Weekend Winnings: An Update on New and Current Giveaways

I'm always scouring the Net for the latest and greatest in free books being given away and last week’s response on the Fab Friday Freebies was great, I thought I’d continue in the spirit of sharing a good book with others. See below for some of the giveaways I scoped out this week!

Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen

What would you do if your husband wanted to rewrite the rules of your relationship?

Julia Dunhill, a thirty-something party planner, seems to have it all: Married to her high school sweetheart and living in a gorgeous home in Washington D.C., she imagines her future unfolding very much as it has for the past few years, since she and her husband Michael successfully launched their companies. There will be dinner parties to attend, operas to dress up for, and weddings and benefits to organize for her growing list of clients.  There will be shopping sprees with her best friend, Isabelle, and inevitably those last five pounds to shed.  In her darker moments, she worries that her marriage has dissolved from a true partnership into a façade, but she convinces herself it’s due to the intensity of their careers and fast-paced lifestyle.

So as she arranges the molten chocolate cupcakes for the annual Opera benefit, how can she know that her carefully-constructed world is about to fall apart? That her husband will stand up from the head of the table in his company’s boardroom, open his mouth to speak, and crash to the carpeted floor… all in the amount of time it will take her to walk across a ballroom floor just a few miles away. Four minutes and eight seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts Michael’s heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man, with an altered perspective on the rarified life they’ve been living and a determination to regain the true intimacy they once shared.  Now it is up to Julia to decide — is it worth upending her comfortable world to try to find her way back to the husband she once adored, or should she walk away from this new Michael, who truthfully became a stranger to her long before his change of heart?

Released February 22, 2011

Provided by Bermudaonion; 1 Copy; Ends March 13, 2011 (TONIGHT!!)

http://bermudaonion.net/2011/03/01/review-and-giveaway-skipping-a-beat/

In Office Hours by Lucy Kellaway

IN OFFICE HOURS is the story of Stella and Bella, two intelligent working women who each fall for impossible lovers--at work. Kellaway's keen observations on the way in which affairs move from state to state are a sort of masterclass in office love, bringing to life both the excitement of illicit romance and the ridiculousness of business behavior and language with a sharp sense of humor.
Released February 7, 2011

Provided by The Review Broads; 5 Copies; Contest Ends March 15, 2011

http://www.thereviewbroads.com/2011/02/book-reviews-giveaway-in-office-hours.html

Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen

What would you do if your husband wanted to rewrite the rules of your relationship?

Julia Dunhill, a thirty-something party planner, seems to have it all: Married to her high school sweetheart and living in a gorgeous home in Washington D.C., she imagines her future unfolding very much as it has for the past few years, since she and her husband Michael successfully launched their companies. There will be dinner parties to attend, operas to dress up for, and weddings and benefits to organize for her growing list of clients.  There will be shopping sprees with her best friend, Isabelle, and inevitably those last five pounds to shed.  In her darker moments, she worries that her marriage has dissolved from a true partnership into a façade, but she convinces herself it’s due to the intensity of their careers and fast-paced lifestyle.

So as she arranges the molten chocolate cupcakes for the annual Opera benefit, how can she know that her carefully-constructed world is about to fall apart? That her husband will stand up from the head of the table in his company’s boardroom, open his mouth to speak, and crash to the carpeted floor… all in the amount of time it will take her to walk across a ballroom floor just a few miles away. Four minutes and eight seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts Michael’s heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man, with an altered perspective on the rarified life they’ve been living and a determination to regain the true intimacy they once shared.  Now it is up to Julia to decide — is it worth upending her comfortable world to try to find her way back to the husband she once adored, or should she walk away from this new Michael, who truthfully became a stranger to her long before his change of heart?

Released February 22, 2011

Provided by Booking Mama; 1 Copy; Ends March 16, 2011

http://www.bookingmama.net/2011/03/giveaway-skipping-beat.html

The Frog Prince by Jane Porter

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE FAIRY TALE IS OVER?

Once upon a time, a lovely maiden from Fresno married the man of her dreams. After the honeymoon, she waited for the “happily ever after” part…until her Prince Charming turned out to be a toad.

Now Holly Bishop is about to write a new chapter in her life. She moves to San Francisco to become an event planner—only to find she is dealing with a gorgeous fairy godmother for a boss and corporate witches wicked enough to sabotage her future. Not to mention the egomaniacal frogs Holly finds lurking at the bottom of the dating pool. With no one to save her, will Holly slay the dragons herself and stand on her own for the very first time? Will the man behind the mask at her costume ball make her believe in love again? And will she risk giving up her dreams to become the heroine of her own story?

Released May 18, 2005

Provided by The Author; 1 Copy; Ends March 30, 2011

http://www.janeporter.com/contest.php

Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell (The Carrie Diaries #2)

Meet teenage Carrie Bradshaw as she hits the bright lights, big city of New York for the very first time! Find out how Carrie transforms from country girl to super-cool fashionista in the second explosive CARRIE DIARIES novel from the globally bestselling author of SEX AND THE CITY. Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it -- the crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream. This sequel to THE CARRIE DIARIES brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow" -- as Samantha Jones dubs her -- to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realizes that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined. With her signature wit and sparkling humor, Candace Bushnell reveals the irresistible story of how Carrie met Samantha and Miranda, and what turned a small-town girl into one of the New York City's most unforgettable.

Release Date: August 8, 2011

Provided by Goodreads; 10 Copies; Ends: April 16

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/7778-summer-and-the-city

Book Giveaways still on going (announced in last Friday’s Post):

Sweet Valley Confidential: 10 Years Later by Francine Pascal

Now with this striking new adult novel from author and creator Francine Pascal, millions of devoted fans can finally return to the idyllic Sweet Valley, home of the phenomenally successful book series and franchise. Iconic and beloved identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are back and all grown up, dealing with the complicated adult world of love, careers, betrayal, and sisterhood.

Release Date: March 29, 2011

Provided by Goodreads; 100 Copies; Ends March 14, 2011

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/8066-sweet-valley-confidential-ten-years-later

The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly

With her older sister planning a wedding and her younger sister launching a career on the London stage, Lulu can’t help but feel like the failure of the Atwater family. Lulu adores her sisters and wants nothing but the best for them, but finds herself in a rut, working dead-end jobs with no romantic prospects in sight. When her mother asks her to find a cache of family recipes in the attic, Lulu stumbles across a collection of letters written by her great-great grandmother, Josephine March. In her letters, Jo writes in delicious detail about love, life, and her beloved sisters: Amy’s many boyfriends, Meg’s new home and family, Beth’s illness and their shared grief over losing her too soon. As Lulu delves into the lives and secrets of the March sisters, she finds solace and guidance in the letters—but can the words of her great-great grandmother help Lulu find a place for herself in a world so different from the one that Jo knew? Although times have changed, the fierce—and often infuriating—bond of sisterhood links the Atwater women just as firmly as the March sisters.
As uplifting and essential as Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Gabrielle Donnelly’s The Little Women Letters will speak to anyone who’s ever fought with a sister, fallen in love with a fabulous pair of shoes, or wondered what on earth life had in store for them.

Release Date: June 7, 2011

Provided by Goodreads; 10 Copies; Ends March 15, 2011

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/8339-the-little-women-letters

Daughters-In-Law by Joanna Trollope

As Anthony and Rachel Brinkley welcome their third daughter-in-law to the family, they don’t quite realize the profound shift that is about to take place. For different reasons, the Brinkleys’ two previous daughters-in-law hadn’t been able to resist Rachel’s maternal control and Anthony’s gentle charm and had settled into their husbands’ family without rocking the boat.
But Charlotte—very young, very beautiful, and spoiled—has no intention of falling into step with the Brinkleys and wants to establish her own household. Soon Rachel’s sons begin to think of their own houses as home and of their mother’s house as simply the place where their parents live—a necessary and inevitable shift of loyalties that threatens Rachel’s sense of herself, breaks Anthony’s heart, and causes unexpected consequences in all the marriages. Then a crisis brings these changes to the surface, and everyone has to learn what family love means all over again.

Release Date: April 5, 2011

Provided by Goodreads; 10 Copies; Ends March 15, 2011

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/8342-daughters-in-law

Everleigh in NYC by Cathleen Holst (Debut Author!) (US/Canada ONLY)

Cheating boyfriend aside, Everleigh Carlisle picks up the shattered pieces of her life, determined to put them back together. On a whim, Everleigh and her BFF Christina visit a voodoo priestess while celebrating Mardi Gras in the Big Easy, where an unspoken wish is granted, unknowingly altering the course of Everleigh's life. Two years later, her dreams are set to come true when she lands her dream job as a columnist for New York's premiere fashion magazine, Trés Magnifique. Everleigh's life quickly becomes complicated when her ex re-declares his love for her, and she meets Robert Cates, only to discover three things: 1)She is extremely attracted to him. 2) She has the bizarre ability to hear his thoughts. 3) He is her new boss. Everleigh takes a long awaited bite from the Big Apple, but are her eyes bigger than her appetite?

Released November 1, 2010

Provided by The Chicklit Club; 1 Copy; Ends March 17, 2011

http://chicklitclub.com/competitions.html

So Much Closer by Susan Colasanti

When Brooke's crush, Scott, moves from their suburban town to New York City, she decides to follow him there. Living with her formerly estranged dad and adapting to a new school are challenging, and things go from bad to worse when Brooke learns that Scott already has a girlfriend. But as she builds her new life, Brooke begins to discover a side of herself she never knew existed. And as she finds out, in the city that never sleeps, love can appear around any corner...

Release Date: May 3, 2011

Provided by Goodreads; 1 Copy; Ends March 25, 2011

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/6429-so-much-closer

The American Heiress: A Novel by Daisy Goodwin

Beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, the wealthiest debutante in America, is spirited away from the glamour and comfort of her Park Avenue mansion and suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, mistress of Lulworth Castle, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. As Cora is soon to discover, nothing in this strange new world is quite as it seems. Her handsome new husband is withdrawn and secretive; the English social scene is stuffed with pitfalls and traps; and there are increasingly dangerous forces at work, people who wish she'd never met Ivo in the first place. THE AMERICAN HEIRESS is a dazzling debut novel from Daisy Goodwin, whose brilliant new voice is reminiscent of Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Kate Morton

Release Date: June 21, 2011

100 Copies; Ends March 30, 2011

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/8064-the-american-heiress-a-novel

To all my beginning and newest followers, I will be holding another book giveaway on Lip Gloss and Literature in celebration of my 50^th follower. Hooray!! Thank you so much to everyone for reading. I’ve will always love writing, blogging and sharing my books with the world, but really, your feedback, responses, comments, suggestions and encouragement keep me going so Stay Tuned Tomorrow, Monday March 14, 2011 when I announce the details of this next Special Contest! Thanks, everyone and Good Luck if you choose to enter any of the above giveaways!