Contest. Contest. Contest.

Seen on tons of other blogs...and of course everyone's always up for a contest.

Introducing….

THE REALITY CHICK BUZZ THE BOOK contest!

The PRIZES:

(1) Your choice of either an iPod Shuffle, OR a fifty dollar Amazon.com gift certificate
(2) An autographed copy of REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt
(3) A copy of the August issue of Teen People, which lists REALITY CHICK as a Can’t-Miss Pick for August
(4) Free tuition to a session of Lauren’s YA writing class

THE CONTEST:

STEP ONE: Simply copy and paste this whole message (including the info about the contest) into any blog, message board, email list, myspace bulletin, or anywhere a lot of people will see it!

REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt is NOW IN STORES!

Going away to college means total independence and freedom. Unless of
course your freshman year is taped and televised for all the world to
watch. On uncensored cable.

Sweet and normal Ally Cavanaugh is one of five freshpeople shacking up
on In the House, a reality show filmed on her college campus. (As if
school isn’t panic-inducing enough!) The cameras stalk her like
paparazzi, but they also capture the fun that is new friends, old
crushes, and learning to live on your own.

Sure, the camera adds ten pounds, but with the freshman fifteen a given anyway, who cares?
Ally’s got bigger issues — like how her long-distance bf can watch her
loopy late-night “episode” with a certain housemate…

Freshman year on film.
It’s outrageous.
It’s juicy.
And like all good reality TV, it’s impossible to turn off.

IN STORES NOW!

Check out Lauren on the web at www.laurenbarnholdt.com or on her myspace at www.myspace.com/laurenbarnholdt

STEP TWO — Email Lauren at lauren (at) laurenbarnholdt.com and let her know you’ve posted about the contest and the book, and you’ll be entered to win the prize pack! The winner will be picked at random on September 1st. The more places you post, the more entries you get. Have fun and good luck!!!

Trophy Girl by Melani Blazer

Book Info:


Trophy Girl by Melani Blazer
ISBN: 1-59998-070-3
Length: Category
Price: $4.50
Genre: Romance/Red Hot!/Contemporary
Publication Date: July 11th, 2006
Purchase Link


I won a copy of this book a couple weeks ago. Read it, loved it, then got caught up in the Real World with house crap. I firmly now believe that I should just let JJ, JC, V, and all the other men handle all the remodeling while I lounge in the office and read. Okay so enough of that dream.

I could write a long drawn out summary here, but I won't because it'd give away half the fun of this story. What I will tell you about the book is that it involves a Nascar racedriver, Zander Torris, who by the way, drool worthy (and lickafuckable tossed in there for Jen and Nay). Molly is a Nurse practicioner at one of the camps sponsored by Zander, and upon their first meeting he insists she accompany him to a black tie function. This first 'date' spins into a whirlwind wonderful affair between the two while Zander and Molly both struggle with their feelings.

Trophy girl had everything; Excitement, love, roller coaster emotions, and fear. The fear of facing the past and changing your response to it. Molly and Zander are so well written, especially Zander and his conflicted emotions, sometimes I just wanted to give him a hug. Molly is a force to be reckoned with, If Zander wasn't taking No for an answer, Molly surely wasn't. She stood her ground and laid it all out and had the strength to follow through, even if it hurt. That is real LOVE.

And the sex--sizzling, scorching, hot, and a plethora of other words I could use that would fit.

So get off my blog and go read this book.

Thanks again for the copy Melani, and I apologize it too so long to get this review up. Hope its to your liking.

Taken By Storm: When good intentions go wrong

I finished a newly released e-book called Taken By Storm by first time author Marie Rochelle a few nights ago. I was intrigued by the synopsis I read, but what held me back from actually purchasing the story was the publisher. This publisher has a history of just bad practices in terms of editing and the price of their stories. Months ago, after purchasing a story that was 80 pages for $5.99, I pledged an oath to never, EVER buy anything from them again.

The friend who sent me this story told me that it wasn't good, that the heroine was weak, but I refused to let her opinion sway me. The story was approximately 367 pages (should have stopped at about 100-150 for sure) and besides it being unnecessarily long, unbelievable and having a weak, pathetic excuse for a "strong black woman" as the main female character, the lack of editing killed what little respect I had for the story. I feel bad for the author because she at least attempted to tell and sell a story, but for the publisher to release it with extensive (and I do mean EXTENSIVE) grammatical errors, my oh my, what a horrible error in judgment..

I've read posts from folks who stopped reading the story because of the horrid editing. It's a real shame that a first time author will receive the brunt of the criticism for something her publisher should have and could have prevented. Not every story I've read has been a winner, but this one stands out because it really lacked character development, believability and those damn editing (or lack of) mistakes.

Apparently, the publisher (OMP) will re-release the story once it completes a thorough editing sweep, but the damage is already done. For shame OMP, for shame.

I'm so ashamed. LOL

I've discovered that I'm a sexist reader. I believe that women can write any genre, but I can't get myself to read any romantic thrillers/paranormals/or anything else that men write. I have yet to find a male writer that can match a women writer's level of heat and sexual tension in a story.

So, if anyone knows of a male writer that can prove me wrong, please feel free to let me know.