AND THE WINNER IS: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Marjie
Be sure to stop by A REELFOOT HOODRAT'S THOUGHTS here

An email has been sent to the lucky person named above (first part of their email address in case my note ends up in spam).  The winner  has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
Thanks to all who entered.
PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOR THE EMAIL FROM BOOKHOUNDS @ HOTMAIL REQUESTING YOUR MAILING ADDRESS!

GIVEAWAY! *signed* Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (OC BOOK FEST)

Description

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

About the Author

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl live in Los Angeles, California, with their families. Beautiful Darkness is the sequel to their debut novel, Beautiful Creatures.

Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (September 19, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316077046
• ISBN-13: 978-0316077040

I had the pleasure of seeing Kami Garcia and listen to her read from her latest book at the Orange Country Children's Book Festival yesterday!  I have a copy of Beautiful Darkness that she signed for my followers.  How cool is that?

WANT TO WIN THIS *SIGNED* BOOK?

 Contest is open to anyone over 13 years old with a reliable mailing address (PO Boxes OK!)
This ends 10.17.11 midnight Pacific Time and the winner will be chosen by Random.org on 10.18.11.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen
This giveaway is sponsored by Little Brown and me for ONE WINNER.


Complete the form below!
Follow Me
+1 Leave a comment once daily with an email address
+1 Be my friend on GoodReads HERE

+1 Follow me on Twitter HERE 

+1 Like BookHounds on Facebook HERE 

+1 Like Win a Book on Facebook HERE

+1 you can social network once daily (twitter, blog, facebook) this once, just leave me a link in the comments! 

More Extra Entries for Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl 

+1 Follow The Caster Girls on twitter HERE

+1 Follow the RSS feed at the Caster Girls.com HERE

I have another copy up for grabs over at my other blog HERE

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Book Review 2010-122)

 Description

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

About the Author

Kami Garcia is a teacher and reading specialist with an MA in education, and leads book groups for children and teenagers. Margaret Stohl has an MA in English and studied creative writing under poet George MacBeth at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. They both live in Los Angeles, California, with their families. Beautiful Darkness is the sequel to their debut novel, Beautiful Creatures.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (October 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316077054
• ISBN-13: 978-0316077057

SOURCE:  AROUND THE WORLD ARC TOURS / PUBLISHER

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

****SLIGHT SPOILERS*****

Just hang a "do not disturb" sign around your neck when you start to read the second in the Beautiful series, you will not want to put it down.  The story picks right up where Beautiful Creatures leaves off and I think it is probably necessary that you read this first.  Ethan is just such an awesome character and it is so wonderful to see him grow along with Lena.  


It seems that the war between the Casters is just beginning and Lena finds herself running with the wrong crowd.  Ethan tries desperately to reconnect with her and finds himself with some unexpected powers of his own.  There are a few more twists in the plot and a mysterious man named John Breed (boy, is that name prophetic) tries to turn Lena to the dark side.  While Ethan find a new friend and ally in the librarian trainee, Liv.  There are literal sparks again in this one and my favorite character of Ridley plays an important role.


All I can say is that this will be the "must read" for fall.  I better get a third one soon since this one still has some unanswered questions.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Book Review 2010-118)

Product Description

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Kami Garcia is a teacher and reading specialist with an MA in education, and leads book groups for children and teenagers. Margaret Stohl has an MA in English and studied creative writing under poet George MacBeth at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. They both live in Los Angeles, California, with their families. Beautiful Creatures is their debut novel.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316042676
• ISBN-13: 978-0316042673

LOVED IT

The first thing that came to mind when I finished reading this was "Southern Gothic" and a little bit of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee mixed in.  The size and length of this book overwhelmed me at first and this is probably why it took me so long to pick up, but once I started it, I couldn't put it down.  The writing is just absolutely lush.  I can't think of a better word for it, but it fits.  Right down to the discussion of weather, food and descriptions, everything about the book is lush.

This is not just another teen drama, but a wonderful study on love and relationships.  It did take me about 10 hours of reading to get through it, but it was well worth it.  No worries for parents here either.  There is some necking and slight violence but not even on par with Romeo and Juliet.  And come to think of it, there are elements of that classic in here as well.  I can't wait to start on the next one in this series.