Jess's Ramblings: April 2009

April 30, 2009

Mother's Day Giveaway!

Author: Jess (The Cozy Reader) | Posted at: Thursday, April 30, 2009 | Filed Under: Contests, Hachette |

Courtesy of Hachette Book Group, I am happy to announce a wonderful Mother's Day Giveaway!

There will be 5 (five) winners of this lovely pack of 5 (five) books. That's right! Each winner will receive a copy of each of the below books!

Here is what you'll receive if you win!

Miracles of Motherhood by June Cotner ISBN: 1931722927 $16.99
From Amazon.com:

A heartwarming and inspirational collection of poems, prayers, and blessings for new mothers from bestselling author June Cotner. Popular author and speaker June Cotner serves up another generous helping of the uplifting inspiration that readers have come to love and cherish in her previous anthologies. She offers sustenance for a young mother's soul with carefully arranged prayers, spiritual poetry, and reflections to bring them comfort, inspiration, and joy. It is the perfect gift book for mothers as they contemplate the meaning of motherhood and celebrate one of the most important rites of passage for women--a life-altering, incomparable experience that presents both tremendous challenges and rewards. MIRACLES OF MOTHERHOOD offers encouragement and support for mothers where they need it most--the heart.

Odd Mom Out by Jane Porter ISBN: 0446699233 $13.99
From Amazon.com (Booklist):

Marta Zinsser is not your typical suburban mom. Single, strong, and confident, she wears camouflage pants and chunky boots and rides a motorcycle. When her New York advertising firm asks her to open a branch in Seattle, she agrees to return to her hometown, mostly because of her mother's ill health. Now she's running her own firm out of her house, while her nine-year-old daughter is trying and failing to fit in at her new school. Eva is heartbroken, but Marta, who has never felt the need to be part of the pack, is at a loss as to how to help. Eva's subsequent attempts to change Marta into a normal mom and her sudden, not-so-subtle hints that Marta should get married and create a regular family are funny and poignant. With the increasing demands of her daughter, her ailing mother, and work, Marta's life begins to spiral out of control in a way most women will all-too-readily recognize. Porter's tale of a mother and daughter's journey to "normalcy" is keenly emotional and truly uplifting. Hatton, Maria

Mommy Grace : Erasing Your Mommy Guilt by Sheila Schuller Coleman ISBN: 0446545414 $14.99
From Amazon.com:

Universally, mothers tend to feel they are not good enough at parenting and fear they are harming their children by not being perfect. In Mommy Grace: Erasing Mommy Guilt, Sheila Schuller Coleman offers overwhelmed moms short but emotive stories of authentic motherhood from her own and others' experiences-foibles and all-and offers comfort by showing how God makes up for human weakness with His own strength.
Because Sheila shares lessons learned the hard way by real moms rather than giving difficult instructions for better mothering, readers will leave the book feeling encouraged rather than lectured.
For every mom who feels she's not quite up to the colossal job of parenting, MOMMY GRACE is full of hope and compassion.

Beginner's Greek by James Collins ISBN: 0316021563 $14.99
From Hachette:

Is love at first sight possible or just an old-fashioned romantic idea? And what if, to further complicate things, you meet the love of your life and then lose her phone number? Then what if, after the impossible happens and you find her again, she's now about to marry a roguish lothario who is also your best friend? The complications don't end there for Peter Russell, the winning hero of James Collins' charming, generous, and romantic first novel. Part modern-day Jane Austen, part Tom Wolfe, Beginner's Greek is a romantic comedy of the highest order, with characters who are perfectly, charmingly real as they swerve and stumble from fairy tale to social satire and back again.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain ISBN: 0316002623 $14.99 May 21, 2009
From Hachette:

In the wake of factory closings and his beloved wife's death, Lev makes his way from Eastern Europe to London, seeking work to support his mother and his little daughter. After a spell of homelessness, he finds a job in the kitchen of a posh restaurant and a room in the house of an appealing Irishman who has already lost his family. Never mind that Lev must sleep in a bunk bed surrounded by plastic toys--he has found a friend and shelter. However constricted his life in England remains, he compensates by daydreaming of home, by having an affair with a younger restaurant worker, and by trading gossip and ambitions via cell phone with his hilarious friend Rudi, who, dreaming of the wealthy West, lives largely for his battered Chevrolet.

Homesickness dogs Lev, not only for nostalgic reasons, but because he doesn't belong, body or soul, to his new country--but can he really go home again? Rose Tremain's prodigious talents as a prose writer are on full display in THE ROAD HOME, and her novel never loses sight of what is truly important in the lives we lead.

What lovely books! The last two have really caught my eye!

How to enter:

IMPORTANT! Each entry MUST be a separate comment! Otherwise you forfeit your additional entries! I will be using a random number generator to pick the winners!

1. Post a comment! Any comment will do!
2. Follow my blog! Already follow? Awesome! Let me know!
3. Post this giveaway on your blog and post the link back here! Sidebars are fine.
4. Visit Hachette's site and report to me any book, or even an author, that you would love to read!

That's 4 (four) entries available!

Entries will be accepted until midnight, May 31, Eastern Standard Time.
Entries are open to US and Canadian residents. Sorry, no P.O. Boxes.
Winners will be randomly selected and announced June 1st.
Winners will be required to contact me via the "Contact" link at the top of my blog within 3 days of the winner announcements.
The winner's mailing address will be sent to Hachette Books who will send out the giveaways.

Thanks for visiting and Good Luck!

http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/85723/patricksjessica/e8bed16f18830deb74d189a04f0c3048.png

April 29, 2009

Waiting on Wednesday!

Author: Jess (The Cozy Reader) | Posted at: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 | Filed Under: Books To Read, Cover Art, Waiting on Wednesday |

I love a good series. And a good series is the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning.
This series is a Balls Worthy series. It's totally kick ass!

So, today, Wednesday, I'm waiting for the next release! Dreamfever (Fever Series, Book 4)!

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n60/n302733.jpg

The other books of this series are:
Darkfever (Book 1)
Bloodfever (Book 2)
Faefever (Book 3)

http://www.mainlybooks.co.nz/darkfever_fever_series_book_1-img-0440240980.jpg

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n44/n221551.jpg

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n52/n264000.jpg

They are chronological and should be read in order.

Aren't these covers cool too?!

Visit Karen's site to get more detailed info on her books! There are excerpts for the books. However, after just visiting I see that it hasn't been updated too recently because she doesn't even have the cover art for Dreamfever up yet. What's up with that?!

She does have an April contest going though, for an audio book of Faefever. She also has a newsletter that you can sign up for.

Dreamfever (Book 4) is scheduled to release August 25, 2009! I wish she would release these 6 months apart instead of 12 - 13 months! Drives me crazy to have to wait sooooo long for the next book in a series!

You can pre-order Dreamfever now or order the other books from this series! I promise you won't be disappointed! Click on the cover images above to go to Amazon.com!

April 28, 2009

Blog Awards!

Author: Jess (The Cozy Reader) | Posted at: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 | Filed Under: Awards |

I've received a few blog awards over the past couple of months.

A big thank you to you guys!

I received the Sisterhood Award from Ravenous Reader! Thanks!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyORw-5lw8TwfjKatWAuCgYqM11GZRfRVJ_X_5mPK-75ZEq1A6FMhiF1ZmJ_YJsciG5mpjyYdGDiP1NGpB-Uv59KQXWdtVpleov5CQU9PVhu88F1KRxGHqhfIP_ze4vHWe4FhPDxDErA/s200/Proximidade_Blog_Award%5B1%5D.jpg

I received the Proximidade Award from A Book Dork and Kiss My Book too! Thanks!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkJSsYnkKoSHNSdh_SmVVJnWBwVRbvRjBAfX3karc5VIF7Lj5OOvqmNHNXUDiC9urxZTtQpBwnnuhYr-VqAZEjIr_tZEVTl62NIlqee4sB1mL8nywJ8h7u2ycI4Vfv84CERKbT8xdA9tU/s320/blogaward.png

I received the One Lovely Blog Award from Bites and from Silvia Pi's YA Books and again from Romance Sap. Thanks!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4EUo1JQY9SXGxJtD4vYFBw7G6C2qmb5D9dVvxhy4VXVfvbmfJidLVnYeq9_uyfphBAHFrEOZkrHUo0dZrdYmwLWURAvhelmtBG2-_TsD5yIidoJlkDndEZ-d1hRnxeu9nCi8z3MgHxTe/s200/Award_Lets_Be_friends.jpg

The Lets Be Friends Award comes from Aye Captain. Thanks!

Thanks again for the love and acknowledgment! I try to do my best with my blog and I'm happy to see that you are enjoying it!

Maybe one day I can sit down and pick some award winners to give these away to. They seem to have made their rounds.

Contests: Updated!

Author: Jess (The Cozy Reader) | Posted at: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 | Filed Under: Contests |

Here's a list of the many contests I stumble upon from visiting my fellow bloggers!

The only thing that I ask is that you please let them know that I sent you to their contest!

Also, I will continuously update this post with new contests, so feel free to bookmark it or return often to the home page and click "Contests" in the top menu bar!

Thanks and Good Luck!

Currently Running: