and Hooked:

Friday, March 8th – Cayla Kluver and the Legacy series:

Monday, March 11th – Aimée Carter and The Goddess Test series:

Wednesday, March 13th – Julie Kagawa and The Iron King series:

Friday, March 15th – Katie McGarry and Pushing the Limits:

Monday, March 18th – Rachel Vincent and The Soul Screamers series:

Wednesday, March 20th – Hannah Harrington and Saving June:

Friday, March 22nd – Jordan Dane and In The Arms of Stone Angels:

Giveaway
There are two giveaways!
The first is a copy of Temptation!
The grand prize is also available with each entry you enter with! A beautiful necklace and Pashmina!
HarlequinTEEN dresses you for a romantic date with this beautiful, unique heart shaped locket! And in case it’s a chilly spring evening, don’t forget the matching beautiful Pashmina!
To enter, fill out the below Rafflecopter widget.

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Posted in Read in 2012

Blog Tour and Giveaway | Alice in Zombieland (The White Rabbit Chronicles, #1) by Gena Showalter

Welcome to the Alice in Zombieland Blog Tour!

Today you will see Gena’s Top 5 Quotes from [amazon_link id=”0373210582″ target=”_blank” ]Alice In Zombieland[/amazon_link] as well as information for winning a hardback copy and a chance to win an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite!

Did you see my review for Alice In Zombieland yet? I loved it!

[amazon_link id=”0373210582″ target=”_blank” ]Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles)[/amazon_link] by Gena Showalter

Harlequin Teen | September 25, 2012 | 416 pages

Summary (Goodreads)

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I’d tell my sister no.
I’d never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I’d zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I’d hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I’d tell them I love them.
I wish… Yeah, I wish.

Gena’s Top 5 Quotes from AiZ

“I hope Rina gave you an STD.” (said by Kat Parker)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Cole once ate a pound of rusty nails  and claimed it tasted like unicorn tears mixed with fairy dust.  True story.  I was there.” (said by Kat Parker)

It was like we were on a screen playing the newest reality show—Survivor: Asher High—and they were our trusted viewers. (thought by Alice Bell)

“I’m not going to bite you.  Not tonight anyway.” (said by Cole Holland)

Asher High mascot

“Excuses are merely the cherry topping on an E. coli–infested sundae, Miss Bell.” (said by a teacher at Asher High)

Trailer

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, September 17th – Harlequin Paranormal Romance blog
Wednesday, September 19th – Bookish Brunette
Friday, September 21th – IB Blogging

Monday, September 24th – Refracted Light Reviews
Tuesday, September 25th Book Birthday – Xpresso Reads
Wednesday, September 26th – The Cozy Reader
Friday, September 28th – Grave Tells

Monday, October – 1st – Parajunkee
Wednesday, October 3rd – Supernatural Snark
Friday, October 5th – The Unread Reader

Connect with Gena Showalter

GENA SHOWALTER is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Intertwined novels and several other popular YA and adult series. Her stories have been featured on MTV and in Seventeen magazine and have been praised as unputdownable.” Growing up, she always had her nose buried in a book. When it came time to buckle down and get a job, she knew writing was it for her. Gena lives in Oklahoma with her family and three slobbery bulldogs.

Giveaway

Fill out the below Rafflecopter for a chance to win a hardback copy of Alice in Zombieland!

The Look for the White Rabbit Question is down below!
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Grand Prize Scavenger Hunt

Look for the White Rabbit Contest:

Each Day, the white Rabbit will appear on one site and stay there for 48 hours. Once you have found the Rabbit, click on it and you will be directed to a Rafflecopter entry form for the Grand Prize Giveaway! To enter, you must answer the daily question found at the Tour Stop!!!

You could win:

A brand new Kindle Paperwhite, with the gorgeous Alice in Zombieland Cover Art signed to the winner by Gena Showalter! (Yes, Gena will sign your prize!!) Also, the winner will get a personalized signed copy of Alice in Zombieland!

Where could the Rabbit appear? 

The rabbit could appear on any one of the Tour Hosts pages, as well as: The White Rabbit Chronicles WebsiteGena Showalters Facebook & HarlequinTEEN Facebook!

 Look for the White Rabbit Question

If you could only pick ONE item from the Zombie survival kit, what would your MUST HAVE be?

Posted in Read in 2012

Blog Tour Release Note | Of Blood and Bone by Courtney Cole

 

Today it is my pleasure to make you aware of a newly released book by an author I have reviewed in the past. Courtney Cole’s new adult series is called The Minaldi Legacy and it starts out with [amazon_link id=”B009B1N1IC” target=”_blank” ]Of Blood and Bone[/amazon_link], which released on September 16th.

Below you will find the usual information plus a Teaser Quote that I picked from a few other options. Please leave me a comment letting me know what your first impressions are. I am genuinely interested.

Come back on October 15th to read my review for the blog tour.

[amazon_link id=”B009B1N1IC” target=”_blank” ]Of Blood and Bone (The Minaldi Legacy)[/amazon_link] by Courtney Cole

Lakehouse Press | September 16, 2012 | 226 pages (est)

Summary (Goodreads)

As a little boy, Luca Minaldi was told he was a monster.
As an adult, he knows it is true.

He lives in Malta, a fairytale-like place filled with sunshine and sea, beauty and secrets. And Luca’s darkest of secrets is the best kept of them all.

Eva Talbot arrives in Malta for the summer to finish up her doctoral dissertation. When she meets Luca, a mysterious and handsome shipping tycoon, there is an instant attraction, a disturbing and beautiful energy that she has never felt before. But she senses the darkness that lives within him.

Eva is hired to care for his mother, who suffers from dementia, but it is Luca who Eva will eventually risk everything to save. Her life becomes a swirling chaos of darkness and romance, of secrets and mystery. And the question that emerges will become the most important answer of all.

Can she save Luca from the darkness that plagues him without losing herself?

The answer is a matter of life or death.

Teaser Quote

 Eva’s Point of View

Luca crosses the room in three strides and pours two glasses of what looks to be Scotch.  He walks back and hands me a glass.  I can practically feel the power emanating from him.  He’s the type of person who has been born into it.  It has been cultivated in him from the time he was an infant and it shows.  Power and money are in every molecular strand in his body.

“To sanity,” Luca says, tipping his glass toward mine. And then he downs his in one gulp.

I take a tentative sip and realize quickly that I was correct.  It’s Scotch.  Neat.  Without one ounce of tonic or even an ice cube to dilute it.  It burns my mouth and warms my chest as it slides smoothly down.  But for some reason, I don’t want him to know that it makes me want to gag and cough.  I want to seem unfazed, so I drink the rest in two gulps and hand Luca back the empty glass.

It is worth my numb lips because there is approval in his eyes as he takes it.

“Aren’t you going to ask?” he says as he sets the glasses down on a heavy wooden side table.  He is still staring at me and his gaze makes me feel like my skin will be ablaze soon.

“Ask what?”  I feel slightly woozy from the Scotch.  And to be honest, I’m also woozy from being so near to Luca Minaldi.  For several different reasons, he has an interesting effect on me.

“Wouldn’t you like to ask me if you’re safe here with me?”

I look at him, remembering his mother’s startling words.  My son is evil.

“Am I?” I ask and my voice is barely a murmur.

“Probably not.”

Luca’s voice is quiet in the study, as dark as the night surrounding us, and I suddenly feel like I should run, somewhere far away from here.  But at the same time, I know that I won’t.  I am ridiculously drawn to this man and the more I find out about him, the more I want to know.  So I shake my head.

“I’m not afraid.”

Luca looks at me again and I don’t see one ounce of the vulnerability that I have seen there before.  Instead, he is expressionless once more and darkly handsome.

“Well, that’s the rub,” he answers.  “You should be.”

 

Connect with Courtney Cole

Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. Every Last Kiss is her debut novel and she followed it with the rest of The Bloodstone Saga (Every Last Kiss, Fated, With My Last Breath and My Tattered Bonds).Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.

Posted in Book Reviews, Books To Read, Highly Recommend, Must Read, NetGalley, Publisher, Scholastic

Review | The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron

[amazon_image id=”0545327865″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”large” ]The Dark Unwinding[/amazon_image]

[amazon_link id=”0545327865″ target=”_blank” ]The Dark Unwinding[/amazon_link] by Sharon Cameron

Scholastic Press | September 1, 2012 | 336 pages

Launch Party

Monday, August 27, 6:30-8 pm

Parnassus Books, 3900 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37215

Procurement

eARC from publisher via NetGalley

My Grade

Plot: 5

Setting: 6

Writing: 5

Originality: 6

Characters: 5

Romance: 5

Overall: 32/30!! A++++

Title/Cover Bonus: 5

Overall

An engrossing tale of a strange old man who loves his playtime, a niece who learns to love playtime too, amoung other things, a house full of endearing servants, tunnels and a most unusual self sustaining estate.

Continue reading “Review | The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron”

Posted in 2012 Debut Author, Bloomsbury, Book Reviews, Publisher

Review | Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

[amazon_image id=”1599906953″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”large” ]Throne of Glass[/amazon_image]

[amazon_link id=”1599906953″ target=”_blank” ]Throne of Glass[/amazon_link] by Sarah J. Maas

August 7, 2012 | Bloomsbury USA Children | 416 pages

Procurement

eARC from publisher via NetGalley

My Grade

Plot: 5

Setting: 5

Writing: 4

Originality: 4

Characters: 4

Romance: 5

Overall: 27/30 90% A

Title/Cover Bonus: 4

Overall

A great look into the world of a teen aged, female assassin thrust into the world of royalty and some very strange events to unfold.

Continue reading “Review | Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas”

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Blog Tour Review | Dante’s Girl (The Paradise Diaries, #1) by Courtney Cole

[amazon_image id=”B008E409I2″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”large” ]Dante’s Girl (The Paradise Diaries)[/amazon_image]

[amazon_link id=”B008E409I2″ target=”_blank” ]Dante’s Girl (The Paradise Diaries)[/amazon_link] by Courtney Cole

Lakehouse Press | June 22, 2012 | 224 pages

$3.99 [amazon_link id=”B008E409I2″ target=”_blank” ]Amazon Kindle[/amazon_link]

Procurement

Kismet Blog Touring

My Grade

Plot: 5

Setting: 6

Writing: 5

Originality: 5

Characters: 5

Romance: 6

Overall: 32/30! A+++++ Super sweet romance in paradise!

Title/Cover Bonus: 5

Overall

An incredibly sweet contemporary romance set in the perfect paradise with the perfect Prince Charming ever.

Continue reading “Blog Tour Review | Dante’s Girl (The Paradise Diaries, #1) by Courtney Cole”

Posted in Book Reviews, Harlequin Teen

Review | Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins

[amazon_image id=”037321054X” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”large” ]Temptation[/amazon_image]
[amazon_link id=”037321054X” target=”_blank” ]Temptation[/amazon_link] by Karen Ann Hopkins

Harlequin TEEN | June 26, 2012

Paperback | Kindle |B&N | Indiebound

Procurement

eARC from publisher via NetGalley.

My Grade

Plot: 4

Setting: 5

Writing: 4

Originality: 4

Characters: 4

Romance: 5

Overall: 26/30 86% B

Title/Cover Bonus: 3

Overall

An enlightening portrayal of the Amish community, forbidden love and strong family values.

Continue reading “Review | Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins”