Liveshow and Giveaways Announcements!

events
It's been awhile, but I'm excited to share a fun event coming up.  Lindsay and I will be doing a liveshow this Friday April 18th at 6pm EST.  There will be two giveaways!  Find out more info on how to win and who our 2 guests will be in this video:



The link to the liveshow will be on our channel Friday.  Or you can look out for a tweet from us @BookBFFs.  Hope to see you there!

BOB Challenge & Giveaway

Bout of Books
GIVEAWAY WINNER: Entry #26 Sharon from The Book Barbies!  Congrats.  Look out for your email.  Thank you to everyone who participated!

Have you ever read a book and thought, "Man I wish these people were real?  I would be best friends with them in real life". 

 Well, I made a tag on my BookTube channel called The Bookish Wedding tag.  It's all questions about which of your favorite characters you'd invite to your wedding if you were to marry your top book boyfriend/girlfriend.
Watch my example:

Book BF & GIVEAWAY

Blog Tour Stop
Readers Live A Thousand Lives, Lovin Los Libros, and Starbucks & Books Obsession are hosting this fun event for the month of December.  Each day a blogger gets to celebrate their favorite book boyfriend.  

Blogging has helped me accumulate more boyfriends than Taylor Swift.  Unfortunately, all these boyfriends are characters in books, but we'll discuss that at another time. 

Right now I wanna talk about my favorite boy in YA fiction
(besides Aiden St. Delphi of course).  He is...

       
GIVEAWAY
Even though I don't live in a state that allows polygamy I'll still share Daemon with you guys.  What can I say?  I'm generous.  I know.  If you win the giveaway I'll send you whichever book from the Lux series you haven't read yet so you can get your Daemon fix.

{Guest Post} Author Cheyanne Young & GIVEAWAY

Blog Tour Stop

Goodreads:

When Hana Fisher moves to the small town of Mixon, Texas to live with her dad, she dreads having to work at the boring pile of dirt he fondly calls a motocross track. But when she gets there, she finds the rinky-dink dirt bike track from her childhood has grown into the most respected racing track in the state.

Now popular by association, Hana endures the pain and sweat of working in the summer heat in order to fit in with a sport she’s growing to love. She gets a real family, a best friend and not just one, but two of the fastest racers trying to win her heart.

When Hana abuses her status as the track owner’s daughter to help the gorgeous Ryan Russo cheat in the biggest race of the year, she risks more than just losing her job. Every good thing in her life is at stake now- her friends, her dad’s trust, and Ash Carter- the kind-hearted racer who may not be as alluring as Ryan, but is proof that nice guys don’t always finish last.


Author of Motocross Me, Cheyanne Young, has stopped by for a guest post about how Hana Fisher spends her day on the racing track.

 Having never worked at a motocross track, I had to use my imagination for Hana's job responsibilities at her dad's track. One thing I do know for sure is that waking up at the butt crack of dawn is definitely on a motocross worker's to-do list. Racers tend to arrive very early in the morning and Hana would need to be there by 6am to start signing them in. She learned a long time ago that there is no point in taking time to put on makeup or even dress nice for a day at the track. Texas summers are brutal, and all that makeup would sweat off anyway.

After signing in racers and spectators, she would need to help out in the registration booth, which is where racers sign up and pay for which race they're going to participate in. This is one of Hana's favorite responsibilities because she gets to meet and talk to the racers, namely the hot ones.

Once the races start, Hana is free to walk around and do what she wants, although at times she'll be needed for random track jobs. One of these is assembling trophies. I really wanted to include this in the book because when I was a kid, I remember going into the score tower at my local motocross track and seeing the owner sitting on the floor, looking totally bored and annoyed as he assembled dozens of trophies from boxes scattered on the floor. That's something I would never think of, and that job falls to Hana now.

When the races are over, Hana enjoys dinner with the rest of the track staff. She probably has to pick up random trash on the ground, or fix anything that's out of place. Then she goes home, goes to bed, and wakes up to do it all over again.

I don't want to give away the ending of the book, but I imagine that now Hana spends a lot of her downtime with the boy she chose. ;-) It's hard working at a motocross track, but I know she wouldn't have it any other way.

Plus she has a killer tan.

About the Author
Cheyanne is a native Texan with a fear of cold weather and a coffee addiction that probably needs an intervention. She loves books, sarcasm, Xbox and paid holidays. She lives near the beach with her daughter, one spoiled rotten puppy and a cat who is most likely plotting to take over the world.





GIVEAWAY!

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Thanks Cheyanne for stopping by!

Don't forget to check out my video of my favorite summer reads

Bout Of Books 7.0: Acrostic Poem Challenge & Giveaway

challenges
Bout Of Books

How is your reading coming along so far?  If you're starting to go cross-eyed from all that reading it might be time to take a break.  And what better way to do that than the Acrostic Poem Challenge I'm hosting today!  

Remember back in elementary school when you would write your name vertically down the page then next to each letter you'd write an adjective describing yourself that starts with that letter?  Well that's the idea for today except with...wait for it...books!  Here's one I did.
I took a picture because I wanted to visually captivate you guys so you'll want to participate.  But it's not a requirement (Ain't nobody got time for dat).  Especially since most titles are not written vertically down the spine.  So if you want you can just type it out!  But pictures are always encouraged of course.

To make sure you are entered for a chance to win any $10 book of your choice from TBD please make sure you enter the rafflecopter and link your poem in the comment section!  You've got 24 hrs...ready set go!

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Winner: Jasprit from The Reader's Den 

ARC Review, Playlist, & Giveaway: The Rules For Disappearing

4 Stars
Itching For Books Blog Tour

Number of Pgs.: 320
Publication date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Genre: Mystery, YA, Contemporary, Thriller
How I got the copy: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Rating:  4 Stars
From Goodreads:

She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.

But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.
Plot: 7/10
Characters: 7/10
Setting: 8/10
Pacing: 7/10
Style: 6/10
Cover:  I don't know what it is about that cover, but I love it.  It's blurry and the girl is running away and barefoot so she must be leaving in a panic.  
35+50=85 (4 Stars)
The Rules For Disappearing had gotten some iffy reviews making me very wary going into it.  I'm so glad I decided to read it anyway because I really liked it.  I read it on my phone while waiting in line at Whole Foods because I needed to know the ending right then and there that's how good it was.
 
   I do, however, advise you to go into it accepting that it is a fictitious story and therefore not really realistic at times.  Because let's be honest...a teenage girl can not solve a crime better than the FBI or do half the stuff she did.  And most teenage girls would be more scared of the situation than Meg was.  But I put all of that aside and was able to enjoy the suspenseful thriller of a story that it was.  It was a tad predictable, but that didn't really make a difference to me since I haven't read many books in this genre and also it read more like a contemporary at times.
 
Ethan was so swoon-worthy.  At first he's described as wearing camo and caked in mud and I was like, "um no thanks".  But he really proves to be such a sweet guy...think Tucker from Unearthly.  I was rooting for him the whole time.  There are not many guys in YA like him that are just so sweet and realistic to an actual teenage boy.

  If you liked stories like One Moment or Ten then you should try this one.  They have similar elements.  Don't let the bad reviews discourage you.  Decide for yourself like I did!  You might be surprised.  Don't forget to check out my playlist and enter the rafflecopter below!
Playlist:
I just picked three songs to analyze, but there are more on the YouTube Playlist

1. What's It Feel Like to be a Ghost Taking Back Sunday

What's it feel like to be a ghost?
Meg is basically a ghost.  She disappears every time the FBI moves her family whiteout getting a chance to say goodbye to her friends.


Are you up for, are you up for this?
This is her forth move in a few months and this time she doesn't want to make friends or join clubs.  But it's harder than it sounds to do that.



I look so close but it's been months who knows if I
will get this right...
look so closely, there might be something you'd like
What was it like?
She's been trying to figure out why her family is in this predicament for awhile and she's having a hard time with her plan of not making friends.  Especially with Ethan, the swoon worthy guy at her school.

2. We Are Broken Paramore

I am outside

And I've been waiting for the sun
With my wide eyes
I've seen worlds that don't belong
My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize
Tell me why we live like this
Keep me safe inside
Your arms like towers
Tower over me
This is my pick for Teeny (Meg's sister) and Meg's relationship.  Meg tries to shelter her sister from what's going on, but her younger sister isn't stupid.  


Yeah

'Cause we are broken
What must we do to restore
Our innocence
And oh, the promise we adored
Give us life again
'Cause we just wanna be whole
They both had to grow up really fast and mature.  They just want their old lives back though.

3. Arms Christina Perri

You put your arms around me

And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go
You put your arms around me and I'm home

Ethan makes Meg feel safe.  But there's always the chance that she'll have to be relocated and he'll never know where she went.  She'd never be able to get over that, but he'd eventually move on.


How many times will you let me change my mind and turn around?
I can't decide if I'll let you save my life or if I'll drown
She's very hot and cold to him because she doesn't want to get close to him, but can't help falling.  He lets her be hot and cold while she figures things out.


I hope that you see right through my walls

I hope that you catch me 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let a love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home
But secretly she wants to tell him everything.  


The world is coming down on me and I can't find a reason to be loved

I never wanna leave you but I can't make you bleed if I'm alone

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Every Little Piece

Book Blitz

Today Kate Ashton shares with us an excerpt from her book and a chance to win a copy!

Synopsis:

Secrets never stay in the past. The night before high school graduation changes everything. Lies are told. Mistakes are made. Secrets tucked away. Lives are changed in the span of a few hours.

A year later, Haley is still reeling, numb with the constant ache of guilt. She's in a place she never expected to be: lost without her friends and Seth. Until he enters her life again, dredging up everything she's trying to forget. Everything about that night.

Seth returns to his hometown determined to share his truth, his side of the story. He desperately needs to make things right with Haley, even if it means losing her forever. Because the truth will ruin any chance of her ever loving him again.

Except neither of them are prepared for the shock of what really happened the night before graduation.
goodreads/amazon/b&n/Kobo

 Excerpt from Haley’s pov

The door opens and a draft of cooler air rushes through as another flood of customers enter. I sigh, grab some menus and greet them with a smile. 
Then I see him. My hearts hammers and I force air in and out of my chest. Time stops, like we said our goodbyes just a few days ago when really it’s been almost a year. He looks the same but different. Shadows haunt his face and the bright part of his blue eyes that used to light up my heart seem faded, like they need a good polish. 
He steps closer. My heart hurts and a lump forms in my throat. Emotions I’ve locked away push at the edges.
“Hi, Hales.” 
Two simple words and I almost come undone. I seem to have lost my ability to speak and move as I stand there taking him in. His black hair hangs a little over his ears and his eyes draw me in just like before. But there are little changes too. His face is pale. Tattoos swirl around the top of his arm. Truth invades and real life comes crashing in. My knees shake, and I sway a bit.
“Are you okay?” He holds out a hand to steady me.
I jerk away like I touched a live socket. I can’t go back. The memories are too strong. Sometimes no matter how much you love someone, the past is stronger, and mistakes make love impossible.
A girl with blonde hair flounces in with a bright sparkle to her eyes. She hooks her arm through Seth’s and gives me a suspicious look. “Who’s this?” she asks.
“An old friend,” Seth says without taking his eyes off me. I see forever in his eyes and it squeezes my chest.
I tear my gaze away from him and study her. Adoration simmers off of her. She loves him or is close to it. Jealousy floods my heart. The happy times they probably spent together in the past year, the smiles, the touches, the laughter. The kisses, gentle and sweet, that used to be mine. I want to grab a butter knife and cut the smile off her face.

Spring Blog Carnival: Ring Toss Booth

Carnival

source

Step right up!  Welcome to the Ring Toss Booth!  All you have to do is grab three rings and "toss" them.  In the comment section below tell me which three bottles your rings landed on and if you win the giveaway you get to pick a book from one of those genres! And since I'm ordering the book through The Book Depository this is open internationally!!!



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Winner: Cee from The Novel Hermit!

Don't forget to visit the other booths for more chances to win awesome books:



Check out the Map for a categorized list of the booths!

Blogaversary!!!!!

blogaversary

Today started out like any other sunday.  I woke up, made some breakfast, and sat down to do my Sunday Post/Stacking the Shelves.  I happened to glance at the bottom of my page where my blogavesary tracker announced that today it has officially been one year since I started consistently blogging!  You can imagine my excitement...and if you can't here's a gif:

So much has happened in one year and the blogging community really helped me through hard times.  So to say thank you and to celebrate I'm giving away my favorite book of 2012:
Lux Series #3

If you haven't read this series yet here's what you're missing basically.

Daemon Black
You can read my review here.  
So what are you waiting for?  Enter the rafflecopter below. 
Maybe I'll throw in some fun swag like bookmarks and stuff that I have too.

~ This give away is open to U.S. residents only (sorry guys I'm poor)
~ You must be 18 years or older or have a guardian's permission to enter.
~ The winners will be chosen randomly. Once chosen, the winners will be emailed. They will then have 48 HOURS to respond, otherwise another winner will be chosen.
~ I reserve the right to disqualify anyone who tries to cheat the system. 



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Winner:
Congrats! I'll be emailing you today!
26Juhina
Follow @HarleyBearBooks on Twitter@majibookshelf2013-03-10 18:15:41 EDT (-0400)::ffff:99.229.57.208

The Carrie Diaries Read Along Update #4

Giveaway

It's already time to talk about chapters 15-20 of The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell!  And don't forget to scroll down and enter the GIVEAWAY!  If you missed it yesterday head over to Queen Ella Bee Reads and see what we thought of the last five chapters!

Previous updates:#1 #2 #3

So this is going to be a short update because I somehow managed to delete our IM conversation when I was in a rush leaving my house, but I did get some of the conversation Gaby and I had via email later.  Sorry about that!

Harley Bear: So what did you think of sebastian's sister? And why didn't she tell him?

 Queen Ella Bee: I think the Kydds are probably not a very hands on family. I'm not surprised the sister didn't say anything to Sebastian (or if she did that Sebastian's keeping his knowledge under wraps). But in general I feel like the sister's just a placeholder. 
HB: Ya probably not going to be a big character. Her purpose was probably to spill the beans to George. And that was pretty funny when she lost control of her ski's

QEB: I was so worried for her!! How could George take her skiing like that when she's never been before?!

HB: I know lol. At least she didn't try to go down after that. Maybe he thought she knew how to ski? I can't remember. And I thought the sister was going to be mad she pulled her down

QEB: Again, the Kydds don't seem like the protective type to me. Is that terrible?

HB: They don't really seem like a close family yet she said sebastian talks about you all the time so idk

QEB: I feel like it's possible Carrie's the most reputable part of Sebastian's life, so he WOULD talk about her in order to make his parents less concerned about whatever got him kicked out of boarding school.
HB: Never thought of it that way but that's so true. Also I'm glad she's writing for the paper finally.

 Overall, we were starting to get very frustrated with Sebastian!  The swoon-worthy guy with the one liners is gone and this jerk-face clone has stepped in.  As always we are still Team George and hope that Carrie hits her head and wakes up with a sudden love for Georgie!    

Did you read-along with us? How are you feeling about Sebastian and Carrie's relationship?

GIVEAWAY RULES:

~ To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. DO NOT enter using the comments.
~ You must be 18 years or older or have a guardian's permission to enter.
~ The winners will be chosen randomly. Once chosen, the winners will be emailed. They will then have 48 HOURSto respond, otherwise another winner will be chosen.
~ This give away is open to all countries the Book Depository ships to. Make sure you qualify before entering!
~ I reserve the right to disqualify anyone who tries to cheat the system. I WILL be checking the winning entries. 


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Guest Post & Giveaway: Susan Dennard

Blog Tour Stop
I'm so excited to welcome Susan Dennard, author of Something Strange and Deadly, to Harley Bear Book Blog!  Thank you Susan for taking time out of your busy schedule to do a guest post!


On this blog tour stop, she will be telling us a little about the main characters in her book and what they wore.  Something Strange and Deadly takes place in 1876 so fashion showed your social status and gender.  


I wish I had seen this post before I read the book so I could picture the characters even more clearly.  If you want to see what I thought about the book my review can be found here.  Don't forget to scroll down and enter the GIVEAWAY!




One of the most fun things to research for Something Strange and Deadly was the fashion--at least for
Eleanor. Men's fashion in Victorian days was rather drab. Frock coats, top hats, and a nice tie--boooring.



Fortunately, my three main characters in men's garb are so different, they demand different styles. For Joseph
Boyer--leader of the Spirit-Hunters and son of a plantation owner--only the finest, most elegant clothes will do.
And, as a young gentleman, he would never leave home without his top hat, nor would
he EVER be seen without his gloves. He's a firm believer in cleanliness being next to godliness.

Jie Chen, the Spirit-Hunters' "muscle", said good-bye to Chinese garb in favor of an
American boy's fashion. Trousers, a waist coat--or more often, just suspenders--and a bright red tie leave this brawl-loving character happy...and more importantly, mobile enough to knock skulls when needed.

In fact, the only thing still Chinese about Jie--other than the lovely facial structure, of
course--is the Manchu Queue, which was required for all Chinese men (punishable by death!) and leaves the front
half of the head bald with a long braid behind.


As for Daniel Sheridan--the inventor for the Spirit-Hunters'--fashion is about as important
to him as...well, snowfall in Antarctica (not at all, in other words). That said, he does care what people
think of him, so he's been known to clean up on occasion. But, when it comes to working in the lab, he's most
comfortable in loose trousers and a baggy white shirt--collar scandalously unbuttoned at the top and hands
glove-free (gasp!).
Oh, and we can't forget his flat cap--which he never leaves the lab without. I imagine it
looking exactly like this:
Daniel would NEVER be seen in public without it...at least not in book 1. In A
Darkness Strange and Lovely, well...let's just say, things change.
Finally, we have the heroine of the story, Miss Eleanor Fitt of the
Philadelphia Fitts. Though she was born into privilege, her family has fallen on some seriously hard times. No more
new wardrobe each season; no more scouring the pages of Godey's and Harper's
Bazaar for a new walking gown; and no more worrying about which parasol would look best with which hat.
I had so much fun finding somewhat plain--though still stunning--gowns for
Eleanor since she needs things that will stay as timeless as she can make them. Even though she may
not care about fashion, her Mama does as well as all the people in her social circle. When the book opens, she's
wears something like:
And then later on, she gets to dress up all fancy like this:
But by the end of the book, Eleanor has pretty much taken to no corsets...and no skirts
even! (It's not like it's easy to fight the dead in layers of petticoats and bustle!) Yet, by the end of the
trilogy, Eleanor has gone back to skirts because--despite her love of mobility--she's still a curvy young woman and proud of it. I imagine her dressing in something of her own design, similar to this image by anndr on Deviantart:
Oh, and let's not forget her parasol--the perfect protection against the sun
and zombies! As Jie teaches her, Aim for the Knees!

You tell me: What do you think of Victorian fashion? Are you a
fan of all the ladies' frills or more into the simplicity of men's clothes?


I love dresses and am glad that girls are starting to wear them again.  Not sure if I'd like to wear one with all the frills every day though.  I don't like corsets so I would probably be like Eleanor and complain about it all the time.  The men's clothes are nice.  Daniel's hat reminds me of what Noah (Ryan Gosling) wears in The Notebook lol so of course I like that!  What do you guys think?


Susan, thank you again for stopping by! 
I can't wait to find out what happens next for the spirit hunters in book 2!


Check out other blog tour stops at Itching for Books
or enter the giveaway!


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Author Spotlight:

Susan Dennard is a reader, writer,
lover of animals, and eater of cookies.

She is a writer turned marine biologist turned
writer again. Among the traits she shares with
her heroine Eleanor are a weakness for
Shakespeare quotes, a healthy appetite for
baked goods, and an insatiable curiosity.
Sadly, Susan does not get to wear a corset or
wave a parasol on a daily basis.
She lives in Germany with her French husband
and Irish setter, and you can learn more about

her crazy thoughts and crippling cookie-addiction on her blog, twitter, facebook, or Goodreads. Something Strange and Deadly is her debut novel.




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