Smoke and Mirrors Summer Destination Blog Hop and Giveaway!

smoke and mirrors

Welcome to you if you’ve hopped over to my blog from Connie Almony‘s! If you’re starting here, that’s wonderful! You can start anywhere in the group and make it all the way through!

I’m so happy you’ve joined me for the Smoke and Mirrors Summer Destination Blog Hop & Giveaway! To celebrate the release of the Smoke and Mirrors Box Set, the authors have banned together to bring you an amazing giveaway! One winner will win The Book Lover’s Grand Prize. This prize will include a $25 Starbucks gift card, as well as the following signed paperbacks by the Smoke and Mirrors authors:

larger softcovers

And another winner will win THE KINDLE FIRE GRAND PRIZE, which includes one brand new Kindle Fire and the following ebooks by the Smoke and Mirrors authors:

updated ebooks

What an amazing giveaway! But, to win, you have to comment on each blog in the blog hop. Here’s a list of the blogs:

Connie Almony

Hallee Bridgeman

Heather Day Gilbert

Kelli Hughett

Alana Terry

Rachel Trautmiller

Alexa Verde

(Author Sally Bradley is not participating in this hop, but she is an author in the boxed set!)

PLEASE NOTE: ***You will need to visit each of the 7 blogs above and comment on each one by 5 pm EST on May 30th to be eligible for a chance to win one of our grand prizes.***

Since all of the books in this box set take place in the summertime, the theme of this blog hop is “My Favorite Summer Vacation Destination.” My family travels a lot. We love to back our bags and hit the road together. We live in Kentucky, which is rather central to so many places, that it gives us a chance to just go. A couple of weekends ago, we enjoyed a trip up to the shores of Lake Huron. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be heading to Kansas City.

But my favorite summer destination is the Pacific Northwest. (I won’t get there this year until September). As an Army brat, my “home” in the Willamette Valley is a place I’ve only lived for a few years of my life, but most of my family lives there or around there. My father was stationed at Fort Lewis and then did ROTC duty in Eugene Oregon, so for a good chunk of my childhood, we had easy access to my family. So many childhood memories are wrapped up in camping and fishing near Crater Lake, visiting the coast of Florence, Oregon, and heading on up into the Mount Saint Helens region of Washington. Even though we moved to Florida when I was 13, summertime means grilling salmon on the grill in my grandparents’ backyard while we played on the slip-n-slide next to the garden under the apple tree.

My grandfather Hal (yes, I'm named after him) working in his garden in Springfield, Oregon

My grandfather Hal (yes, I’m named after him) working in his garden in Springfield, Oregon

on the ropesMy summertime story contained in the Smoke and Mirrors box set, On the Ropes, takes place in Florida, New York, and South Carolina — three of my favorite places to visit. As I was writing On the Ropes, I wrote a scene where my character Ruth was racing through the streets of New York City during a heat wave, and I remembered my honeymoon 4th of July weekend in NYC during a heat wave and the temperature on the street at 10PM was over 100 degrees. It’s a crazy heat that you can’t understand until you feel it.

What is your favorite summer destination? Comment below and let me know! *Please remember that you must comment on each of the 7 blogs in this blog hop to be eligible for either of the grand prizes!*

If you’re looking for a good read for this coming holiday weekend, check out the Smoke and Mirrors Collection. Right romantic suspense novellas set in summertime — the perfect kickoff to the beginning of summer!

Here is the blurb to my novella, On the Ropes: Doctor Ruth Burnette is placed in witness protection after witnessing a Russian mafia execution. Just a week before the trial, Victor Kovalev finds her. Memories of planning her wedding with Victor are wiped clean by the vision of his father executing three men. Does he want to help her survive to her testimony, or is he trying to stop it all together?

Next stop in this blog hop is Heather Day Gilbert! As a teaser, there’s the blurb to her book, Out of Circulation: When Russian mobsters threaten small-town librarian Katie McClure, she is forced to accept an offer of protection from Manhattan bodyguard Ace Calhoun. As they race the clock to find a long-hidden bank stash, Katie discovers too late that Ace might be the wrong man to trust with her life…and her heart. Click here to hop to her blog!

Thank you for visiting and enjoy the rest of the blog hop! Don’t forget that you will need to visit each of the 7 blogs above and comment on each one by 5 pm EST on May 30th to be eligible for a chance to win one of our grand prizes. We will email the winners on May 31, but first, come visit us on May 30th starting at 7 pm EST on Facebook here for the announcement of the winners and a Week-Long Virtual Cruise to the destinations in our collection!

cruise memeDuring the Facebook cruise, readers will ask the eight Smoke and Mirrors authors questions and we’ll be asking our readers questions! It is a leisurely pace, so you can drop in and out, leaving questions and reading up on the answers later, if you like. It’s a great chance to fellowship with some of your fave romantic suspense authors–and some of your soon-to-be-faves!
halleeLOGOspinefinal


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28 comments

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  1. I don’t have a favorite summer destination, although I do love visiting Arizona in July. I don’t even know why, maybe it’s because the heat there is different from California. Or I’m just wired differently. I read and loved On The Ropes.

    • Caryl Kane on May 29, 2016 at 14:51
    • Reply

    I would love to visit New Zealand. 🙂

    • Deanna Stevens on May 30, 2016 at 08:51
    • Reply

    My favorite summer spot is any area lake! Picnic, family, fishing or reading on the beach is a great summer day!
    dkstevensne AToutlookdoTCo M

    • Bethany on May 30, 2016 at 13:55
    • Reply

    I live in the Pacific NW and it is #gorgeous today 🙂 I love living on the water with my peekaboo view and 15 min. walk to the beach. Salmon is my family’s favorite fish. I BBQ with some mayo wrapped in foil to keep it super moist. YUM for sure

      • Bethany on May 30, 2016 at 13:56
      • Reply

      Thanks for the #memorialday freebies. I tweeted and FB’d 🙂

  2. Favorite summer getaway would be the South Dakota mountains! Beautiful!

    • Cindy Swanson on May 30, 2016 at 14:54
    • Reply

    Sounds like another good read!

      • Cindy Swanson on May 30, 2016 at 15:55
      • Reply

      My favorite place to visit is Norway/Sweden. We had so much fun as a family exploring the areas where my ancestors came from. We had a great trip and would love to go back for another visit!

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