Series Highlight: The Aspen Valley Series By Colette Auclair + Derb-E Treat Giveaway

  

The Kentucky Derby is just one week away and we are giving away promo codes for the eBooks Thrown, Jumped, and Branded in Colette Auclair’s award-winning Aspen Valley series!

THROWN (December 2013; $5.99) is the first book in The Aspen Valley Series.  Professional horse trainer Amanda Vogel dreams of riding jumpers in the Olympics, but after seeing her best friend die in a riding accident, she’s so traumatized she can’t compete. Broke and desperate, she takes a summer job in Aspen teaching some big-shot widowed movie star’s spoiled daughters to ride—and braces herself for three miserable months. But the movie star is funny, down-to-earth, and gorgeous—and his spoiled daughters are just desperate for a mother figure. By Labor Day, she has to choose between capturing a gold medal…and the man who has captured her heart.

JUMPED (August 2014; $5.99), the second book in The Aspen Valley Series, is Colette Auclair’s steamy sequel to her “page-turning debut” (Library Journal), Thrown. A young woman in the equestrian fashion business finds herself head over heels for her ex-husband.  Thoroughly enjoying herself at her best friend Amanda’s wedding, Beth is shocked when she is seated next to her ex-husband, Finn, at the reception. Determined to not let this fluster her, Beth strikes up a conversation only to learn Finn isn’t the same man she walked away from. 

Relieved the reception is over, Beth is looking forward to a relaxing weekend against the beautiful backdrop of sunny Aspen at Amanda and Grady’s estate.  Little does she know Finn will be partaking in the weekend activities.  But just as Beth decides to keep as much distance between her and Finn as possible, Finn has a terrible accident and Beth is stuck being his bedside nurse.  Over the course of the weekend, Beth and Finn discover that the wounds of their failed marriage are not all that’s left. There are sparks…and hope. But just as they decide to give it another try, Finn confesses a huge secret that could destroy everything he’s fought to get back—Beth, their relationship, and another chance at love.  Will Beth turn away, or will she take a leap of faith and say “I do” once (again) and for all? 

BRANDED (December 2014; $5.99), the third book in The Aspen Valley Series, will take readers on a wild and dreamy ride through the beautiful valleys and mountains of Colorado.  Professional, polite, and pearl-wearing, dressage rider and resort consultant Cordy Sims is the last person anyone would expect to initiate a weekend of debauchery. And yet, that’s exactly what she does after meeting a handsome stranger at an Aspen resort. Agreeing that they’ll leave personal details at the door, they indulge in a memorable weekend of carnal recreation. On Sunday night, Cordy doesn’t want to leave this charming, seductive man, but she must play by her own rules.

On Monday, Cordy sits in a meeting at the ad agency that’s hired her as a freelancer, and her professional and personal worlds collide. Turns out agency owner Jack Cormier looks just as good in the boardroom as he did in the bedroom. Forced to work together, Cordy and Jack can’t ignore the chemistry that crackles between them, or the deeper feelings that have developed. But secrets and scars from their pasts may prove too formidable, even for a love that’s as powerful as it is unexpected.  

Praise for The Aspen Valley Series:

“The story portrays two convincingly flawed but likeable characters who find each other’s aults both provocative and exciting, as they try to decide whether a second chance at marriage is worth the risk.”

—Publishers Weekly on Jumped

“There is enough tension among all the forces at play to keep the pages turning. Debut novelist Auclair is a 2012 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Finalist, winner of the 2011 Winter Rose Contest, and a finalist in the 2011 Cleveland Rocks Romance Contest.  Recommended for most romance fans.”

—Library Journal on Thrown

Colette Auclair has been a copywriter for more than twenty years.  She’s ridden and shown horses since she was ten and owns a lovely twenty-year-old Thoroughbred mare.  Thrown, her first novel, was a 2012 Golden Heart finalist in the single-title contemporary romance category.  It also won the 2011 Winter Rose Contest (Yellow Rose Romance Writers) and finaled in the 2011 Cleveland Rocks Romance Contest (NE Ohio Romance Writers Assoc.)  Jumped is second and Branded is third in the Aspen Valley series.  Please visit coletteauclair.com.

 

A Pocket Star EBook Kentucky Derb-E Treat! The Aspen Valley Series

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Coming Soon: A Casual Conversation with Anna Todd! + Signed Book Giveaway

The podcast has been recorded and we are excited to share it with everyone on After Ever Happy's book release day 2/24/15!!! So mark your calendars!!! - Yara

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It's important to be connected with the world of blogging. Either by reading book blogs, following books blogs, being BFFs with other book bloggers, and the list goes on. Why, might you ask? For one, for all you avid readers out there, what's the #1 problem we face? There is never enough time to read everything on our shelves. Second, while we are reading one book, another one slips by. That's why it is so important to build your connections either face to face or virtually.

Imaginator1d who? #Hessa who? WattPad what? All totally foreign to me, until I came across screaming, yelling, “This is so different, this is so not right, this is just too addicting’” and the list goes on, from my circle of co-blogger. I had to get in on the excitement and quick. So if you are still one of the number who has no idea who author Anna Todd is, it's ok, remember that's what we are here for. Her books are huge, her storylines are enormous, and the story elements build with every single book.

So here is the good news for you. With the help of Anna’s awesome publicist at Simon and Schuster, Once Upon A Twilight and A Leisure Moment are teaming together to have a Casual Conversation with Anna. To get ready, we are giving away a signed copy of book one in the series. You already have a copy? No problem! If you win let us know and we will send to that super friend who needs an entertaining book to read, on your behalf. Like paying it forward! So be sure to stay connected with us. This interview will be via podcast, so no matter what part of the world you live in, we will have a listening format available for you.

Lastly, we want to get you involved. We will choose a few unique questions, that do not lend to spoilers of any of the books in the series, to ask Anna on your behalf. If you have a question click this link and leave your question. We will squeeze in a few. Please do not leave your question ideas in the comment section, they must be on the form. Now enter this giveaway and prepare yourself for a casual conversation with Anna Todd coming soon in February!

{Deitre} 

Yara's After Review | Yara's After We Collided Review | Yara and Bri's After We Fell Review 

Submit your question for Anna Todd here! (Ends January 24)
(We are no longer taking questions but you can still enter the giveaway!)

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Trailer Thursday: Who's the Hotter Book Boyfriend in Renée Carlino's Books?

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Nowhere but Here:

A jaded Chicago reporter in her twenties unexpectedly finds love in Napa Valley when she’s assigned to spend a week with a famously reclusive genius in this rich and deeply satisfying contemporary romance by the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing.

Kate Corbin has lost her spark. A year ago, she had a handsome boyfriend and a budding career as a reporter at a popular Chicago newspaper. But after the woman who raised her passed away, leaving her lost and alone, she fell into a rut—and never got out. Now she’s stuck writing fluff pieces about lipstick and wine, and feeling trapped in a relationship that’s going nowhere.

Trusting that the hungry, ace reporter is buried somewhere deep inside, Kate’s boss and mentor gives her the opportunity to jump-start her career. The assignment: spend a week interviewing R. J. Lawson, a famously reclusive tech genius who disappeared years ago but recently reemerged as the owner of a well-respected Napa Valley winery.

Kate jumps at the chance, but the trip begins in disaster, both personally and professionally. After alienating R.J., her only saving grace is Jamie, a charming vineyard hand who shows her the beauty of wine country—and stirs her aching heart. It doesn’t take long for Kate and Jamie to fall hard, and for Kate to rethink her life in the city. But the week ends with a heartbreaking journey back to Chicago that sends Kate reeling, wondering what went wrong in those four perfect days.

Sweet Thing:

A USA TODAY bestselling contemporary romance about the complexities of love and self-discovery in the early post-college years.

Mia Kelly thinks she has it all figured out. She’s an Ivy League graduate, a classically trained pianist, and the beloved daughter of a sensible mother and offbeat father. Yet Mia has been stalling since graduation, torn between putting her business degree to use and exploring music, her true love.

When her father unexpectedly dies, she decides to pick up the threads of his life while she figures out her own. Uprooting herself from Ann Arbor to New York City, Mia takes over her father’s café, a treasured neighbor­hood institution that plays host to undiscovered musicians and artists. She’s denied herself the thrilling and unpredictable life of a musician, but a chance encounter with Will, a sweet, gorgeous, and charming guitar­ist, offers her a glimpse of what could be. When Will becomes her friend and then her roommate, she does everything in her power to suppress her passions—for him, for music—but her father’s legacy slowly opens her heart to the possibility of something more.

Blog Tour: Your Perfect Life | Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke | Review

Welcome to our stop on YOUR PERFECT LIFE tour for authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. Today we share our 4 star review.

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Your Perfect Life
Author: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genre: Fantasy | Women's Fiction
Released: June 10 2014
Review Source: Washington Square Press | Simon & Schuster

With “a delicious, page-turning premise, and sweet and surprising insights” (New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster), Your Perfect Life perfectly illustrates that old adage: Sometimes, you to have to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes to see what’s in her heart.

Best friends since childhood, Casey and Rachel couldn’t lead more different lives. While workaholic Casey rubs elbows with celebrities daily as the host of Gossip TV and comes home nightly to an empty apartment, stay-at-home mom Rachel juggles an “oops” baby, two fiery teenagers, and a husband who barely seems the man she fell in love with two decades before. After an argument at their twentieth high school reunion, Casey and Rachel throw back shots to get the night back on track. Instead, they get a life-changing hangover.

Waking up in each other’s bodies the next morning, they must figure out how to navigate their altered realities. Rachel is forced to confront the reason she gave up her broadcasting dreams when she got pregnant in college, and Casey finally steps out of the spotlight to face the truth about why she’s alone. And they soon discover that they don’t know themselves—or their best friend—nearly as well as they thought they did.

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke bring humor and heart to every page of this novel that is sure to please fans of In Her Shoes and The Opposite of Me. Your Perfect Life is a story about two very different women, what they didn’t know about each other, and how, by switching lives, they each learn to appreciate their own.

Everyday in life you always wished you had a different life because you either think your friend has a awesome life and you would like theirs instead of yours. But sometimes you have to think about it. You might think they have the greatest life you could imagine and deep down they might be hiding some skeltons in their closet only they would know. Well that's what happened in this book.

Your Perfect Life was a really good book from the beginning to the end. You meet two main characters in this book named Rachel and Casey. Casey is the type of woman that you wished you had her life. She is in perfect shape and has a job where she gets to meet celebrities everyday. Then you have Rachel that has a normal life. She has teenagers, a oops baby, and a husband that doesn't want anything to do with her. It's like living with a roomate not your husband. When Casey and Rachel show up to their high school reunion everybody notices Casey because she is famous on TV and gets to interview so many celebrities. Then you have Rachel where they tell her she hasn't changed a bit since high school. She looks the same. That drives her nuts until her and Casey start fighting saying they wish they had each other lives.

When they wake up in the morning Casey is in Rachel Body and Rachel is in Casey body. Through out the whole book you see how each other live their new lives. After reading the book you think really hard about your life and it really isn't that bad. You might have a better life then somebody. You might have a great husband, great kids, and have a job. Where there might be someone that doesn't have any of those and wished they did. So if you like the movie Freaky Friday then you will love this book.

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Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have been best friends for 25 years and survived high school and college together. Liz lives in San Diego, CA with her husband and two children. Lisa, a former talk show producer, now lives in Chicago, IL with her husband, daughter and two bonus children.

Their novel, YOUR PERFECT LIFE, about two childhood best friends who switch bodies at their twenty-year high school reunion, will be published by Atria Books in June 2014.

 

Extra! Extra!: Gallery Books to Publish Wattpad Phenomenon AFTER written by Anna Todd

The news was just released that Gallery Books', Adam Wilson negotiated the deal to publish the Wattpad phenomenon After. After is written by Anna Todd. It became a online phenomena when more than 800 millions reads of the three-part Wattpad series happened. 

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Here is the official press release:

Gallery Books to Publish Wattpad’s Popular Series AFTER

NEW YORK, May 27, 2014—Gallery Books will publish the Wattpad phenomenon After as a New Adult series, in both e-book and print editions, it was announced today by Jennifer Bergstrom, Publisher of Gallery Books. Originally serialized on Wattpad, the world’s largest community of readers and writers, the first book in the After series is scheduled to publish in Fall 2014; the second and third books will be published in early 2015.

After, written by Anna Todd, is one of the most talked about stories on the internet and has become an online phenomenon with more than 800 million reads of the three-part Wattpad series. Written serially with daily updates to meet reader demand, After became Wattpad’s most shared story of 2013. In addition to the massive popularity of After on Wattpad, the story regularly trends on other social networks, including Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. The success also caught the attention of United Talent Agency, which is now handling the film and television representation of After. The original fanfiction will remain on Wattpad.

“Anna used Wattpad’s mobile and social storytelling features to captivate millions of readers with After,” said Bergstrom. “We are thrilled to be able to reach an even broader audience in book form.”

“Partnering with innovative publishers like Gallery Books gives Wattpad writers the ability to share their stories in new formats and attract additional readers around the world,” said Wattpad’s Head of Content, Publishing, Ashleigh Gardner.

Adam Wilson, Senior Editor at Gallery Books, negotiated the deal with Gardner, which includes world and audio rights.

ABOUT GALLERY BOOKS
Gallery Books is an imprint dedicated to publishing a variety of must-read books on a wide array of topics. Launched in February 2010, Gallery is designed to showcase established voices and to introduce emerging new ones—in both fiction and nonfiction genres. Some of Gallery Books’ bestselling titles include Tim Gunn’s Fashion Bible by Tim Gunn, Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Love Anthony by Lisa Genova, Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill, and The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick.

ABOUT SIMON & SCHUSTER
Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com

ABOUT WATTPAD
More than 25 million people have joined Wattpad, making it the world’s largest community of readers and writers. People use Wattpad to connect with each other while they discover and share millions of free stories. Wattpad stories are available in more than 50 languages and can be read or written from any phone, table, or computer. The company is proudly based on Toronto, Canada. Learn more at www.wattpad.com.