Dystopian Giveaway Hop Happening Here!

Welcome! So glad you decided to stop here and have a little fun and hopefully get some good books to add to the TBR list.  Feel free to have a look around and don't forget to enter to win one of three e-copies of the Mercy Series Boxset.  This includes the first two books in the Mercy Series, plus a bonus short story from another character's perspective.  Filled with suspense, danger, and a strong heroine willing to take it all on, it's a series you won't want to put down.


All you have to do is take a look at the Rafflecopter and click on the entries you want to do.  (And YES, I can do international!) It's just that easy!  And don't forget to head back to one of the main sites to check out all the great giveaways. Click one of the following links to take you back to the linky list: My Shelf Confessions or iamareader

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer Giveaway Hop! Who Likes to Win?

Who doesn't like to win? Okay, put your hand down, Debbie Downer. The rest of us are here for some prizes and fun. So, let's get right to it.

First of all, thank you for stopping by. I'm verra, verra excited to share my brand-spanking new release, Heart of Mercy, the second book in the Mercy Series. I know I'm biased, but it is action-packed, suspenseful, blended with a little romance. I'll let you judge for yourself:

Charlie Little exists in a dangerous world. Her best chance of survival is to disguise herself as a boy and guard her secrets well. Yet just when things can’t possibly get worse, they spin completely out of control.

With Zeke and her sister Star by her side and the fresh memory of Thomas’s kiss still on her lips, she narrowly escapes the horrid plans of Jonas Bannon, a monster of a human being. Forfeiting the safety of the community, they leave and begin the search for the city of Mercy, the one secure place Charlie knows. However, as she struggles to reach her sanctuary, doubts creep in that anywhere is truly safe. If the Draghoul don’t get them, the human scavengers just might, and the assumption Mercy is a place of protection could be the most dangerous risk of all.

Interested? Link to an excerpt here. Just don't forget to come back and enter the drawing.

Just in case you want to start with book 1, Edge of Mercy, I want to let you know that it is currently on sale for the bargain price of $.99. That means you could get both books for less than $5. Here's a little about EoM:

Charlie hides her true identity inside a community made up only of males, but her presence places everyone around her in danger. This community is surrounded by Draghoul, once-human creatures bent on infecting others. Left with no other choice but to remain, she fears her secret will be discovered, and she’ll be thrown to the creatures she dreads. Yet, the longer she stays with these survivors, the less benevolent they appear.

In this new and dangerous version of the world, where the friend beside you might be an enemy and an enemy might be your only friend, seventeen-year-old Charlie protects her baby sister and herself from grotesque monsters outside the community as well as human ones inside. Will the truth she discovers about her protectors save her or ultimately doom her to a fate worse than death?

And if you just need a taste to see if you might like this series, you can get "Mercy," a short story of about 30 pages that introduces you to Charlie's world. Oh, and it's FREE.

Charlie’s true identity is a secret, but her very presence places everyone around her in danger. With no other choice but to remain where she is, she stays with a community that might not be as benevolent as it appears. In this short dystopian romance where a friend might be an enemy and an enemy might be a friend, seventeen-year-old Charlie must protect her baby sister and herself from grotesque monsters outside the community as well as human ones inside. Will the truth she discovers about her protectors save her or ultimately doom her to a fate worse than death?

Around 9800 words. Part of a larger work titled Edge of Mercy.

All three can also be found at Barnes and Noble: "Mercy," Edge of Mercy, Heart of Mercy

Kobo: "Mercy," Edge of Mercy, Heart of Mercy

And Smashwords: "Mercy,"

Now, on to the good stuff: a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don't forget to look for more great giveaways on the list:

Holiday Gifts of Love Blog Hop

Top Ten Reasons I Love The Christmas Season

We're hopping, peeps!  It's holiday time, and for me and mine, that means time to celebrate one of the holiest Christian holidays--Christmas!  So many things I love about this time of year, so I wanted to share my Top Ten Reasons I Love the Christmas Season.  I hope you can totally relate.

10. The goofy kid in the holiday school program who waves and shouts at his or her family and sings loudly off key the whole time. (Yeah, it's usually mine.)

9.   The growing (and lovable) mish-mash of kid-made ornaments decorating my once gold and silver Christmas tree.

8.   "O Holy Night," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Jingle Bell Rock," and "Breath of Heaven"--the songs I crank and belt out anytime they play on the all-Christmas-all-the-time radio.

7.   Despite the holiday stress, despite the crazy to-do lists, despite the increased traffic...everywhere, people still seem to be at their happiest.

6.   Light displays give my kiddos free entertainment with every street we turn onto.

5.   People actually invite me to parties!

4.   Finally getting to see family that all my early fond memories surround.

3.   Fooooood! Need I say more?

2.   No school for the holidays! (Can you tell I'm a teacher?)  And more time for denting the TBR pile!

1.   The reason behind the season--my Lord and Savior--Jesus Christ.  May I never forget this.

There you go.  Leave me a comment about your favorite part of the holidays for a chance to win a $10.00 gift card to the e-tailer of your choice.  You must comment to be entered into the grand prize drawings.  Don't forget to leave your e-mail address.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don't forget to keep hoppin' through to the other sites for more chances to win.  You can find them here:  http://carrieannbloghops.blogspot.com/

There are THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times, including this one!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $200 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

Happy Reading and Writing!



Charlie hides her true identity inside a community made up only of males, but her presence places everyone around her in danger. This community is surrounded by Draghoul, once-human creatures bent on infecting others. Left with no other choice but to remain, she fears her secret will be discovered, and she’ll be thrown to the creatures she dreads. Yet, the longer she stays with these survivors, the less benevolent they appear. 

In this new and dangerous version of the world, where the friend beside you might be an enemy and an enemy might be your only friend, seventeen-year-old Charlie protects her baby sister and herself from grotesque monsters outside the community as well as human ones inside. Will the truth she discovers about her protectors save her or ultimately doom her to a fate worse than death?

This is the first full-length novel in the Mercy Series.

C. C. Marks

Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway!

What? There's a blog hop about books? Like, the best books?  I'm SO in!

So many books sucked me in and engrossed me for a spell.  It's hard to narrow it down to just one.  So, I'll try to base it on the most recent one.  Last summer, I finally caved into the hype and read The Hunger Games.  I am so glad I did.  Ever since Lois Lowry's The Giver, and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, I've been fascinated by the dystopian genre.  What would we do if society as we know it collapsed?  How would we go on?

The Hunger Games does an excellent job of giving a sympathetic character with Katniss Everdeen.

Not only is she independent, but she takes care of her family and would do anything for them, including sacrifice herself, if she has to.  That's how she ends up in The Hunger Games, a competition contrived by the government to keep the people in line after a previous rebellion.

Katniss is amazing in the games, and in the end, refuses to compromise her beliefs and follow the dictates of a corrupt government.

Of course, I could go on and on, but most have probably read it or seen the recent film.  If not, I don't want to spoil it for you.  Basically, it boils down to this--this book is about hope.  All dystopians are about hope.  Even though the conflict is great, the journey to salvation is worth it and leaves the reader hopeful that if the world ever did go crazy, we would survive and thrive.

Though I began writing Edge of Mercy before I read The Hunger Games, and though they both have a strong heroine, their journeys are very different.  In Edge of Mercy, Charlie disguises herself as a boy to protect her sister from the monsters outside the community walls as well as the human ones inside.  Her world is far from perfect, but they're all on the Edge of Mercy.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm giving away two $5 gift cards to the e-seller of your choice and a copy of Edge of Mercy.  Complete the entries that interest you for multiple chances to win.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to check out the other giveaways at http://www.iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com