Eden's Escape Release Day Blitz (With $50 Giveaway!)

Hello all, and welcome to the release day blitz for M. Tara Crowl's Eden's Escape! Over the course of the next month I'll post reviews of both Eden's Escape and the first Eden of the Lamp book, Eden's Wish. I'll also post an excerpt from Eden's Escape, an exclusive Top Ten list written by Ms. Crowl herself, and a giveaway for signed copies of both books. Today, though, we're focused on celebrating the release of Eden's Escape. To get you excited for her new novel, the author is giving away a $50 gift card. Very exciting, right? You can enter in the Rafflecopter form at the bottom of this post - but first, read on to discover more about both books in the Eden of the Lamp series!

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

Click to view
on Goodreads

All twelve years of Eden's life have been spent in an antique oil lamp. She lives like a princess inside her tiny, luxurious home; but to Eden, the lamp is nothing but a prison. She hates being a genie. All she wants, more than anything, is freedom.

When Eden finds a gateway to Earth within the lamp, she takes her chance and enters the world she loves. And this time, she won't be sent back after three wishes.

Posing as the new kid at a California middle school, Eden revels in all of Earth's pleasures-- but quickly learns that this world isn't as perfect as she always thought it was. Eden soon finds herself in the middle of a centuries-old conflict between powerful immortals. A ruthless organization run by a former genie will stop at nothing to acquire the lamp and its power-- even hurt Tyler and Sasha, the new mortal friends who have given Eden a home. To save her friends and protect the lamp's magic, Eden must decide once and for all where she belongs.

(272 pages)

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

Click to view
on Goodreads 

Eden's new life on earth begins in New York City under the guidance of her new guardian: Pepper, a petite, bubbly genie alum who's also a Broadway actress. Before she has a chance to settle in, though, Eden is whisked away for a granting-- only to find herself trapped in a laboratory. David Brightly, owner of the world's leading tech company, cares more about tapping into the lamp's power than making a wish and starts performing tests on Eden. With Brightly's plasma shield around the lamp, Eden has no way home. Left without a choice, she escapes the lab and goes on the run. After her daring exit, Eden finds herself on the streets of Paris-- home to Electra's headquarters. Left in a strange city with a price on her head (courtesy of scheming Brightly), Eden has to keep her wits about her. She dons a chic disguise and flits around Paris incognito, investigating Brightly Tech. Assisted by Pepper and her old adversary Bola, as well as some new friends, Eden embarks on a quest to retrieve the lamp and protect the secrets of the genie legacy.

(320 pages)

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

About the Author:

M. Tara Crowl grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She studied Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, then received an MA in Creative Writing at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. She lives in New York City.

Okay, it's giveaway time. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below to win a $50 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway.

Disclaimer: By posting this blitz post today I'm being entered into a giveaway from the author to win a $50 gift card. Also, I haven't actually read Eden's Escape yet. I just finished and loved Eden's Wish, though, so I have very high hopes for it. You can read my full review (written after I read the book, obviously) toward the end of September.

Summerlost Blitz (and Giveaway!)

Click to view
on Goodreads 

Hello, all! Today I'm trying something a little different: a blitz post! Ally Condie (author of the Matched trilogy) has a new book out today, and I thought it looked so cool I volunteered to help spread the word. As a word of warning, I haven't actually read Summerlost yet so I don't know if it's really as good as it looks.

Here's the description:

It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what’s left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They’re just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar.
Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching middle grade debut from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series, that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.

Looks good, doesn't it? Ms. Condie wrote a letter to help entice us even more:

Dear Readers, 

I think most of us have had our hearts broken. Sometimes we can see it coming, and sometimes it comes down with the unexpected force of a sudden gale of wind or a rising of waters that we thought were still and safe. Loss is universal to human experience, but the way we each feel and recover is one of the most personal things we do. 

In Summerlost, Cedar is dealing with the loss of her father and younger brother. And my intent was to show how hard their deaths are for her. But this is also a book about the healing power of friendship. Most of us have been broken-hearted; I hope that most of us have also discovered the miracle of friendships that were just what we needed. Cedar and Leo’s friendship is based on someone I met when I was twelve. Like Leo, my friend was fun and liked to enlist me in crazy adventures (although we never gave a secret guided tour of our town the way they do in Summerlost). And, like Leo, he thought I was wonderful and of worth at a time when I needed it most.  

SUMMERLOST is my attempt to pay tribute both to the pain we feel and the friendships that save us. Thank you so much for supporting this book, and for your willingness to give Cedar’s story a try. I hope it makes you think of a wonderful friend of your own, whether that is someone you met in the pages of a favorite book or outside, in the world where it is often hard and beautiful to live. 

Best wishes and happy reading always,
Ally Condie

I don't know about you, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading Summerlost. I'm getting some very Love, Aubrey vibes from the description, and if you've read my review of that then you know how much I love sad, meaningful books.

Anyway, you can enter to win a copy of Summerlost in the Rafflecopter form here. If you do win, be sure to let me know what you think of the book!