Bookish Diary ~ Surprise!

One of the things I do to pass my time is entering giveaway after giveaway. I follow a lot of book pages in social media, and almost all of them post giveaways often. I've been lucky to win a few of them, and recently I was very lucky to win an entire boxed set. The said boxed set is by far the best surprise I have ever had when it comes to winning books in giveaways.

First surprise: I won a giveaway from Penguin Random House.

I know I have won giveaways before, but this one had thousands of entries. I entered at the last minute, not quite hoping to win and not entirely expecting it. I only decided to enter because it kept popping up in my news feed. After sharing their post and filling up the rafflecopter, I forgot about it.

Second surprise: I won The Scorch Trials. Yay.

This is the email notifying me I won. It stated that I won The Scorch Trials, so that was what I was expecting to receive.

Third surprise: I won the whole set. WHAT?

Imagine my surprise and confusion when I read that email. The first one said I only won Scorch, and the email title also said the same, but Julia said I won the whole set (I also find it amusing that she asked if that was okay with me, as if I might have any complaint). I replied to her asking for a clarification for my slight confusion of what I really won and, to my delight, she answered right away.

I just about died. Mind you, it was three in the morning (in my time zone; I'm not sure about hers) when our email conversation took place. I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs in excitement, but everyone in the house and neighborhood was asleep.

In my excitement, I couldn't think for the proper words to express my gratitude so I just settled on thanking Julia and the Penguin Random House team. It was lame, I know.

Fourth surprise: It was the hardcover edition. WHAT?

I didn't want to die yet, even if I was going to die happy, so I settled on screaming and laughing and back to screaming. When the mailman handed me the package, I couldn't stop hugging it. I showed it to my brother, who was giving our dogs a bath; to my mother, who was doing laundry; and to my sister, who was putting her baby to sleep (I had to make my words soundless when I was showing her, and I imagine I looked like a mad woman).

By all the surprises I got with just this one giveaway, I was hoping that there would be another. I actually hoped it was signed. LOL. Sadly, it's not. I've read this series when my co-blogger Djan lend me his copy. He didn't have The Kill Order, though, so I haven't read that. Perhaps I'll reread the whole series again, just to get a feel on reading my own copies. *wink*

I'm still admiring (and smelling!) them. I think I like the books better without their jackets.

~ Zee

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Review ~ Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Synopsis:

If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. 

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Purchase Links:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

Review:

Every Last Word spoke to me in a way that no one can understand. I'm truly surprised that this book has left a big impact on me after reading it because I didn't expect that it would leave such an impression. Normally, I'd comment on the author's writing style, the characters' developments, etc., but I simply have no words for this one.

All I know is that Every Last Word did something to me that I can't explain, but in a good way. My emotions are all over the place right now because I took this book on a personal level. I didn't relate with the characters, but something about the story and its message hit me somewhere I'm most vulnerable.

I'll certainly recommend this book, but I won't guarantee that it will have the same impact to other readers. I just hope that you'd like it as much as I did.


~ Zee

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Event Recap ~ #CTCinPH

I must be the lamest blogger to ever set foot in booklandia. This event happened more than a week ago, but I'm just now posting it. Apologies. It's been a very crazy week in my reality. I promise I'll do better next time.

Anyway, August 30, 2014, Colleen Hoover posted a Facebook video of herself with Tarryn Fisher and Christine Brae announcing their 2015 book signing event in the Philippines. I wasn't the only one who was over the moon by this announcement.

Their signing in Manila was crazy. A lot of readers flew in from Visayas and Mindanao (the central and southernmost part of the country) just to see them. The first event happened in Cebu (September 12). I have no idea how many readers attended that event, but I do know that the event in Megamall (Manila) was full of screaming readers. For a moment there, I thought my eardrums were going to explode from all the noise the readers (I think fangirls is a better word) were making. If you're following Colleen Hoover's page, you've probably seen the video she posted when they first arrived at the event hall. All the screaming gave me goosebumps. You can watch it here.

A lot of readers were already in line for registration (which would open at 10am) the night before the actual signing, so when my friend and I got there around 8:30am on the day of the event, I was 500th in line and she was 501st. Crazy, right? 

499 butterflying people stood between me and CoHo, but I didn't mind. I waited a year to finally meet her, and 499 readers wouldn't butterflying stop me.

Two of those (Slammed and Never, Never) were not mine. Some of my friends couldn't make it to the signing so I volunteered to have their books signed. It was unfortunate for them because they didn't meet these amazing authors, but I was very glad that I had that chance to meet Tarryn Fisher since I only have CoHo's books.

While waiting for the signing event to start, we took pictures in the stage holding our books and having the event poster in the background.

That's me! I hope, someday, that poster will have my name and books and that signing event will be mine. Heh. :j Anyway.

My friend (her name's J) and I decided to take post in the second floor while waiting because we knew we wouldn't get a clear sight of the authors when they arrived if we stayed in the main hall. Here's my actual view when we were still waiting for the event to start:

The first two hundred in line got to get the seats. Lucky bugs--or rather, patient bugs (since they were in line the night before the event).

When 2pm finally rolled around and the authors arrived in the event hall, here's what it looked like:

Photo from National Book Store's Facebook page

The event area was packed with enthusiastic readers chanting and screaming the authors's names. I can't even imagine how CoHo's hand felt after the event because all the readers who attended the signing had her books (five per person allowed). She was the only author who wasn't running out of things to sign.

It's unfortunate that I didn't get to record their Q&A on my camera, but I'm not so sad about that. I think I wouldn't hear anything, anyway, what with all the screaming the readers were making. It must have been a good ten minutes before the Q&A finally began because the host and the authors couldn't get a word in since the readers couldn't contain their excitement.

When the actual signing finally started, I walked around the event area, squeezing myself between the tight crowd to snap a picture of the authors. I couldn't get near so there was a lot of camera zooming and tiptoeing just to get a good angle (or maybe not a good angle, but a passable one). I only have my phone for a camera so the resolution is small.

Christine Brae. The most soft-spoken among the three. She's part Filipina.

Tarryn Fisher. She was so cool, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. J and I couldn't get over her gorgeousness.

I didn't get to take a picture of CoHo before my turn because there was a line in her area. Let's just look at Tarryn again:

She's officially my girl crush. <3

Alright, before this blog post gets flooded with Tarryn's pictures, let's move on.

As I mentioned above, I only have CoHo's books, and my friend's Never, Never. I didn't have any Christine Brae books, but I still got to take a picture with her because she was so kind and amazing. When there wasn't someone in line to have her books signed, Ms. Brae went down the stage and approached a group of girls near the back of the stage asking to take a picture with her. On her way back to her seat, she passed by us and J stopped her, asking to have a picture of them together. Even though we didn't have her books, she still stopped and took a moment to take a picture with us.

Christine Brae and I. <3 This is our actually our second take; she asked to take a picture again because she didn't like her hair in the first one. It was a real struggle keeping my composure.

When it was my turn for Tarryn Fisher, it was a wonder how I didn't skip on my way to her table. I was so excited to meet her even though I haven't read any of her books and I only have my friend's Never, Never with me. J made a fansign for me as a shoutout to our friends who couldn't make it. Tarryn didn't mind holding it with me while we take our picture.

Tarryn Fisher and I. <3 She's just so beautiful!

Finally--finally!--it's my turn with CoHo. I waited a year for this signing event to happen because of Colleen Hoover. She was the only author whom I was anxiously waiting to meet. I fell in love with her books two years ago when I found Slammed in Goodreads. When I finally got to read Hopeless, I knew she was going to be my favorite author and I wouldn't be missing any book she's yet to write. When it was finally my turn to meet her, I WAS SO EXCITED I LOST MY COMPOSURE. I almost never lose my poise in front of other people, but I did in that moment, and in front of Colleen fricking Hoover. I might have weirded her out with my babbling, but OMG THAT'S COLLEEN HOOVER!

She wasn't smiling while signing my books, but I'd like to think that's because I'm the 500th reader she's met and my books were probably the 5000th she signed, not because I lost my composure and weirded her out.

I looked like an excited kid in there, didn't I? I was so excited to meet her that my hands shook. Badly. It was a good thing that I wasn't holding the camera (the NBS staff snapped the pictures because only one or two picture per reader was allowed), else I'd have taken blurred pictures.

Colleen Hoover and I. <3 If I had a treasure chest, this picture will be in there. It's one of my most precious moments in life.

It's sad that my meet-and-greet with her only lasted more or less two minutes because there was still a lot of readers waiting in line to have their books signed and meet her, but I'm so happy I got this chance. Better to have a two-minute moment with one of my favorite authors than none at all. Hopefully, I get to see her again someday and it wouldn't last only two minutes.

This is my friend with CoHo. She was very starstrucked (erm, excuse me if that's not a word) that she forgot about the picture she'd get to have with CoHo. The staff had to remind her about it. :j

This book signing event has been the most enjoyable one (so far). I have only attended three, but whatever. I've met five authors in total, and Colleen Hoover (and Marie Lu) is the most precious one in my memory. I hope more authors get to fly to the other side of the world to visit my country and more readers get the opportunity to meet them.

Our post-signing smiles. It was J's (right) first time to attend a signing, and I'm so happy for her because it was a blast.

There's the only friend who got to attend the signing with me. We were sad that it was only the two of us, but hopefully next time we'd have the others with us. I can already imagine how hard we will fangirl when we're all together. I'm looking forward to the next author signing!

Tarryn Fisher and Christine Brae were so amazing. They signed the back case of my phone because I didn't have an actual book (only in my kindle app). <3

Aaannndd . . . that's a wrap. This event has been a very enjoyable one. Half the fun was the anticipation of meeting the authors and fangirling while waiting in line for our turn. It's a really memorable one.

Meeting these authors, especially CoHo, was a dream-come-true for me. <3

~ Zee

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Flash Giveaway ~ Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Hello! *waves* Okay, that was lame. Clearly, I need to think of a more engaging greeting. I'll work on it. Anyway, let's try this giveaway. It'll be my first, and I hope somebody actually sees this post. If no one does, well . . . I guess I'll just have to try again in the future.

So, Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone is on sale for $0.99. I haven't finished reading this book, but from where I am right now it sounds good so far. I loved the first two books by Stone (haven't posted my review; I'm really behind on my blog posts), and I have a feeling this one's going to be good. Since it's on sale and I can actually afford to pay it forward this time, let's do this. Please read the post carefully.

Synopsis:

If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Purchase Link:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

It's on sale everywhere, so if you'd like to purchase it there are the links.

How to enter:

Leave a comment below answering this question: Have you read any of Tamara Ireland Stone's books? If so, what book and what did you think of it? If not, tell me where you heard this giveaway/found my blog? Please leave your email so I'll know how to contact you.

That's pretty easy, right? I will give an extra entry to readers who already follow my blog. Just indicate where you follow me and under what name. Another extra entry if you can spread the word about this giveaway--just leave the link of your post in the comments.

This giveaway will only run for 24 hours. I'm sorry; this is my first time so I'm making it a quick one. Only ONE comment per person, please (just put all your entries together in one comment). KINDLE ONLY, PLEASE. I haven't decided how many copies I'm giving away, but I guess it will depend on the number of entries.

I hope someone actually sees this. LOL. Alright, go forth and enter. Thank you so much for checking out my blog. Good luck!

~ Zee

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Recommendation ~ The Lost Series by Layla Hagen (Boxed Set)

The title of this post should be, "OMG The Lost Series Has a Boxed Set!" but I have to follow our blog's format. LOL. Anyway, one of my favorite NA series has recently been published in a boxed set! The novels can be read as a standalone, but best if read in order. And if you're going to read the whole series, you might want to consider grabbing the boxed set because it's cheaper than buying all three books separately. If you want to test the waters first, though, I'll put the separate links of the books below.

Synopsis:

This omnibus edition includes all three books in the best-selling Lost series, and is nearly 1000 pages of romance, emotion, hot heroes and sparks-flying chemistry.

Lost in Us (Book 1)

Serena has learned to live with her past, locking her secrets and nightmares deep inside her. But when her boyfriend of six years abruptly leaves her, she's catapulted back into pain, nursing a broken heart. When indulging in mountains of chocolate doesn't work, Serena decides the best way to deal with her shattered heart is to indulge in something else. A rebound . . .

The night she swaps her usual Sprite for tequila, she meets James. The encounter is breathtaking.

Electrifying.

And best not repeated.

James is a successful entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. A man who has amassed a fortune by taking risks. A man who has shunned commitment completely, and still does. He's the exact opposite of Serena. But sometimes opposites attract. Sometimes they give in to burning passion. Sometimes opposites are perfect for each other.

James is everything her damaged soul could want. His kisses are intoxicating, his touch out of this world. He makes her forget. He grants her peace from her pain. But as they grow closer, Serena discovers she isn't the only one with a past. James carries the scars of a past much darker than hers. One that has left him damaged, hurt, and wary of love. A past that gives him the power to shatter her.

Now James and Serena must find a way to mend one another. Or risk losing each other forever.

Found in Us (Book 2)

Jessica Haydn wants to leave her past behind. Hurt by one too many heartbreaks, she vows not to fall in love again. Especially not with a man like Parker, whose electrifying pull and smile bruised her ego once before. But his sexy British accent makes her crave his touch, and his blue eyes strip Jessica of all her defenses.

Parker Blakesley has no place for love in his life. He learned the hard way not to trust. He built his business empire by avoiding distractions, and using sheer determination and control. But something about Jessica makes him question everything. Not only has she a body made for sin, but her laughter fills a void inside of him.

The desire igniting between them spirals into an unstoppable passion, and so much more. Soon, neither can fight their growing emotional connection. But can two scarred souls learn to trust again? And when a mistake threatens to tear them apart, will their love be strong enough?

Caught in Us (Book 3)

Dani has her future all planned out. She’s not the type to fall for a bad boy, no matter how panty-melting his grin is or how shamelessly he flirts. But something about Damon draws her in, awakening a desire she’s never felt. Slowly, she uncovers the secrets Damon hides: underneath his arrogance lies a tortured soul, his flirting smile masks despair.

Damon arrives in Dani’s life against his will. Carrying the scars of a dark past and facing an uncertain future, he knows he should stay away from her, but can’t. Her innocence consumes him, as does the desire to indulge in the passion igniting deep inside her.

An all-consuming bond blooms into a reckless love. But when mistakes from the past threaten their already fragile future, can their love survive?

*This series is recommended for 18+ due to romance and sex and mature themes.*

Purchase Links:

Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

This is one of my all-time favorite series. If I have to sum up my opinion regarding this series, "I love it" would be a huge understatement. The reviews I have written is my first impression, but in truth they have long since changed with every reread I do. I'm sure you know that feeling when you reread something, it seemed like it just got better. That's exactly how I feel every time I pick up this book.

If you'd like to read my reviews of Lost in Us, Found in Us, and Caught in Us, just click on the titles to be redirected!

Individual Links:

Amazon US ; B&N ; Apple ; Kobo

Amazon US ; B&N ; Apple ; Kobo

Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

Amazon US ; B&N ; Apple ; Kobo

Off you go, then! If you one-clicked any of these books, thank you for considering my recommendation. Please don't forget to leave reviews; other readers and authors love them! :)

~ Zee

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