FAOM: One Last Thing for January

It has been a fantastic month here on Ups, Downs, Ins & Outs with Kelly Lyman - the January Featured Author of the Month (FAOM). It has honestly been a blast getting to know her through both parts of her interview, her book (because yes, I do feel you can get to know authors to a certain degree through their writings), her guest post, and by following her on social media. As it inevitably does, time marches on and the days remaining in January are down to just one more, which means our time with Kelly as our main squeeze is very nearly up.

But...

But there is one last thing that we really, truly, must do before the page on the calendar turns. After all, two special someone’s are patiently waiting to find out whether they’re the luck ones who will be receiving a free copy of Lyman’s The Petticoat Letters from the FAOM Giveaway that has been running all month.

Before I do announce who those winners are I want to thank everyone who entered. The Petticoat Letters is a wonderfully rich tale that I was happily surprised by - I love historical romance and have rather high expectations for the genre. In fact I very rarely rate a book (on Goodreads, Amazon or other vendors) with anything over 4-stars, but I was more than happy to give The Petticoat Letters a coveted 5-star rating and review after I finished reading it! Its been about a week since I completed my reading and I still find myself occasionally lost in thought over various things that happened in the story, or daydreaming about what may be coming next for the main characters: Nora Bishop and Alex Foster.

It really was that good.

I suppose I should tell you all who will be getting those free copies now, right?

Okay, okay. It is truly my honour to announce the winners of the January FAOM Giveaway are: 

Cassandra D. and Amanda F. 

I wish them the warmest of congratulations and a very happy reading!

Didn’t win a free copy? That’s okay - you can get a copy of The Petticoat Letters by Kelly Lyman today for less then $5.

Until next time friends, happy reading to you!!

The Swamp Witch Giveaway Has A Winner!

Well the contest closed at midnight last night and this morning I finally got around to picking a winner. Now it’s time to tell the world!

Tasha R. entered the contest by visiting the author of The Swamp Witch series on Facebook – you can find Sonia Taylor Brock here – and will now be the proud owner of a paperback set of the 4 books currently in the series, as well as a bit of swag the author will be sending her way.

Congratulations Tasha, I hope you’ll enjoy the stories of this series as much as I have!!

FAOM: Winner, Winner, Ch--... Signed Book!

Wow! Simply, wow. I cannot tell you how much fun it has been for me this month to work with Amanda – the author otherwise known as A.M. Johnson. Having not just the opportunity to ask her whatever I wanted during my interview with her, but in watching and interacting with her on social media, in reading all her work that I could get my hands on this month, and in appreciating her generosity for donating a signed paperback to give away to one of you fine folks.

She is, as I have come to learn this month, quite simply an amazing writer. She has the ability to put you in to her characters heads, to put their hearts in your chest, to destroy, and to recreate. She takes pain and with the magic of the written word turns it in to joy. She doesn’t shy from using societies tough realities as part of her books – something I admire and truly like in my reading. And, well honestly I could continue for a really long time if left to it so… Let’s just flip back to my original descriptor: she’s an amazing writer.

But for me the fun is not quite over. I do, after all have one last task that simply must be taken care of. And it is perhaps one of the best parts of the FAOM. It’s time for me to announce the winner of the December FAOM Giveaway! Before I do that I want to thank A.M. Johnson, Amanda, for offering up a signed copy of one of her paperback’s and being willing to leave it up to the winner as to which book they want. So, thank you Amanda.

Now…

By random draw (using random.org & rafflecopter.com) from accumulated entries, it is with great pleasure that I announce to the world that the winner of this month’s FAOM Giveaway is... 

Karlie Davis!!

Congratulations Karlie, both Amanda and I will be in touch shortly so that your chosen prize novel will be headed your way as soon as possible. Make sure you check your email!

So Karlie… what book are you going to choose??

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Happy Reading!!

The Winners of the November FAOM Giveaway Are...

Hey everybody! It’s been such a great month here on Ups, Downs, Ins & Outs. This first month of the Featured Author of the Month with Linda Oaks has been a blast! But there is one last thing to do before the month is over and Linda steps out of the spotlight to allow someone else their time to shine…

We have to give stuff away!

All month readers, fans and friends have had the chance to enter to win one of two copies of Chasing Rainbows, the first book in Linda’s The Chasing series. I didn’t talk too much about this book beyond sharing the blurb and book trailer earlier this month. Addie and Jake’s story is a tough one. Well more accurately put, their road was a tough one. The love they share with each other – it’s a beautiful, touching thing, and in a couple of ways reminds me of my early relationship with Heli Dad. For all it’s beauty though, it’s got rough spots and moments when you just can’t be sure whether it’s really going to work. And then it does. It does and because of the struggle you know it’s that much stronger, that much better, that much more real.

I hope the ladies who receive the book will enjoy Chasing Rainbows as much as I have and I truly do hope that they will continue on to read the rest of The Chasing series. I’ve read them all now and can safely say that they are all great stories with touching depth, real characters, and moments of perfection that are all too difficult to find.

Enjoy your spoils Martha and Sylvia, and happy reading!!

Grand Prize Giveaway WINNER Announcement...

Hey there everybody! As you may be aware, the GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY CONTEST for the Another Year of Books Celebration Event wrapped up a couple days ago. Now it is my happy duty, and my pleasure to announce the winner of the prize bundle is...

Lisa Morgan!

She will be receiving a $50(CAD) Amazon gift card, $10 PayPal Cash, and a paperback copy of NO PERFECT DESTINY by Jackie Weger. 

So here's a great big congratulations to Lisa!