December #InkRipples #Giveaway - Celebration/Gifts

I must take care of some InkRipples business before I get to this month's post.  Mary Waibel, Katie L. Carroll and I have decided to continue the meme into 2016, and we'd love for you all to join us! We have a new streamlined name: #InkRipples (formerly Ripples in the Inkwell) and brand new images to go along with it. 

We also have a new set of monthly topics for discussion in 2016:
January - Travel
#InkRipplesFebruary - Chocolate
March - Feminism
April - Poetry
May - Memories
June - Movies
July - Inspiration
August - Guilty Pleasures
September - Banned Books
October - Masks
November - Heritage
December - Cookies

How can you participate? Glad you asked because there are lots of ways. The idea of #InkRipples is to toss a word, idea, or image into the inkwell and see what kind of ripples it makes. We provide the topics and will be blogging about them on the first Monday of the month. You can spread your own ripples by blogging about the topic any day of the month that fits your schedule, we ask that you link back to our three blogs in your post. Or share your thoughts on social media using the hashtag (#InkRipples). Or even just comment on one of our posts. Tag us and we're always happy to share your posts and thoughts to keep those ripples going and intersecting. 

There is no structured format to #InkRipples. It's about having a conversation, sharing ideas, and connecting. So if this sounds at all interesting, please do participate in whatever way you can. And feel free to use any of the meme's images (created by the wonderful Mary Waibel). 

Now for this month's InkRipple: Celebration/Gifts.

If you've been following me for any length of time, you know I like to celebrate with gifts. I love to give free books whenever I can - whether they are my own or other books I think you'll enjoy. Or I give gift cards so you can choose what you like. This month is no different. This month I'm going to celebrate having read at least 100 books (at time of post) this year by giving a lucky winner the Kindle version of one of the few I rated as 5 STARS. Are any of these books on your to-read list? Do any of them intrigue you? Maybe they all do! Enter to win - enter as many times as you like. Tweet each day. Repin to several boards. Rack up as many entries as you can. Do it before 11:59 on December 27th. Here are (some of) my 5 STAR reads from 2015.

Dangerous by Shannon Hale

How far would you go to save the ones you love? And how far would you go to save everyone else?

Maisie Danger Brown just wanted to get away from home for a bit and see something new. She never intended to fall in love with a boy at space camp. And she certainly never intended to stumble into a frightening plot that just might destroy everything and everyone she cares about. But now there's no going back - Maisie's the only thing standing between danger and annihilation. She must become the hero the world needs, before she loses her heart . . . and her life.

Equal parts romance and action-adventure, this explosive story is sure to leave both longtime Shannon fans and avid sci-fi readers completely breathless.

The Whispering Skull by (one of my fave authors) Jonathan Stroud - this is a book 2, but book 1 was awesome too.

In the six months since Anthony, Lucy, and George survived a night in the most haunted house in England, Lockwood & Co. hasn't made much progress. Quill Kipps and his team of Fittes agents keep swooping in on Lockwood's investigations. Finally, in a fit of anger, Anthony challenges his rival to a contest: the next time the two agencies compete on a job, the losing side will have to admit defeat in the Times newspaper. Things look up when a new client, Mr. Saunders, hires Lockwood & Co. to be present at the excavation of Edmund Bickerstaff, a Victorian doctor who reportedly tried to communicate with the dead. Saunders needs the coffin sealed with silver to prevent any supernatural trouble. All goes well—until George's curiosity attracts a horrible phantom. Back home at Portland Row, Lockwood accuses George of making too many careless mistakes. Lucy is distracted by urgent whispers coming from the skull in the ghost jar. Then the team is summoned to DEPRAC headquarters. Kipps is there too, much to Lockwood's annoyance. Bickerstaff's coffin was raided and a strange glass object buried with the corpse has vanished. Inspector Barnes believes the relic to be highly dangerous, and he wants it found.

Zombie Rapture by Stuart West - this is for a bit more mature of a reader. Maybe more NA than YA, imho.

Zombies, dark humor, suspense, and Stuart R. West also adds a love story to this 'end of the world' book: ZOMBIE RAPTURE... 

Life is good for Hunter Wright. He's just about to graduate from high school and he's found true love. Just in time to lose her. Because the Rapture's begun and those in his path, living and dead, stand in his way of finding her. And it's not the Rapture the faithful have been expecting either. Someone failed to tell the dead they’re not in Heaven.

The Boyfriend Project by Mary Waibel (first in her novella series)

Samantha Jones’ world revolves around her neighbor, Jordan Kingsley. In fact, her boyfriend broke up with her because of the time she spends with Jordan. Sam longs to move their relationship to boyfriend/girlfriend level but there’s a problem. She’s afraid to ask him out because he’s one of her closest friends. 

When her BFF, Emery, suggests using advice from her favorite romance novels, Sam reluctantly agrees. But will she find herself worse off than the heroines of her beloved stories?

Crimson Bound by Rosamond Hodge

An exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood and the extravagant court of Versailles, from the author of Cruel Beauty. A doomed warrior and the king's most notorious bastard must join forces to defeat a dark evil in this gorgeously intricate fantasy—perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless—straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in a vain effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her hunt for the legendary sword that might save their world. Together, they navigate the opulent world of the courtly elite, where beauty and power reign and no one can be trusted. And as the two become unexpected allies, they discover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic . . . and a love that may be their undoing. Within a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Super Bad by Kai Strand - I'm sorry! I couldn't resist. I love the conclusion of my series!!!

The world is in chaos. Violence and thievery reign. And with the supers still balanced, it’s only getting worse. Without good versus evil, the supers care less and less. In order to restore purpose, the world needs its super heroes and its super villains, but the one who balanced them in the first place is missing. 

Sandra’s concern over finding her brother Jeff, isn’t her only problem. Her pathetic excuse for super powers has left her needing a new ankle. And though she’s still very much committed to her boyfriend, Source, she’s growing unreasonably attracted to Set, the boy who double-crossed Jeff by stealing his girlfriend. 

When Sandra is taken and held as bait by some kids who want to unbalance the super world, it becomes the inciting event that changes things for supers everywhere and forces them to answer the question, “Hero or villain?” 
***

Enter via the rafflecopter below! Open Internationally as long as you can accept an Amazon gifted copy of the book via email. End 2015 on a 5 STAR note!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and be sure to visit Katie and Mary's blog to see their #InkRipples