January 2019 Book of the Month Giveaway
February 16, 2019 03:23 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
January’s reading was kind of meh for me. I tried a couple of new authors who didn’t quite make the cut, as well as another author I’d read before but who didn’t have a very good track record with me. That left only two books and a novelette, all by favorite authors, that scored highly with me. Out of those my top pick was a re-read of an old favorite that’s the third book of a phenomenally popular series. The hoopla over it may have died down somewhat in recent years, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Bella has been a character whose actions and choices I don't always agree with, but somehow I'm still able to understand her. For instance, I'm a hopeless romantic, so the prospect of marriage to someone like Edward would not be a difficult choice for me to make. Bella, however, fights not only the idea of a beautiful wedding, but also the marriage itself as though it were the most distasteful thing in the world. However, the author allows me to live my own perspective vicariously through other characters. Bella also seems to always be thinking of everyone else before herself, so I was pleased to see her grow enough by the end of this book to realize that it's OK to do something because it was right for her instead of just right for her loved ones. I did find myself wishing throughout much of the book, though, that Bella would ease up on the self-flagellation. She constantly seems to think that every bad thing that happens is somehow her fault and that she is a bad person because of it, when that clearly isn't the case, but overall, I liked her anyway.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Stephenie Meyer, Twilight
2018 Best of the Year & Choose Your Own Giveaway
January 22, 2019 12:50 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
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I’ve been an avid reader all my life, and in 2008, I decided to start reviewing books, as well. That’s when I founded my review website, The Hope Chest Reviews. Since becoming a published author, I haven’t stopped writing reviews of the books I read for pleasure, in part, because I’m now more aware than ever just how important reviews can be to a author in helping readers discover them. That’s why I stubbornly insist upon keeping this up indefinitely, despite the extra time it takes. Ever since I started my review site, I’ve had an annual tradition of posting my Best of the Year list to highlight all the very best books I read the previous year. As in past years, I have an eclectic group of books on it from a wide variety of genres. |
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Categories: Giveaways
Tags: Best of the Year, J. R. Ward, Jessica Bird, Lisa Kleypas
December 2018 Book of the Month Giveaway
January 21, 2019 07:29 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
December’s books offered a great wrap-up to my 2018 reading. Out of seven full-length books and three novellas/short stories, only one didn’t make the cut, so I’m really pleased with such a nice group of books to end the year. A few of those were five-star reads, as well, which was the icing on the cake. The stand-out romance from among them was an older Harlequin Historical title that turned out to be a really fun, delightful story, one that took the concept of Midsummer Madness to a whole new level. I can be pretty particular about romantic comedies, but this one was a very enjoyable farce that somehow managed to be both humorous and touching.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Tori Phillips
Beautiful Flower Calendar + eBook or Audiobook Giveaway
December 19, 2018 12:34 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
As 2018 comes to a close, I find myself with several extra 2019 wall calendars. So this month, I’m offering two additional giveaways for each of them. The first is from Easterseals and features a dozen beautiful and colorful images of flowers. This 8.25” x 10.75” calendar is sure to look beautiful on your wall and brighten your new year. In addition, each winner may also choose an eBook copy of any one of my books: His Heart’s Desire, Heart of the Season, Butterfly Serenade or my brand new one The Key to Her Heart OR you may choose an audiobook download code for either His Heart’s Desire or Heart of the Season.
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for your chance to win. International entries on this one are OK. Good luck!
Categories: Giveaways
Tags: Butterfly Serenade, Heart of the Season, His Heart's Desire, The Key to Her Heart
Adorable Pets Calendar + eBook or Audiobook Giveaway
December 19, 2018 12:24 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
As 2018 comes to a close, I find myself with several extra 2019 wall calendars. So this month, I’m offering two additional giveaways for each of them. If you missed this one last month or if you didn’t win, here’s a second chance to win an ASPCA calendar, featuring a dozen sweet images of dogs and cats. This 8.5” x 10.5” calendar is sure to look beautiful on your wall and brighten your new year. In addition, each winner may also choose an eBook copy of any one of my books: His Heart’s Desire, Heart of the Season, Butterfly Serenade or my brand new one The Key to Her Heart OR you may choose an audiobook download code for either His Heart’s Desire or Heart of the Season.
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for your chance to win. International entries on this one are OK. Good luck!
Categories: Giveaways
Tags: Butterfly Serenade, Heart of the Season, His Heart's Desire, The Key to Her Heart
November 2018 Book of the Month Giveaway
December 19, 2018 12:00 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
I had just one five-star read in November. It was a re-read of an old favorite that’s the second book in a popular young adult series that stirred up a ton of hype about a decade or so ago, when I read it for the first time. Since then, a lot of that hype has died down, but I still love these books and I’m having fun rediscovering them. I’ve enjoyed reading the first two books again, and I look forward to re-reading the rest in 2019.
When I say Edward and Bella, everyone is sure to know which series I’m talking about.:-) I recall that when I read these books for the first time, I was enthralled by their epic love story. But in this second volume, they spend much of it apart. After an innocent birthday celebration leads to a minor accident that in turn causes a life-threatening situation for Bella, Edward decides that the best course of action to keep her safe is to take himself out of her life. This leaves Bella depressed, demoralized, and having difficulty moving on with life, until she discovers a new friendship and a rebellious purpose with Native American teen and friend of the family, Jacob Black. But Jacob has some secrets of his own, and he and a “gang” of teens from the reservation may prove equally as dangerous as Edward.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Stephenie Meyer, Twilight
Adorable Pets Calendar + eBook Giveaway
November 20, 2018 01:33 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
As 2018 comes to a close, I find myself with several extra 2019 wall calendars. So this month, I’m offering two additional giveaways for each of them. The second is from the ASPCA and features a dozen sweet images of dogs and cats. This 8.5” x 10.5” calendar is sure to look beautiful on your wall and brighten your new year. In addition, each winner may also choose an eBook copy of any one of my books: His Heart’s Desire, Heart of the Season, Butterfly Serenade or my brand new one The Key to Her Heart, which will be released by the time this giveaway ends.
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for your chance to win. International entries on this one are OK. Good luck!
If you don’t win this month, be sure to check back next month for two more calendar giveaways.
Categories: Giveaways
Tags: Butterfly Serenade, Heart of the Season, His Heart's Desire, The Key to Her Heart
Children’s Artwork Calendar + eBook Giveaway
November 20, 2018 01:26 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
As 2018 comes to a close, I find myself with several extra 2019 wall calendars. So this month, I’m offering two additional giveaways for each of them. The first is from the Phoenix Children’s Hospital and features a dozen adorable images of artwork created by children who’ve received treatment there. This 8” x 10.5” calendar is sure to look beautiful on your wall and brighten your new year. In addition, each winner may also choose an eBook copy of any one of my books: His Heart’s Desire, Heart of the Season, Butterfly Serenade or my brand new one The Key to Her Heart, which will be released by the time this giveaway ends.
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for your chance to win. International entries on this one are OK. Good luck!
If you don’t win this month, be sure to check back next month for two more calendar giveaways.
Categories: Giveaways
Tags: Butterfly Serenade, Heart of the Season, His Heart's Desire, The Key to Her Heart
October 2018 Book of the Month Giveaway
November 20, 2018 12:32 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
I read a number of books in October that I enjoyed, but only one full-length novel made it to five stars. It’s the first book of a brand new series and the latest novel by one of my all-time favorite authors who I seem to keep featuring again and again. That’s because her books are just so darn good, I can’t help myself.:-) She writes about a very famous paranormal Brotherhood, but in this new contemporary series, she’s created a different sort of brotherhood made up of firefighters and other first responders. Anne and Danny, our hero and heroine, who are both firefighters, enjoyed a very steamy one-night stand in the two short prequel novellas, but the heroine had worked too hard to make it to where she was in a man’s world to give that up for a relationship. When this story opens, it’s been about three weeks since that fateful night, and there’s still an unrequited attractions simmering between them. Their station house is called out to fight a warehouse fire, during which Anne becomes trapped and Danny must make a gut-wrenching and life-altering decision in order to free her from the flames. From there we fast-forward ten months to see Anne reinventing herself as an arson investigator, where she’s looking into a string of warehouse fires that may be connected to the last fire she fought and which place her in the cross-hairs of a desperate arsonist.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: J. R. Ward
Journal & Fairy Magnet + eBook Giveaway
October 14, 2018 05:49 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
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This month for my second giveaway, I’m offering a journal with a blue, white, and gold striped cover, along with a magnet with an image of fairies and butterflies and the Nathaniel Hawthorne verse, “Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp… but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” In addition, the winner will also receive an eBook copy of my book Butterfly Serenade. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for your chance to win. |
Categories: Giveaways
Tags: Butterfly Serenade
