August's Kindle Fire HDX or $229 Giveaway

It's time for August's $229 Kindle Giveaway Hosted by I Am A Reader.  

Enter to win 1 of 2 great prizes both valued at $229. Winner’s choice of a Kindle Fire HDX or $229 Amazon Gift Card or $229 Paypal Cash!

The first prize is available via the rafflecopter below. The 2nd is available only to those share this giveaway. You can find info on how to enter the 2nd giveaway in the rafflecopter.

   

Win a Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash ($229 value)

Kindle Fire HDX 7" Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HDX (US Only - $229 Value)
 

   
                     Or $229 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)
 

   
                    Or $229 in Paypal Cash (International)
 

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Giveaway Details
1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire 7" HDX (US Only - $229 value), $229 Amazon Gift Card or $229 in Paypal Cash (International). There is a second separate giveaway for bloggers who post this giveaway on their blog. See details in the rafflecopter on how to enter to win the 2nd Kindle Fire HDX 7", $229 Amazon Gift Card or $229 in Paypal Cash. Ends 8/31/14   Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash.  

Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded.
No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bitter-Sweet Coming of Age Novel!

Heartbreaking and beautiful beyond words, Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan is a delicately crafted stunning novel that tackles the issue of forgiveness and the healing power of words as it explores the bond that binds daughters and mothers.

For most people, Christmas is a time of joy and celebration – the most anticipated and eagerly-awaited day of the year. But for thirteen-year-old Apollinia Apostolopoulou (Apple), Christmas is a sad reminder of the saddest event in her life. Her mother ran off to New York to be on Broadway on Christmas’ eve, without once thinking about the child she’d left behind and never came back. Christmas means tears and unfulfilled longings for her mother’s hugs. In time, she hates Christmas season as intensely as she hopes for the return of her mother.

For eleven long years Apple lives under the watchful eyes of her Nana. Her dad remarried, a woman named Trish. It was a wedding in which the photos showed Apple sticking out her tongue and rolling her eyes back, even pretending to be crying – ruining every one of them. Years keep rolling by until one day when Apple’s mother appears. When she moves in with her mother, it is different from the life she had known all along. She has to live with her half-sister Rain who is ten years old. Rain carries around a doll which she believes is real. Apple has to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of her sister when her mother is away, which is becoming more frequent with each passing day. Apple is reduced to being a mere babysitter, so different from the life she thought she would live if her mother returns.

Delightful, heartbreaking yet hopeful, Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan is a story of love, loss, life and the hope for a better tomorrow in the midst of today’s struggles. It is a coming-of-age story about two little sisters, the bond they established in the absence of their mother, and their relationship with their mother who has misplaced priorities. I’m just curious what would Apple’s life be like if she were a real person!

Amazon Link

Jack Reacher Gets Personal!

Personal (Jack Reacher #19)

by Lee Child

Jack Reacher walks alone. Once a go-to hard man in the US military police, now he's a drifter of no fixed abode. But the army tracks him down. Because someone has taken a long-range shot at the French president.

Only one man could have done it. And Reacher is the one man who can find him.

This new heartstopping, nailbiting book in Lee Child's number-one bestselling series takes Reacher across the Atlantic to Paris - and then to London. The stakes have never been higher - because this time, it's personal.

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Jack Reacher installment number nineteenth is both dramatic and riveting. Our man Jack is pitted against a top-notch assassin who has been hired and trained to carry out an assignment the consequence of which is impossible to imagine. His service is required to thwart the conspiracy to assassinate heads of state of the world superpowers while attending an upcoming economic summit. Jack is required to find the assassin and stop him before he strikes. Jack Reacher saw the classified ad appearing in the Army Times while in a bus station in Seattle, and immediately responded. Once in, Jack is swept up in a highly dangerous game of high-octane action and conspiracy that will leave you breathless.

The basic premise of Lee Child's latest action-oriented suspense mystery thriller is the personal agenda of the assassin to wreak vengeance on Jack Reacher. This would-be assassin had a personal score to settle with Jack which stemmed from the time Jack served in the US military police. Not to give away too much, suffice to say that he was put behind bars by Jack many years ago. Now he wants to have his revenge and our man Jack Reacher is a pawn, a bait in this high-drama the possible fallout of which is unfathomable.

Personal by Lee Child, the nineteenth book in the Jack Reacher series may not be among the best but it is still entertaining and enjoyable. Though some may be inclined to believe that this is quite different from the others, it is not. You have to read it to find it out for yourself. The huge expectation that has been hanging like the sword of Damocles is out and the sense of disappointment is understandable. An author like Lee Child is always expected to deliver the most absorbing and thrilling thriller. Measured against the high expectation, some would feel disappointed but weighed against the readability of this single book alone forgetting his earlier works, it is still a stunning Jack Reacher novel.

#Received an uncorrected proof advance reading copy for review.

Amazon Link
Goodreads Link