Blog Tour: Love In Translation by Sara Palacios

Sara Palacios is now on tour with CLP Blog Tour with her book, Torn Together. Please visit her tour page on CLP Blog Tours for more blog stop.US residents will have a  chance to win Love in Translation prize package!

Love in Translation
by Sara Palacios

Genre: Chick Lit, Contemporary, Romance
Publication: February 2013
Format: ebook

Still reeling from an unexpected breakup, Emily nurses her broken heart by spending time with her best friends and taking one-too-many vodka shots. After one long night, she takes a hard look inside herself and doesn’t like what she sees. She realizes that she has sacrificed too much in her failed relationships from the past and vows to never settle for anything less than almost-perfect again. As she picks up the pieces and regains her confidence, a sexy Spanish chef moves in across the hall and knocks her off her feet. What ensues is an unexpected and tantalizing affair that opens her eyes – and her heart – to a whole new world and leaves her feeling sexier than she has ever felt. Emily finally sees how easy love is supposed to be. Is happily-ever-after actually possible? Just when she starts to think so, she realizes that sometimes life gets more complicated before it gets easier. And complicated is an understatement when Steven (her best and oldest friend in the world) confesses his love for her. Everything spirals out of control as Emily must make a choice between love and friendship, and in doing so, possibly risk it all.

LOVE IN TRANSLATION is a modern day love story about following your heart to unexpected places and taking chances in life … because sometimes you will find exactly what you are looking for.

I received a copy of Love In Translation by Sara Palacios from CLP Blog Tour as part of the blog tour.

I love the book from the first chapter. I was intrigued with the opening of the book. The heroine, Emily had just broken up with her boyfriend and she went stalking him to find out why. After a few too many drinks with her friends, Emily then realized that she always settled down for someone who didn’t really deserve her. She got herself in previous relationship because she was afraid of being alone so she settled for someone who didn’t love her the way she wanted to be loved. Then, Emily started to change a little bit – she grew up and vowed not to settle down for anything less than what she wanted ever again. Then she met Andre, this hot and sexy Spanish chef. And around the same time, her long time best friend, Steven confessed how he had been in love with her for a long time.

I was very excited to know what will happen to Emily and how she will get over her last relationship with David (although, I was slightly disappointed to see her drinking too much instead of doing something, well, crazy like I expect her to) and what will happen to Emily and who she was going to end up with between her best friend, Steven and Andre, that hot and sexy Spanish chef.

I am a big fan of romance and stalking. I thought that Love in Translation was going to be a crazy romantic comedy. But I thought wrong. It wasn’t that crazy at all. But still, Love in Translation was very engaging. Sara Palacios writing made it hard for me to put down the book once I started it. I love how Emily decided not to settle down for something less than what she deserved. I’ve seen lots of people around me who settled down because they’re afraid that they’re going to end up alone, and miss their chances. I think that that is wrong. Because settling for something less would made us unhappy.

Love in Translation in my opinion, was a sweet, tender romance which focused more on how Emily grew up and how she finally found what she was looking for in the most unexpected place. I would recommend this as this is a good read.

Author Bio:

Sara Palacios is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a major in Advertising and a minor in English Literature. It was during her time in college that she really fell in love with the written word and ventured into writing her own stories. In addition to writing, Sara spends a majority of her time reading the works of other authors. She reads most genres – but thoroughly enjoys chick-lit, women’s and historical fiction.

When she isn’t busy reading or writing, Sara enjoys spending time with family and friends. She is happily married, the owner of two precious doggies and a new mom to a handsome baby boy. Sara is also an avid animal-lover, runner, yoga enthusiast, wannabe vegan, USA soccer fan, foodie and fashion blog-lover and Christian.

You can purchase LOVE IN TRANSLATION here:
Amazon: Print or eBook
Barnes and Noble: eBook
Kobo: eBook

#34 Teaser Tuesday: Blood Red Road

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week:

I might be a thief he says, I might not be. One thing's fer certain though. I ain't the one they call the Angel of Death. - page 284, Blood Red Road by Moira Young 

I'm reading Blood Red Road by Moira Young this week. I've heard so much about this one. Mostly positive.  The language is a bit weird at first, but I'm liking the heroine, Saba, so far.

What's your Teaser Tuesday?

On Tour: Torn Together by Emlyn Chand

Emlyn Chand is now on tour with CLP Blog Tour with her book, Torn Together. Please visit her tour page on CLP Blog Tours for more blog stop and enter a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.

Torn Together
by Emlyn Chand

Genre: Chick Lit, Contemporary, Romance
Publication: August 2012 by Evolved Publishing
Format: ebook, 258 pages
Author: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+

Why does growing up have to be so difficult?

Daly English is having a harder time than most. Her future as an artist is unclear, her relationship with her mother is damaged beyond repair, and—to top it all off—her long-term boyfriend is having an affair. When Daly befriends two unlikely individuals—first a pregnant teen, and then a light-hearted charmer from India—her cynicism begins to melt away. Meghann provides insight into Daly's life and an endless stream of good advice, comforting Daly despite her own less fortunate position.

Kashi proves he cares too much about Daly to let her fade into the background of her own life. After a series of false starts, their quirky romance carries them to India, where Daly must win the approval of Kashi's family in order to seal their "forever."

I received a copy of Torn Together by Emlyn Chand from CLP Blog Tour as part of the blog tour.

Torn Together told a story of Daly, who was having a hard time—her relationship with her mother wasn’t really good, she wasn’t sure of her future as an artist, and on top of that, she just found out that her long-term boyfriend was having an affair. Her life began to change when her mother asked her to befriend with Meghann, a pregnant teen, and later, she met with Kashi, a sweet Indian guy who believe in destiny. 

The story, in my opinion began to attract me as Daly and Kashi went to India to visit Kashi’s family. I love Kashi’s his family and how they react once they’ve learnt that Kashi was in a relationship with Daly. It sounded real, like something that would really happen in Indian culture (I've watched lots of Indian movies in the past). My favorite part was that scene with Kashi and Daly in Taj Mahal. I love each of supporting characters in the book. My favorite is Meghann. I like how she cope with her life. She always appear so positive in my opinion, despite the difficulties she experienced in home and school. 

Torn Together is a story where I experienced a roller-coaster of emotions. There are times when I laugh and weep as I read it. I experienced joy and grief. I actually wasn’t sure of what to expect when I first read Torn Together by Emlyn Chand and I wasn’t sure that I was going to enjoy this book. Daly sounded a bit childish at the beginning. And I wasn’t really sure with Daly’s romance with Kashi, especially with that ‘destiny’ thing.  But as I continue to read the story, I began to like it a bit more. Torn Together was hard to put it down. I like it so much that I didn’t realized that I’ve read it to the last page. I would definitely recommend this book.

Author Bio: 

Chand emerged from the womb with a fountain pen clutched in her left hand (true story). When she's not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm Novel Publicity. Best known for her Young Adult novels, she is also developing a small, but devoted, following to her children's book series and is beginning to dabble in other genres as well. Emlyn enjoys connecting with readers and is available via almost every social media site in existence. Visit EmlynChand.com for more info, or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or GoodReads. Don't forget to say "hi" to her sun conure Ducky!
  
Buy the Book! Get Torn Together on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, or iTunes (coming soon).

#33 Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week:

He met Ana's eyes. "Now, we call the police," he said. – page 27, The Fornarina Affair by Ellis Drake

I'm reading The Fornarina Affair by Ellis Drake this week and finished it. You can read my review here. It was an okay mystery read.

On Tour: The Fornarina Affair by Ellis Drake and Giveaway

Ellis Drake is now on tour with ABG Reads Book Tours with her book, The Fornarina Affair. There is a giveaway for each tour stop. Be sure to visit ABG Reads Book Tours for more. 

The Fornarina Affair
by Ellis Drake

Genre:  Adventure, Crime, Thriller, Mystery
Publication: Published 2012
Format: ebook, 100 pages
Author:  Blog, Goodreads, Twitter
Buy: Amazon

A recent art history graduate, Ana Moreno is thrilled when one of her former professors invites her to Rome to research a newly discovered painting by Raphael. But how does making an appointment to see a piece of art lead to murder? That's what Ana wonders when she discovers the dead body of a curator in the famous Borghese Gallery

Between glittering balls, sunny Rome, the archives of the Vatican, and romantic Florence, Ana not only has to solve the mystery of Raphael's greatest love affair, but also a murder--or she may never make it out of Rome alive.

I received a copy of The Fornarina Affair by Ellis Drake from ABG Reads Book Tours.

Ana Moreno was invited by her former professor to Rome for a research on a newly discovered piece by Raphael. Ana was thrilled especially when she was going to receive lots of money for the research. But things didn’t go really well when she found a dead body of a curator during her visit to a famous gallery. 

Fornarina Affair was a light read. It was a mystery book without much heavy things that makes you think too much. I love Ana’s adventure in finding out the truth about the painting. The book has a good plot but the ending was kind of sudden. I didn’t expect it to end so soon. I was hoping to see a lot more of Ana and her research. I really wish that it was a bit longer. I wish it had a little bit more details on the places Ana visited and whatever is it that Ana was experiencing. Perhaps a little bit more romance? 

Overall, Fornarina Affair in my opinion is a really quick read that you can finish within a few hours. I recommend this book to those who were looking for some quick, easy read.

GIVEAWAY!

Winner has the choice of the following ebook titles from the same author: Tweet The Police, Aspen House, Hanged To Death or The Fornarina Affair. Just fill in your details in the form for the chance to win one of the ebooks!

Tweet the Police

Rick thought being a sheriff's deputy in the small New Mexico town of Ultima would be a quiet job--but that was before he met Mrs. Pendergast, the local busybody who fancies herself an amateur sleuth. When Mrs. P sees a tweet asking for help on her new smartphone, she's determined to find out if the "tweep" is okay; and it's all Rick and her granddaughter, Sylvie, can do to keep up with her.

Hanged to Death

College intern Rachel finds out just how much of killer art and museum politics can be while setting up her first art exhibit.

The Aspen House

Immediately after graduating from college, Miranda Morton suffered a severe illness. Now she has 100 dollars in her bank account and is on the verge of homelessness. That’s why she accepts a job she’s totally not qualified for: personal chef to rock god Michael de Bracy at a remote mountain retreat. Although Miranda expects to face challenges in cooking for de Bracy and his five friends, her real problems turn out to be much more serious: three people are viciously murdered with an ax during a freak snowstorm, and no one sees or hears a thing.

Now Miranda finds herself stranded in the mountains with a killer. Even worse, she thinks the killer might be the man she’s fallen head over heels for, Michael de Bracy. Can Miranda protect herself and her heart until the police arrive

Book Review: Mom Con by K. Morris

Mom Con
by K. Morris

Genre:  Chick Lit, Contemporary
Publication: December 2nd 2012
Format: e-books

Meet Anita Henry, a hard-working, single mom trying to launch her own business after losing her job. The only problem is a nasty lawsuit charging her with stealing secrets from her ex-employer.

Corporate espionage? Please. Her single greatest offense was a high school fashion felony. But when a shady court ruling forces Anita to cease and desist, she’s determined to set things right.

Her plan involves launching the hippest night spot in town, but can she work her scheme while juggling her brother the musician, who likes her couch just a little too much; his manager, who’s prone to some sketchy accounting practices; an ex-husband who can’t seem to remember those child support payments; and an old flame who wouldn't mind heating things up again?

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Anita Henry was a single mom who lost her job. When her former employer, Evan charged her and her friends, Reneé and Chris stealing secret from the company, Anita wanted revenge. She wanted to set things right. Anita met with various people to help her with her revenge—Drake, her old flame, James, her brother and Fredrik, her brother’s manager who happened to be stealing from James. But things weren’t as easy as it seems. Anita had to deal with her daughter, Tam, who was mad when Anita started dating Chris, Tam’s teacher. Not to mention that her ex-husband was filing for their daughter custody.

I like Anita. She was smart and fun. And it was very hard not to like the other supporting characters as well (my favorite is definitely Fredrik). I think they complimented each other very well. I love the interaction and dialogue they had. There were lots of fun and interesting twists as Anita and her girlfriends plot their revenge to get their money back from Evan. I would definitely recommend Mom Con to those who were looking for a fun, light read about revenge.

Blogoversary Giveaway!

It has been a year since ‘Ai Love Books’ started. I published the blog somewhere in February to sell some of my book collection. It was in March when I started to publish my book review. I can’t believe it has been a year!

Anyway… to celebrate ‘Ai Love Books’ Blogiversary, I’m having a giveaway for my followers to thank you for being with me throughout this journey. You may either follow me via GFC, Goodreads or Twitter to enter a chance to win a book up to USD 10 from BookDepository.com

• This is an International giveaway. 
• Winners will be notified via email.  Winners will have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. 
• I'm not responsible for any lost package.

a Rafflecopter giveaway