SWEET & SASSY MARCH MADNESS BOOK BOYFRIEND GIVEAWAY!

 


Laura Ward (Sweet) and Christine Manzari (Sassy) are two authors who live near Baltimore, Maryland. To celebrate their recent February releases—Past Heaven and Hooked—Laura and Christine are hosting a March Madness style contest to honor their favorite new adult and contemporary romance books. And what better way than to have their favorite book boyfriends face off against one another?

***Below are the details of the contest. Make sure you scroll all the way down to vote for your favorite book boyfriends and to enter the rafflectopter giveaway.***

What can you win? CASH! $250 to be exact.

How do you win? Vote for your favorite book boyfriends each round and enter the rafflecopter giveaway. The more ways you enter, the more chances you have to win.

How long does the contest last? The contest goes through the entire month of March. Voting will last for two days for each round.

Who are the book boyfriend competitors? There are 32 book boyfriends from our favorite romance books. The list of competitors is below:

1. Remington Tate - Real by Katy Evans 
2. Travis Maddox - Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire 
3. Silas Moore - All Broke Down by Cora Carmack
4. Nick Rixey - Hard As It Gets by Laura Kaye
5. Nate McKenna - Fight With Me by Kristen Proby
6. Carter Reed - Carter Reed by Tijan
7. Mason Kade - Fallen Crest Series by Tijan  
8. Jared Trent - Until You by Penelope Douglas
9. Cameron Hamilton - Wait for You by J. Lynn/Jennifer Armentrout
10. Will Montgomery - Play With Me by Kristen Proby
11. Cage York - While It Lasts Abbi Glines
12. Garrett Graham - The Deal by Elle Kennedy
13. Miles Archer - Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
14. Colton Donavan - Driven by K. Bromberg
15. Hawk Delgado - Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley
16. Ambrose Young - Making Faces by Amy Harmon
17. Bennett Ryan - Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
18. Caine Carraway - Hero by Samantha Young
19. Drew Evans - Tangled by Emma Chase
20. Ethan Blackstone - Naked by Raine Miller 
21. Simon Parker - Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
22. Huck Stone - Hooked by Christine Manzari 
23. Rush Finlay - Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines
24. David Ferris - Lick by Kylie Scott
25. Dean Holder - Hopeless by Colleen Hoover 
26. Kyland Barrett - Kyland by Mia Sheridan
27. Finn Roberts - Dirty Rowdy Thing by Christina Lauren
28. Lucas Campbell - Mai Tai'd Up by Alice Clayton
29. Garrick Taylor - Losing It by Cora Carmack
30. Landon Washington - Not Yet by Laura Ward
31. Archer Hale - Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan
32. Levi Andrews - Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine

Why don't you have my favorite book/character/author represented? We read a lot of books, but we haven't read everything. If you have a favorite you'd like to let us know about, leave a comment below. We're always looking for new swoon-worthy reads!

What's the bracket look like? We put characters together in the first round that we thought had something in common. Here is the full tourney bracket:

And if that's hard to read, here are the individual brackets:

VOTING SCHEDULE:
March 1, 2015 - Bracket #1 four match ups
March 3, 2015 - Bracket #2 four match ups
March 5, 2015 - Bracket #3 four match ups
March 7, 2015 - Bracket #4 four match ups

Sweet (Sexy) Sixteen
March 9, 2015 - Bracket #1 two match ups
March 11, 2015 - Bracket #2 two match ups
March 13, 2015 - Bracket #3 two match ups
March 15, 2015 - Bracket #4 two match ups

Elite Eight
March 17, 2015 - Bracket #1 final match up
March 19, 2015 - Bracket #2 final match up
March 21, 2015 - Bracket #3 final match up
March 23, 2015 - Bracket #4 final match up

Final Four
March 25, 2015 - Bracket #1 winner vs. Bracket #2 winner
March 27, 2015 - Bracket #3 winner vs. Bracket #4 winner

Championship
March 29, 2015 - Final match up

Winners Announced
March 31, 2015 - Winner of Rafflecopter and the winning book boyfriend will be announced.


The Rules:
No purchase necessary. Must be 16+ or have parental consent. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Void where prohibited by law. We will be checking entries so please no cheating.

Got it? Great. Now scroll down for the first round of voting and to enter the rafflecopter contest.

LET'S VOTE!

BRACKET #1 - voting ends March 2, 2015 at 11:59 pm, PST.

The competitors:

Remington Tate (Real by Katy Evans)
vs.
Travis Maddox (Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire)

Silas Moore (All Broke Down by Cora Carmack)
vs.
Nick Rixey (As Hard As It Gets by Laura Kaye)

Nate McKenna (Fight With Me by Kristen Proby)
vs.
Carter Reed (Carter Reed by Tijan)

Mason Kade (Fallen Crest Series by Tijan)
vs.
Jared Trent (Until You by Penelope Douglas)

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So that's everything. Remember to come back and vote throughout the month!

Giveaway hosted by Laura Ward (author of Not Yet and Past Heaven) and Christine Manzari (author of Hooked, Deviation, and Conviction).

Visit Laura Ward at www.laurawardauthor.com
Visit Christine Manzari at www.christinemanzari.com

NEW RELEASE - HOOKED!

Hooked, my first new adult romance, released on February, 3, 2015! Hooked was inspired by a trip I took to Venice Beach, California a few years ago. I fell in love with the gritty charm of Venice—the graffiti art, the street vendors on the boardwalk, the skate park, the Santa Monica pier, and Muscle Beach. I just had to write a story about the kind of girl who would not only live there, but fall in love with a place like that.

Hooked is almost a month old and I'm very excited about the reviews it's getting. Interested in reading it? Here is the synopsis and some of my favorite teaser images.


SYNOPSIS:
If you ask the confident and snarky skater girl, and she’s in the mood to share, she’ll tell you her name is Cat. She might even tell you that she’s hooked on graffiti, 80s movies, and having fun—the riskier the better. Cat will share a good time with you, but she won’t ever trust you enough to share her heart. It’s protected by secrets and she’d like to keep it that way. 

Cat knows one thing for certain: Love isn’t really her thing. 

If you ask the confident and rich pretty boy, he might tell you his name is Huck. He might even tell you he loves a challenge and is used to getting his way. He won’t tell you that his life is a mess because he risked his heart by trusting the wrong girl. Huck is ready for a change, he just wasn’t ready to get hooked on someone like Cat. 

Huck knows one thing for certain: Love hasn’t done him any favors, but Cat just might be worth the risk. 

Cat and Huck think a one-night stand seems harmless, but when all the little secrets they didn’t share turn out to be toxic truths, they realize how easily a one-night stand (or a few) could ruin everything. 

The thing is, you can be ruined in more than one way. Once you’re HOOKED, what wouldn’t you risk for the chance at more?


TEASERS:

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

Book Review - Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine

Title: Best Kind of Broken
Author: Chelsea Fine
Series: Finding Fate #1


SYNOPSIS:
Pixie and Levi haven't spoken in nearly a year when they find themselves working―and living―at the same inn in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are... awkward.

All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.


MY REVIEW:
I have a snooty reader confession to make. I don't usually read books if they don't have at least a 4-star rating on Goodreads. I've learned that anything less than 4-stars on Goodreads usually disappoints me. However, a friend suggested I read Chelsea Fine's books and when I went to the book store, this was the only one they had on the shelves. I liked the description on the back and so I took a risk.

And....what the heck is wrong with people? This book is so much better than the rating it got on Goodreads. It's funny, touching, romantic...with so much anticipation woven into the story that I couldn't put it down. I liked this book. I liked Levi and Pixie. Sure, they're both a hot mess and they make terrible, whacked out decisions...but what fun would it be to read about them if they were perfect? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and just added the rest of Chelsea's books to my TBR list.


SUM IT UP:

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

Book Review - Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Title: Fairest
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3.5


SYNOPSIS:
In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.


MY REVIEW:
The only way to describe this is to say it is a necessary evil. Very evil. There is no happy ending, just a deep understanding as to why Queen Levana is so wicked. And I say this is necessary because I think before the reader moves on to read Winter, they need to have this understanding. I have to admit...I kind of feel dirty after reading this book.



SUM IT UP: 

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

Book Review - Mai Tai'd Up by Alice Clayton

Title: Mai Tai'd Up
Author: Alice Clayton
Series: Cocktail Series #4


SYNOPSIS:
Looking for the perfect mix of smart, sexy, and sassy? Mai Tai’d Up continues New York Times bestselling author Alice Clayton’s Cocktail series, which began with Wallbanger and continued with Rusty Nailed and Screwdrivered.

The gossip mill in the seaside community of Monterey is churning about Chloe Patterson, the newcomer who is starting a sanctuary for rescued pit bulls. It’s rumored that she’s a former beauty queen (true) who ditched her fiancé the morning of their wedding (also true). And that while she’s not looking for a new man, the good-looking local veterinarian has his eye on her. Absolutely, positively true.

When Lucas Campbell isn’t at the family veterinary clinic, he’s paddle boarding in Monterey Bay. Recently single, he’s definitely not in the market for a new relationship, but he still can’t resist taking a second, third, and fourth look at the recent arrival of Miss Golden State.
Neither Lucas nor Chloe has any interest in being tied down. Being tied up, however—now there’s a thought. But are a few Mai Tais, a moonlit night, and the music of Frank Sinatra enough to allow them both to forget their past? Let’s hope Ol’ Blue Eyes knows what he’s doing.

Mix one part tiki, one part kinky, and a splash of old black magic matchmaking, and it’s time to be . . . Mai Tai’d Up. 


MY REVIEW:
One of the things that Alice Clayton is a master of is witty dialogue and hilarious inner monologues. I'm pretty sure I'm going to adopt some of these sayings and incorporate them in my every day life. There were several that actually made me laugh out loud. I thought this story was sweet, funny, and sexy. I enjoyed the rat pack lingo immensely and I think it's wonderful how all of the characters are loosely connected with characters from other books in this series. We get to see some of our favorite characters (Viv, Clark, Sophia, and Neil), but the story is clearly Chloe and Lucas'. 


SUM IT UP:

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.