Ok, everyone, this is it! This is the final week of my Beach Book Bonanza. So, it’s the last chance for you to enter to win an ecopy of a book by one of this week’s featured authors. It’s also the last week to enter my giveaway of a cool beach tote filled with goodies. How do you enter? All you need to do is leave a comment about the books, authors or just tell me who you’d like to go to the beach with. It’s that easy! (Sorry, but these giveaways are limited to US residents. And, as always, if you’re reading this on Goodreads, you have to go to my blog and comment in order to be entered into my giveaways.)

Laura Drake

Laura Drake grew up in Detroit thrilling neighborhood kids with her ghost stories. But her fascination with Texas, rodeos and cowboys led the RITA Award winner to write novels set in the west, but she also writes women’s fiction. Her latest book, Days Made of Glass, is a tale of family and friendship, trust and truth. Harlie and her sister, Angel, are orphans on the run. Social services wants to  put Angel in an institution. To  stop it, Harlie needs money, and when an opportunity to be the first woman bullfighter with the Pro Bull Riding Circuit presents its self, she takes it. But she must learn to trust–her partner as well as her self, and learn to let go of what’s not hers to save.

1) What do you look for in a great beach read?

A book to escape into. I’m a ‘doer’ not a ‘relaxer’ – so it takes a lot to suck me into a story. It has to have a special something to get my head out of the lists I’ve made in my head.

2) What’s the last great beach book you read?

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. The blending of philosophy, magical elements and the normal world just captivated me.

3) What’s one ocean creature you’d hate to come face to face with?

You’re going to laugh…crabs. I have arachnophobia, and it’s the jointed legs that makes my flesh crawl. Legs like on crabs and lobsters. And no, in case you’re wondering – I don’t eat them.

 Maggie McGinnis

Maggie McGinnis is a USA Today bestselling author and Golden Heart Finalist who lives in New England, vastly outnumbered by both children and cats. She writes sweet romances set in Montana and Vermont, and feels extremely fortunate that through her books, she gets to fall in love every single day. In Maggie’s newest book, A Heart Like Mine, Delaney Blair loves her job at Echo Lake’s Mercy Hospital, where she’s developed a reputation for being smart, fair, and driven. When she’s assigned to cut funding and go toe-to-toe with Dr. Joshua Mackenzie, his killer smile and rock-star body are distractions Delaney could do without. But Josh is too busy caring for sick kids to talk numbers with the sexy, stiletto-clad Delaney. Every time they talk business, tensions run high…but so does a powerful attraction neither of them can ignore.

1) What do you look for in a great beach read?

My favorite beach reads have to completely suck me in and take me away for a few hours. I love vivid characters, laughter, and gut-wrenching emotion—and if I can get all of those in the same book, I’ll fan-girl over that author forevermore. My favorite books are the ones where I realize there are only twenty pages left, and I try my hardest to slow down so they don’t end.

2) What’s the last great beach book you read?

Oh, jeez. I don’t think I could possibly pick just one. Christie Craig is always a go-to for me, along with Kristan Higgins, Emily Giffin, and Julia Quinn. I have a whole pile of new-to-me authors I’m dying to try this summer, so my TBR shelf is groaning. I might need a bigger beach bag.

3) What’s your favorite beach drink?

Since my beach days usually involve keeping track of three small heads in the lake, I tend to stick to sparkling water with lime. But if it was just me, a hammock, and some palm trees, a frozen margarita would be ju-ust right.

Tracy Goodwin

Tracy Goodwin is an international bestselling author of sweeping historical romances fraught with passion, hope, danger, and desire. Having created epic tales of happily-ever-afters since she was a little girl,  her imagination blossomed, so did Tracy’s stories of heroes and heroines. What is more romantic than stories of forbidden love and redemption with an epic romance and a happy ending? In Enticing Eve,Colin MacAlistair understands that the worst nightmares are conjured from truth. He is living proof of it. After learning a disturbing family secret, he flees England intending to amass enough wealth to prove himself worthy of his beloved’s devotion. But Eve Weston’s faith in Colin was shattered by his disappearance and her life turned upside down. When Colin returns at last, Eve is determined to remind him of what he so callously discarded by forsaking her and ensure he will regret it until his dying day. However, in this battle of wills, neither can deny the powerful passion between them.

1) What do you look for in a great beach read? 

I want something that sweeps me into the characters’ world and makes me never want to leave. Something romantic, endearing, emotional, and witty. A true page turner.

2) What’s the last great beach book you read?

Last summer, I re-read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I wanted to immerse myself in a familiar world and revisit characters I adore. Mr. Darcy is a wonderful companion anywhere and during any season! 😉

3) What’s the one thing, besides a book, that you never go to the beach without?

Sunscreen! It is a must.

Beach Tote Giveaway!

So, that’s it. I hope you enjoyed my Beach Book Bonanza this month. Again, be sure to leave a comment in order to be entered into my giveaways. You might just win this beach tote and all the signed books, swag, an Amazon gift card and beach essentials it contains. I’ll announce the winners from this week and the winner of the beach tote on Tuesday, August 2nd’s blog. Good luck!!

Winners!!

The winners from last week’s giveaways are Ruthey Rhodes, Marcia Berbeza, and Andrea Akers. Please email me at christie@christie-craig.com to claim you ebook, and don’t forget to tell me if you prefer the NOOK or Kindle format.

It’s week three of my Beach Book Bonanza with more chances to win books and more chances to win the beach tote I’m giving away at the end of the month. So be sure to leave a comment to be entered for both. (Sorry, but these giveaways are limited to US residents. And, as always, if you’re reading this on Goodreads, you have to go to my blog and comment in order to be entered into my giveaways.)

Kate Douglas

Kate Douglas started out writing radio copy and then became a newspaper reporter. Little did she know it would lead her into writing romance novels. But when she entered her first three chapters of a book she’d read into a writer’s contest and won, she was hooked. In Awakened, Barista Mandy Monroe will never forget the first time she saw the man of her dreams, vineyard owner Marc Reed, one of American’s hottest young entrepreneurs, Mandy knows her fantasy will never become a reality. That is, until Marc’s apartment burns and he moves in with her…

1) What do you look for in a great beach read?

But I know what I want to read! I want books that carry me away, that take me so deep into the story I don’t want to crawl out.

 2) What’s the last great beach book you read?

I’m reading Sylvia Day’s One With You, the fifth book in her Crossfire series…reading it for the third time already when my TBR stack is a mile high, so it’s the last book I read and the current one I’m reading, and I might just read it again. LOL…when I love a book, I always read it multiple times, mainly because I race through the first time and then want to read it for the details and the way it’s written. I love a good author’s voice, that style that makes a book intrinsically hers—or his.

3) If you could go to the beach with any hunky guy, who would you choose (and no, you can’t say your hubby)?

I’ve been rereading my four Spirit Wild books because I’m working on the fifth in the series, and want to keep the characters fresh in my mind while writing, and I have fallen in love all over again with Sebastian Xenakis, the hero in my first in the series, Dark Wolf. He’s amazing—besides being handsome and brave, he’s a troubled soul doing his best to be a good person in spite of everything working against him. I think I’d love to spend a day with him, finding out more about him. Of course, Gideon Cross from Crossfire is pretty darned appealing, too. Problem is, I’m old enough to be his grandmother…but who wants to fantasize about grandfathers, right? And you said I can’t go with my hubby. He’s the only old fart I’d really like to go with.

 Joy Preble

Joy Preble, a former high school teacher who now writes full time, was raised in Chicago, but now lives in Texas. Today, she speaks widely on writing and literature in schools, libraries and conferences. In her latest novel, It Wasn’t Always Like This, Emma O’Neill is frozen in time in 1916 after she and her family and her father’s partner’s family (the Ryans) sample an experimental polio vaccine and now they don’t age. But that’s fine with her since she’s in love with Charlie Ryan. But soon a group of religious fanatics take note. On the run, Emma and Charlie are separated. One hundred years later, Emma is a private investigator investigating a series of murders of girl who all look like her. As Emma’s danger grows, so does her hope of finding Charlie, the boy she loves.

1) What do you look for in a great beach read?

I’m not that fussy, but I’m looking — typically– for a page turner. This can be romance or mystery or thriller or fantasy or sci-fi,  it just needs to be fast-paced and engaging, and preferably available in paperback or on Kindle so I can keep a hand free for my tropical beverage.

Of course the story goes that Lin-Manuel Miranda read Ron Chernow’s bio of Hamilton– a thousand page, door-stopper thick tome– while on the beach and we all know how that turned out! So I say we shouldn’t knock historical biography as a very good beach read option!

 2) What’s the last great beach book you read?

Last summer I was finishing up the Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon, or what I call “Joy’s 8,000 page obsessive commitment.” Jamie and Claire are definitely beach read material. On the other hand, I read Cammie McGovern’s Say What You Will last October while on the beach in Florida and it’s a slower-pace contemporary YA. So really, I guess it depends on my mood!

3) What’s the one thing, besides a book, that you never go to the beach without?

Fluffy favorite beach towel. And okay lots of sunblock because I’m a pale, pale person.

Beach Tote

Leave a comment and you could win an ecopy of Kate or Joy’s books. You’ll also be entered into the drawing for this cool beach tote filled with signed books, an Amazon gift card, swag & beach essentials.

Winners!!!

The winners from last week’s giveaway are L.M. Wilson, Heather Tarplee and Evelyn Hammer. Ladies, please email me at christie@christie-craig.com and let me know if you prefer the Nook version of Amazon version of your book.

This is week two of my Beach Book Bonanza. I hope you saw last week’s blog and commented, because even if you didn’t win the weekly giveaway, you’ll still be entered into my big beach tote giveaway at the end of the month. (Sorry, but these giveaways are limited to US residents. And, as always, if you’re reading this on Goodreads, you have to go to my blog and comment in order to be entered into my giveaways.)

So, again I asked several wonderful authors a few beach questions. Here are their answers. And don’t forget to leave a comment. You may win an e-copy of one of their books.

Judy Duarte

Judy Duarte’s dream to be an author became a reality in March 2002 when Silhouette Special Edition released her first book, Cowboy Courage. Since then, she has published seventeen books and is contracted to write three more. Her stories have touched the hearts of readers around the world. In her latest, Wed By Fortune (The Fortunes of Texas: All Fortune’s Children), you are cordially invited to witness the courtship of Graham Fortune Robins & Sasha-Marie Gibault Smith.

1) What do you look for in a great beach read?

I look for a well-told story that will carry me to another place or time. When choosing the right book, I want to be hooked from the very first page. If I’m not, it stays on the shelf and doesn’t make it into my beach bag. (That’s Judy reading on the beach ->)

2) What’s the last great beach book you read?

It’s funny you should ask that!  I just returned from a week long vacation in Maui and had the opportunity to read several good books.  The last was A Love Like Ours by Becky Wade.

 3) If you could go to the beach with any hunky guy, who would you choose (and no, you can’t say your hubby)?

How about actor/model Don Jeanes (the Budweiser Clydesdale guy).  He’s the guy I had in mind while creating Graham Fortune Robinson, the hero of Wed by Fortune!

Susan Muller  

Susan Muller is the award winning author of romantic suspense. A fourth generation Texan, Susan didn’t take up writing until her husband retired. (She knows those of you with retired husbands will understand.) Her first novel, The Secrets of Forest Bend won several awards, and after that, she was hooked. Now, in the newly re-edited, re-covered, re-formatted edition of The Secrets on Forest Bend, Detective Adam Campbell learns that a WWII gun is connected to several murders he’s investigating, he hopes that tracking down the killer will be as easy as tracing the gun’s history. But when he meets Jillian Whitmeyer, the last known owner of the weapon, the case becomes anything but simple. Adam soon learns that people who get close to Jillian have a bad habit of turning up dead.

1)  What do look for in a great beach read?

If we are talking about a book to literally take to the beach or a pool, it should be a paperback. Hardbacks are too heavy and e-readers are expensive to leave on a beach towel while you enjoy the water and difficult to see in bright sunlight. The story itself doesn’t need to be deep, but it has to be well written.

 2)   What’s the last great beach book you read?

I enjoyed The Someday Jar, by Allison Morgan. It was a light, funny, quirky story with some beautifully written passages.

3) Men’s bathing suit? Swim trucks or Speedos?

Swim trunks, please. I have never yet seen a man in a Speedo who should actually be wearing one.

Holly Jacobs 

Holly Jacobs has been in love with books, with words, ever since she could remember. While growing up, it was rare not to find her with a book in hand. From that love of reading she seemed to naturally progress to writing. Confessing to “finding” romance a little later in life, she fell head over heels for the genre. And because Holly lives in Erie and counts the shores of Lake Erie as one of her favorite haunts, she was happy to answer my beach questions. In Holly’s Classic I Waxed My Legs For This?, Carrie has just broken up with her fettuccini-ordering boyfriend, has waxed her legs
and it hurts too much to rip it off herself, and maybe, just maybe, she’s a bit in love with her best friend who never orders fettuccini and rides to the rescue when she needs someone to tear the wax off her legs. Ever since Jack saved Carrie’s life in school by giving her mouth-to-mouth, he’s ridden to her rescue time after time. When she confesses that his resuscitation was her first kiss, he decides to show her what a real kiss looks like…and maybe what true love looks like as well!

1) What do you look for in a beach read? 

Words.  Yep.  I’m one of those readers who reads anything and everything (including cereal boxes)!!

2) What’s the last great beach book you read?

JoAnn Ross’s Shelter Point, which totally fits the bill!  I had a character read one of her books in my Her Second-Chance Family.  (We’re both fans!)  We have a lovely lake here in Erie…so I’m at the beach a lot year round (so are my characters)!

 3) What’s your favorite beach drink?

We went on a cruise a few years back and got a bucket of Coronas.  It’s not my normal drink, but sitting in a hammock on a beach…they were perfect!

Winners!

Thanks to everyone for entering last week’s giveaway. If you didn’t win, remember you are still entered to win my beach tote giveaway at the end of the month. Last week’s winners are Sandy K. (Diane Kelly’s Against the Paw), Brooke Bumgardner (Cheri Allen’s Luck of the Draw) and Sally Shupe (Lori Wilde’s Love of the Game). Congratulations! Please email me at christie@christie-craig.com and be sure to tell me if you prefer a Kindle or NOOK version.

Okay, I hope I’ve introduced you to a few authors you didn’t know, and that you’ll pick up one of their books. Remember to leave a comment, and you could win an e-copy of one of their books. You might also win this beach basket filled with books and goodies that I’m giving away at the end of the month. Be sure to come back every week this month for more chances to win.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July with wonderful family and friends. July is beach time for many of us. And I LOVE the beach! So, I thought it would be fun to have a month long Beach Book Bonanza with weekly e-book giveaways from each featured author. All you have to do is leave a comment to enter. Then, at the end of the month, I’ll have a drawing from from the names of all those who commented throughout the month. The winner gets a HUGE beach-themed basket filled with signed books from the featured authors and loads of beach must haves. So be sure to read my blog each week and comment for your chance to win the weekly drawing and the beach basket at the end of the month. (Sorry, but these giveaways are limited to US residents. And, as always, if you’re reading this on Goodreads, you have to go to my blog and comment in order to be entered into my giveaways.)

Lori Wilde

Lori Wilde is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author who has sold seventy-eight works of fiction to four major publishing houses. A nurse in her previous life, she is a sought after writing instructor and recipient of multiple writing awards. She lives in Texas and loves to write about sexy cowboys and the women they can’t help but fall in love with. Love of the Game is the third book in her Stardust, Texas Trilogy, where Axel, a sports superstar, discovers his body isn’t the only thing that needs healing by the beautiful, physical therapist , Kasha, who’s job is on the line if she doesn’t get Axel back in the game ASAP.

1)  What do you look for in a great beach read?

I look for humor in my beach reads. Something light and airy just like the beach.

Cheri Allen

Cheri Allan is an Amazon Romantic Comedy bestselling author of hopeful, humorous contemporary romances. She’s a firm believer in do-it-yourself, new beginnings and happily-ever-afters, so after years of wearing suits, she’s grateful to finally put her English degree to good use writing romance. In her Luck of the Draw, Kate Mitchell never planned to be a 31 year-old widowed single mom when her soon-to-be-EX husband up and dies. Kate retreats to idyllic Sugar Falls, New Hampshire, to figure out whether she can discover her passion and pay the bills. Enter volunteer fireman and all-around hunky guy in a tool belt, Jim Pearson. While a sizzling attraction draws them together, forces beyond their control conspire to make them risk it all… and bet on love.

Winner!!

The winner of last week’s giveaway is Elaina.  Congratulations! Please email me and tell me your t-shirt size at christie@christie-craig.com.

Are You Missing Out?

Have you joined my Christie Craig Love, Laugh, Read Facebook Group? How about my CC Hunter: Thrills, Chills, Laughter Facebook Group? If not, you’re missing out. You could have won my an Amazon gift card and a t-shirt in my latest, exclusive giveaway. So you better pop over to them both and request to join so you won’t miss my next giveaway. Plus, I’ll be posting exclusive inside information there before I post it anywhere else. Christie Craig: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1105178872886019/.  CC Hunter: https://www.facebook.com/groups/223426974711034/.