The Most Dangerous Thing by Leanne Lieberman

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The Most Dangerous Thing

by Leanne Lieberman

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers

Release Date: March 7th 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Sydney hates to talk (or even think) about sex. She's also fighting a secret battle against depression, and she's sure she'll never have a boyfriend. When her classmate Paul starts texting and sending her nature photos, she is caught off guard by his interest. Always uncomfortable with any talk about sex, Sydney is shocked when her extroverted sister, Abby, announces that she is going to put on The Vagina Monologues at school. Despite her discomfort, Sydney starts to reexamine her relationship with her body, and with Paul. But her depression worsens, and with the help of her friends, her family, a therapist and some medication, she grapples with what she calls the most dangerous thing about sex: female desire.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Leanne Lieberman is the author of five YA books including Gravity (a Sydney Taylor Notable Book), and Lauren Yanofsky Hates The Holocaust. Her latest YA book is The Most Dangerous Thing, about a girl who coping with depression and anxiety. Leanne also writes adult fiction and is working on a novel entitled Unsettled. Leanne is a graduate of The University of Windsor's MA in Creative Writing. Originally from Vancouver BC, Leanne now lives in Kingston ON with her husband and two sons.

Interview with Leanne Lieberman:

Hi Teresa,

Thanks for asking good questions. I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Leanne

1. What is your favorite part of this book and why?

My favourite part of the book is when my MC Sydney’s sister Abby puts on the play The Vagina Monologues at her high school even though the school has already told her the play is not “appropriate” for a high school audience. Sydney is horrified that her sister is putting on a play about vaginas, but I think it’s a great moment of feminist disobedience.

2. If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?

I would hang out with Paul, the boy Sydney likes. We would ride our bikes to the beach in Stanley Park, Vancouver, and look for shells and rocks to photograph.

3. If you could have been the author of any book ever written, which book would you choose?I would love to have written The Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. The book is written in multiple styles and has an amazing and innovative structure. Every time I read it, I’m awed by his mastery and subversion of the novel form.

4. Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?My characters are from my imagination. Sometimes my characters will use a line of dialogue or a trait from someone I know, but once I start developing them, they becoming independent.

5. What made you want to become a writer?

I’ve always loved the sensation of losing myself in a story. When I was about seven or eight years old and I realized that books were written by authors, I was amazed. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. Now I love creating a world and characters that are entirely imaginary for readers to lose themselves inside. 

ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY:

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Enemies of Versailles by Sally Christie

The Enemies of Versailles
by Sally Christie

Publication Date: March 21, 2017
Atria Books
eBook & Paperback; 416 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: The Mistresses of Versailles, Book Three







In the final installment of Sally Christie’s “tantalizing” (New York Daily News) Mistresses of Versailles trilogy, Jeanne Becu, a woman of astounding beauty but humble birth, works her way from the grimy back streets of Paris to the palace of Versailles, where the aging King Louis XV has become a jaded and bitter old philanderer. Jeanne bursts into his life and, as the Comtesse du Barry, quickly becomes his official mistress.

“That beastly bourgeois Pompadour was one thing; a common prostitute is quite another kettle of fish.”

After decades of suffering the King's endless stream of Royal Favorites, the princesses of the Court have reached a breaking point. Horrified that he would bring the lowborn Comtesse du Barry into the hallowed halls of Versailles, Louis XV’s daughters, led by the indomitable Madame Adelaide, vow eternal enmity and enlist the young dauphiness Marie Antoinette in their fight against the new mistress. But as tensions rise and the French Revolution draws closer, a prostitute in the palace soon becomes the least of the nobility’s concerns.

Told in Christie’s witty and engaging style, the final book in The Mistresses of Versailles trilogy will delight and entrance fans as it once again brings to life the sumptuous and cruel world of eighteenth century Versailles, and France as it approaches irrevocable change.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Kobo

Praise for The Sisters of Versailles

“Such an extraordinary tale makes for compelling reading and, as the lead book in a planned trilogy, will draw in readers who are interested in royal lives before the French Revolution….historical fiction fans, unfamiliar with the history of the Nesle sisters, will be intrigued.” (Library Journal)

"Sally Christie's The Sisters of Versailles is an intriguing romp through Louis XV's France. Filled with lush backdrops, rich detail, and colorful characters, fans of historical fiction will enjoy this glimpse into the lost golden era of the French monarchy." (Allison Pataki, author of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS )

“A stunning breadth of period detail, offered in a fresh, contemporary voice.” (Juliet Grey, author of the acclaimed Marie Antoinette trilogy )

“Tantalizing descriptions and cliff-hangers will leave the reader rapidly turning the pages in anticipation… A wickedly delightful read.” (New York Daily News)

About the Author

Sally Christie is the author of The Sisters of Versailles and The Rivals of Versailles. She was born in England and grew up around the world, attending eight schools in three different languages. She spent most of her career working in international development and currently lives in Toronto.

Visit SallyChristieAuthor.com to find out more about Sally and the Mistresses of Versailles trilogy.

You can also find her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Interview with Sallie Christie

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

The characters are definitely my inspiration! I was initially drawn to the world of Louis XV’s mistresses by the outrageous story of the 5 Nesle sisters, 4 of whom became his first mistresses, as told in The Sisters of Versailles. When I discovered that his more famous mistresses (the Marquise de Pompadour and the Comtesse du Barry) hadn’t been the subject of any English-language fiction either, I jumped all over them!

Their personal stories are all so different and so interesting, but so is the context in which they lived: 18th century Paris; Versailles, of course; all the nuances and etiquette and social customs which make their world so fascinating.

How did you do research for your book?

Thanks to Google Books, pretty much everything I needed could be found online, and for free! They have a project to digitalize every book ever published that is out of copyright. All the obscure 18th century memoires and contemporary accounts which inspired and informed the books were right there on the computer screen, just a click away. Amazing.

I’m fluent in French – that was definitely helpful from a research perspective, especially for the first book, The Sisters of Versailles, as there isn’t a whole lot of translated information about the Nesle sisters. Pompadour and du Barry have much more written about them, and so much more had been translated as well.

I also made several trips to France: Paris and Versailles are chock full of memories of Louis XV and all his mistresses. Getting to see childhood homes, places where they lived, going backstage at the palace of Versailles (you can see some cool images here: http://www.sallychristieauthor.com/versailles.html), walking the old town of Versailles and getting lost in the gardens that would have been quite similar 3 centuries ago – priceless!

Do you have another profession besides writing?

I started writing when I was 8, and I always considered myself a “writer” – because I was constantly writing as a hobby and that was how I experienced the world around me – but I never gave myself the time or space to finish any of my endless projects.

After graduating university I did a whole whack of other things – including getting an MBA and working overseas in development consulting – and it was only a few years ago, when my circumstances changed, that I thought: “Right, time to give this writing thing a shot, full-time!”

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

Definitely to Versailles, 18th century, to meet my characters! I’d be really curious to find out what I got right, and where I completely missed the mark. There is so much historical evidence about how people lived and thought back then, but still, I think there would be a ton of things that would surprise me.

I’m not a scientist but with all the amazing things that technology can do – including capturing images and sounds, even smells – why can’t we capture time? And preserve it, and relive it?

What is your next project?

I was working on another book partially set at Versailles during the same time period as The Enemies of Versailles, but I woke up one day and decided I couldn’t do it anymore. I’ve spent three wonderful years submerged in the world of Versailles, but there are so many other interesting places and time periods to explore. So the book I’m working on now – completely fictional, though based on plantation records of a real family – is also set at the end of the 18th century, but a world away across the ocean from France in the colony of Saint Domingue (today’s Haiti).

Blog Tour Schedule

Wednesday, March 15
Review at Historical Fiction Obsession
Interview at T's Stuff

Thursday, March 16
Review at Leeanna.me
Review at The Lit Bitch

Friday, March 17
Review at To Read, Or Not to Read
Review at History From a Woman's Perspective
Spotlight at What Is That Book About

Saturday, March 18
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Spotlight at Books, Dreams, Life

Sunday, March 19
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Monday, March 20
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, March 21
Review at Book Lovers Paradise

Wednesday, March 22
Review at First Impressions Reviews
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Thursday, March 23
Review at Broken Teepee

Friday, March 24
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Sunday, March 26
Review at The Gadoury Dreamer
Review & Interview at Clarissa Reads It All

Monday, March 27
Review at The Reading Queen

Tuesday, March 28
Review at Book Nerd
Review at Luxury Reading
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views

Wednesday, March 29
Review at Impressions in Ink
Review at A Bookaholic Swede

Thursday, March 30
Review at Curling up by the Fire

Friday, March 31
Review at Bookramblings
Review at CelticLady's Reviews

Giveaway

Five copies of The Enemies of Versailles are up for grabs during the blog tour! To enter, please see the Gleam form below.

Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on March 31st. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to residents in the US only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

Enemies of Versailles

Blurb Blitz: A Bend In The Willow by Susan Clayton-Goldner

A Bend In The Willow

by Susan Clayton-Goldner

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE:   Women's Fiction

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Willowood, Kentucky 1965 - Robin Lee Carter sets a fire that kills her rapist, then disappears. She reinvents herself and is living a respectable life as Catherine Henry, married to a medical school dean in Tucson, Arizona. In 1985, when their 5-year-old son, Michael, is diagnosed with a chemotherapy-resistant leukemia, Catherine must return to Willowood, face her family and the 19-year-old son, a product of her rape, she gave up for adoption. She knows her return will lead to a murder charge, but Michael needs a bone marrow transplant. Will she find forgiveness, and is she willing to lose everything, including her life, to save her dying son?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt One:

Tucson, Arizona

1985

Catherine Henry told her husband, Ben, many stories about her past, and to her ever-deepening shame, not one of them was true. Though she longed to tell him who she really was, where she’d come from and what she’d done to escape, with each passing year the truth grew more difficult to tell. And that made her a liar, something she’d never intended to become.  

Anxious to finish their son’s party preparations, she bent over the kitchen counter, putting the final touches on a sheet cake of a glitzy cowboy on a rearing horse. To the beat of Tina Turner belting out What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Catherine set tiny balls of silver candy in the frosting bridle and reins, the pointed tips of chocolate spurs on tapered boot heels. When the garage door rumbled open, she readjusted the volume, then checked her progress against the sketch she’d drawn on a piece of drafting paper.

Ben breezed in, his cowboy boots clicking against the Saltillo tile floor. He wore a gray three-piece pinstriped suit with a cream-colored Stetson that made him look as distinguished as a Texas senator.

Pumpkin, their twelve-year-old cat the color of orange marmalade, ran into the kitchen and circled Ben’s legs. He reached down to rub the cat’s ears, then pulled a treat from his pocket and tossed it onto the floor. Pumpkin chased after the dime-sized nugget, batting it around with his front paws for a few seconds before devouring it.

Ben hung his hat on one of the horseshoe hooks beside the door. He eyed the cake, then dropped his briefcase on the barstool. “Does our son have any idea how awesome his mother is?” Ben stood behind her, parted her hair and kissed the nape of her neck. “And while you designed this masterpiece, guess what I got invited to do.”

She turned and smiled. “Texas Two Step at the governor’s mansion?”

He laughed, looking her straight in the eyes like he always did when they talked. “Give a presentation on admissions and diversity to the American Association of Medical Colleges. It will get my name out there, put me in a better position to become a dean.”

She raised her eyebrows, impressed. “You go, cowboy. But you do know your butt looks much sexier in jeans. Are wives invited?”

“Absolutely. Next spring. Cherry blossoms on Pennsylvania Avenue.” He pulled her against him. The top of her head fit perfectly under his chin. She nuzzled her face in his shoulder and breathed in the familiar scent of Irish Spring soap. That a man like Ben could love her never ceased to fill her with amazement and a silent anxiety he might discover who she really was and disappear.

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Susan Clayton-Goldner was born in New Castle, Delaware and grew up with four brothers along the banks of the Delaware River. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona's Creative Writing Program and has been writing most of her life. Her novels have been finalists for The Hemingway Award, the Heeken Foundation Fellowship, the Writers Foundation and the Publishing On-line Contest. Susan won the National Writers' Association Novel Award twice for unpublished novels and her poetry was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies including Animals as Teachers and Healers, published by Ballantine Books, Our Mothers/Ourselves, by the Greenwood Publishing Group, The Hawaii Pacific Review-Best of a Decade, and New Millennium Writings. A collection of her poems, A Question of Mortality was released in 2014 by Wellstone Press. Prior to writing full time, Susan worked as the Director of Corporate Relations for University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. 

Susan shares a life in Grants Pass, Oregon with her husband, Andreas, her fictional characters, and more books than one person could count. 

http://www.susanclaytongoldner.com/

https://www.facebook.com/authorsusanclaytongoldner/

https://twitter.com/susancgoldner

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/697811.Susan_Clayton_Goldner

Amazon buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/Bend-Willow-Susan-Clayton-Goldner-ebook/dp/B01N0HL432

A Bend In The Willow will be on sale for $0.99 on March 14th, and will be on sale for $2.99 (regular price is $4.99) for the remainder of the tour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Susan Clayton-Goldner will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Working for The Billionaires Club by Sky Corgan blitz

Working for The Billionaires Club
Sky Corgan
Publication date: August 16th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Now enlisting volunteers! Looking for ten super-rich men willing to please some lucky ladies for a good cause.

Requirements: You must make at least a billion dollars annually. You must be hot as hell. You must be a stud in the bedroom.

Job duties: Treat our clients like the queens they are. Fulfill their every fantasy while they enjoy their stay at our state of the art resort. You’ll have access to all of our amenities and fantasy rooms so that you can create the best experience for our clients.

The Billionaires Club is a non-profit organization. Clients pay good money for your time, and all proceeds go to a charity of their choice.

Do something great for your community and have some fun in the process. Join The Billionaires Club!

Goodreads / Amazon

On sale from 03/15 – 03/21 only!

—

EXCERPT:

“I wouldn’t trade you for any woman in the world, Raven.” He clutches my hand tightly before pressing it over his chest. “You are my heart. I love you, and I’d never do anything to fuck things up between us again.”

I smile, letting my guard down. “You’re a really good guy sometimes, you know.”

“I’m a really good guy for you. I don’t care what anyone else thinks of me.”

“You’re a really good guy. Don’t pretend to be an asshole.” I tap my fingers over his heart.

He draws me to him, and I rest my head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat. “I would kill any man who ever tried to touch you. You are mine.”

“I am yours,” I reply, dropping my walls and allowing myself to feel for him.

Author Bio:

Sky Corgan is a USA Today Best-Selling author. When she's not typing away at the next steamy romance series, she's busy planning for future vacations.

You can get a FREE Sky Corgan book and stay up to date on her latest releases by signing up for her newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/v0PwX

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Newsletter

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DEFINING HER BY SAMANTHA MARCH

About Defining Her

Nellie Hawthorne is a woman who has it all. A devoted husband, her own business, a wealthy lifestyle. But the Nellie she is now is much different from her past. A past filled with abuse, addiction, and men. Nellie’s carefully constructed new life is suddenly in jeopardy when a blast from the past emerges in her small town and her overbearing mother-in-law starts pushing for grandchildren and questions start being asked. A budding new friendship presents itself at an opportune time, and a once friendless Nellie finds herself growing closer to Prue Doherty.
Prue Doherty is the quintessential good girl. Always making the right decisions, always playing it safe. Until she meets a man that could change all of that. Still reeling from a devastating breakup and betrayal that had her fleeing from Chicago and settling into suburb life with her mom close by, Prue finds herself in a damaging funk. But everything changes when she befriends Nellie Hawthorne. 
Nellie is trying to escape her past. Prue wants that perfect future. While both women strive to change their lives, they continue to cling to the past. But what defines us? Who we were then . . . or who we are trying to be now? Lies, manipulation, and deceit are woven throughout the pages of this edgy women’s fiction novel, with an ending you won’t see coming.

Get your copy!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2nn88vt

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/defining-her-samantha-march/1125950914

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/defining-her

ALL OTHER TITLES ARE JUST 99 CENTS FOR A LIMITED TIME!

Samantha March on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2mFKkog

Excerpt:

From Chapter 2

Prue

Once back home, I had just over an hour to get showered and changed and to the school. My mom, Jean Doherty, was the principal of Eakwood Elementary School, one of the three elementary schools in this small town. School had only been in session for two weeks but I found myself there three days a week helping out. They got unexpectedly short-staffed in several places right before the school bell rang for the first time, so I was filling in. Because I didn’t have anything else going on in my life. Right.

                I was a court reporter and worked hard at my job. But it wasn’t your typical 9-5 desk job. Some days I worked in the courtroom from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon without a break. Some days I worked solely from home, transcribing notes and proofreading the depo. Not very often would you find me in the office of my employer, Swank and Marty, because it simply wasn’t needed and now it was too far to travel. Just three blocks west of Michigan Avenue, when I lived in Chicago I was there much more often, simply because I enjoyed being there and around my co-workers. That changed real quick when I learned one of my office-friends, Brandi, was sleeping with my boyfriend. That put a real damper on the office morale, especially when I learned she moved into the house with him that I cosigned my name to on the mortgage. Yeah. That stung.

                After my relationship imploded, I hightailed it out of Chicago and to Oamark Park, to be closer to my mom. Since my dad died three years prior and I was their sole offspring, I often wanted to be closer to her. It was only about an hour drive from here to Chicago and I came back nearly every weekend to be by her or bring her into Chicago, but it was different being just minutes away from each other now. And being that I was at her school so much, we saw each other on nearly a daily basis. I wasn’t complaining because I loved my mom and our relationship was fantastic. I just didn’t . . . expect life to turn out this way.

                It was all planned out. I had been with Deacon Moore for three years. We were in love. We met through mutual friends at a birthday party one night and had our first date just days later at Portillo’s. He was everything to me. My best friend. My biggest supporter. He gave me shoulder rubs when I was hunched over my steno machine all day and night. He brought me foot-long sandwiches when I was in the courtroom and only given a ten-minute lunch break. He eventually started working in my office, which I loved. He came home with me and charmed my mother. I thought a proposal was coming anytime. We bought a house together. It was my own version of a fairy tale.

                Until it all came crashing down. Turned out the perfect Deacon wasn’t quite as perfect as I thought he was. He had been seeing Brandi on the side for nearly eight months. Eight months. We signed the mortgage papers as he was sleeping with another woman. How . . . how could someone do that to a person? And why? Why make me waste so much time and money and energy when he didn’t even want to be with me? What was the point?

                Though money was never really much of a concern for me—Dad had a good life insurance policy and court reporters made a better-than-decent salary—but Deacon was still slowly draining my finances. I paid for the home inspection, the realtor fees, the upfront taxes. I paid the loan payments on the new car “we” purchased together but only Deacon still drove. Deacon and Brandi had missed three mortgage payments and the bank called me to get that paid because my name was still on the mortgage. All that nonsense has led us to court, which means . . . more money being drained out of my account. I couldn’t believe I made such a mistake. That I was so easily fooled. That I was betrayed by my lover, my best friend. Betrayed by a co-worker and someone who I was at least friendly with, if not real friends. And the fact that it totally upended my life was just the cherry on top.

                I went from thinking a marriage proposal was on the way, moving into a beautiful home, bringing a new puppy into our lives to living in a small cramped apartment with my finances in jeopardy. Suing my ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend to try to gain back some of the money that I spent paying their freaking mortgage. It just wasn’t fair.

                I pulled up to the school and parked in the employee parking lot. Walking in, my thoughts were still on how my life turned so quickly. What did I do to deserve such deceit? I was the good girl, the good person. I had morals and always tried doing the right thing. Karma scared the crap out of me. I was the dependable, reliable one. How was this fair, karma? Huh? It wasn’t. It just simply wasn’t. And that infuriated me. What was the point of always making the right choices if this is what I got in the end?

About the Author

Samantha March is an author, editor, publisher, blogger, and all around book lover. She runs the popular book/women’s lifestyle blog ChickLitPlus, which keeps her bookshelf stocked with the latest reads and up to date on all things beauty, fashion and fitness. In 2011 she launched her independent publishing company Marching Ink and has five published novels – Destined to Fail, The Green Ticket, A Questionable Friendship, Up To I Do and Defining Her, and one holiday novella, The Christmas Surprise. You can also find her on Youtube sharing beauty reviews and creating makeup tutorials. When she isn’t reading, writing, or vlogging, you can find her cheering for the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs. Samantha lives in Iowa with her husband and Vizsla puppy.

Find Samantha

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marchbeautyword/

Youtube: http://bit.ly/2cGNR34

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BySamanthaMarch

Snapchat: Samantha.March

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samanthamarchauthor

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Samantha-March/e/B005ZWOGJY

Blog: http://www.chicklitplus.com/

Interview with Samantha March

1.      What is your favorite part of this book and why?

My favorite part is when both Nellie and Prue have their epiphanies at the end. When the realize how their current actions could affect the rest of their lives. It was really powerful to write each of those scenes.

 2.      If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?

I would love to spend a day with Nellie. This was a character who really took off on her own. I set out with an entirely different direction with her, and she quickly steered me in a different direction. I would love to know how her and Harrison are, and see her as a mother. Maybe we could do a workout class together!

 3.      If you could have been the author of any book ever written, which book would you choose?

Wow, that’s a great question! There are so many fantastic books out there and ones that have motivated me and given me courage, but I don’t know if they would have the same effect if I wrote them, if that makes sense. But my true OG book favorite is Kristy’s Great Idea from Ann M Martin. The Baby-Sitters Club would have been an amazing series to create!

 4.      Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?

No one is based off anyone I know, to an extent. I had a friend that loosely inspired Prue, but her character ended up being not very similar to who I know in a real life! I start off with a solid plan of who I think my characters will be, and typically by the time I’ve done they’ve come to life through my fingertips and have changed completely!

5. What made you want to become a writer?

I’ve always been an avid reader and fascinated with the concept of being able to transport people to a different time, place, life. Reading was a big escape for me during an abusive childhood, and brought me comfort in that escapism. I started writing my own books at the age of nine, and just never stopped.

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

EXOTIQA by M. Black book blitz