Featured Author: AMY HATVANY! Win Her Books!

Congrats to the Winner of Amy's 3 Novels:
equinn726 
Please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com so I can send you your novels!


** Note: Previous book winners announced at the end of this post! **

Featured Author:

Amy Hatvany

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Today's post is an extra special one as the author I'm featuring has gratefully offered to give to one winner a batch of all her books, which happens to be BEST KEPT SECRET, OUTSIDE THE LINES and THE LANGUAGE OF SISTERS, all by the very talented Amy Hatvany.

I discovered Amy when her first book came out, Best Kept Secret and have been waiting anxiously for each and every book since. Her characters are beautifully crafted and flawed, and I love this trait about them. At the heart of each story is something particularly pretty sad, yet realistic, and she colors each story in a way that is relatable. I just really enjoy her books so much and I wanted to make sure that if you haven't had a chance to read an Amy Hatvany book, or ALL THREE, that you learn more about her, and maybe you'll have another chance to win her books here today!

You might want to follow her on Facebook too -- you can practically smell her kitchen -- she's always talking about these incredible yummy things she's whipping up! I don't know how she has time to cook and bake in between writing all of these wonderful novels! (Check out amazing recipes on her website here!)

Which reminds me, she's got another book coming out in March called Heart Like Mine  which is NOT to be missed! Don't worry, I'll have it here on Booking with Manic for ya!

Best Kept Secret:

At the center of this novel is Cadence, a single-mom who is trying the best that she can to get through her days raising a whirlwind of a happy little boy and working in freelance writing. When life becomes more and more difficult, and she starts suffering from insomnia, and work is not coming for her, a glass of wine at night helps her to sleep. That glass of wine becomes two and three, which then turns into a couple of bottles a night. Within a year, she is a full-blown alcoholic on the verge of losing the most important thing in her life: her son Charlie.

I was drawn to this book for so many reasons. As a mom to three children very close in age, I know what it’s like to need something to calm the nerves when you’re at your wit’s end, when you think you might blow a gasket over spilled milk. This book hit home for me, and I’m very confident that Best Kept Secret will unearth feelings in every single woman who’s ever had a sip of wine, or felt like she’s not doing the best job at motherhood, or maybe has been unsure about everything in life she thought she had a handle on.

Outside The Lines is a gorgeous book and a heartbreaker as I’ve mentioned before, but one that will have you fall in love with all of her characters. It’s the story of Eden and her search for her father, who deserted her when she was a young child because of his mental illness.

I loved this story because it’s told from Eden’s perspective when she was a young girl, and also when she is a grown woman. It also tells her father’s perspective too. This was one of those perfect-ending books, in a way that it ended perfectly, if not wrapped up in a perfect bow. Amy has a knack for storytelling and she has created a beautiful family portrait in Eden and David’s story in Outside The Lines.

The Language of Sisters is the story of Nicole, who leaves home for 10 years because she's unable to deal with her family - her sister is placed in a home for the mentally disabled and she's not able to forgive her mother. Her father has left the family. Nicole leaves to try to make a career and a life for herself as far away as possible, distancing herself from those she loves the most.

Circumstances bring her back to her sister, and she's forced to confront her past. Unbeknownst to Nicole, she's about to receive the most beautiful gifts she'll ever get just by coming home.

If you'd like to be entered to win all THREE of Amy's novels, leave a comment telling me you would like to win them, and please make sure you leave an identifying name that's UNIQUE so if you win you'll know it's YOU when I announce the winner later in a future post! : ) …

Which brings me to …

WINNERS from last week's three books!

If you are one of the winners of these previous books, please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com with your full name and address so I can get you your book! Congratulations!

INDIA's SUMMER: 

Donna W.

HOW LUCKY YOU ARE: 

Kimberly Pearlman

A GIRL LIKE YOU: 

 BlueStarBrite

NEW TO BOOKING WITH MANIC?  

If you're new to Booking with Manic, thank you for stopping by! We love new readers! Some notes - If you're entering to win a book, please use an identifying name and it's usually a great idea to include an email, which I will never give out to anyone else. You can only enter once please. You'll need to check back here in about a week or so to see if you've won the book -- I will highlight the winner's name at the top of this post, or tell you where you can find the winner's name at the top of this post. Most books are supplied directly through publishers, publicists and the authors. Winners will receive books directly from the publisher or author within 3 weeks from the time you provide me with your address, unless I send you the book (sometimes I will). Sorry, but we can only ship to U.S. and Canada so if you're from another country, thank you for coming by to read and discover new authors, but we can't send you a book. Any questions on how I run the blog or suggestions on who you would like to see featured, please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. Thank you for your support!

THE LANGUAGE OF SISTERS by Amy Hatvany

The Language of Sisters

Amy Hatvany 

First a quick note: Thanks to everyone for the awesome words of encouragement from yesterday's post about my son Luke. I guess I got it together to write a post today - I can't believe I had free time and motivation, but thank you all so much! And so, I think I'll be back to posting once or twice a week, it might not be as crazy of a week as I was thinking it would be. Yesterday I was on an emotional rollercoaster! All is good now, so here is a new FABULOUS book for you to learn about!

As you all know I’m a big fan of Amy Hatvany. When she came onto the book scene with Best Kept Secret, my favorite author Emily Giffin blurbed that book, so it was a no brainer that I would read that book. Since then, I've waited anxiously for her books and have read and loved Outside the Lines and now her latest, which is The Language of Sisters, which is actually not really her latest, but one of her very first books, newly updated and here for your enjoyment!

The Language of Sisters is the story of Nicole, who leaves home for 10 years because she's unable to deal with her family - her sister is placed in a home for the mentally disabled and she's not able to forgive her mother. Her father has left the family. Nicole leaves to try to make a career and a life for herself as far away as possible, distancing herself from those she loves the most.

Circumstances bring her back to her sister, and she's forced to confront her past. Unbeknownst to Nicole, she's about to receive the most beautiful gifts she'll ever get just by coming home.

I love Amy's fluid and beautiful prose, her dialogue and her characters. They're so real and believable and her stories just ring true to the reader. Amy always deals with emotional subjects that when you close the book, you'll still be thinking of the story, and wondering what the future holds for her characters.

If you'd like to win a copy of The Language of Sisters, tell me if you have a sister, and what's her name. If you don't have a sister, do you have a friend who is as close to you as a sister might be, and if so, what is her name? My sister's name is Stacy, and I've grown up my whole life being called Stacy too, since our names are so close sounding.

NEW TO BOOKING WITH MANIC? If you're new to Booking with Manic, thank you for stopping by! We love new readers! Some notes - If you're entering to win a book, please use an identifying name and it's usually a great idea to include an email, which I will never give out to anyone else. You can only enter once please. You'll need to check back here in about a week or so to see if you've won the book -- I will highlight the winner's name at the top of this post. Most books are supplied directly through publishers, publicists and the authors. Winners will receive books directly from the publisher within 3 weeks from the time you provide me with your address, unless I send you the book (sometimes I will). Sorry, but we can only ship to U.S. and Canada so if you're from another country, thank you for coming by to read and discover new authors, but we can't send you a book. Any questions on how I run the blog or suggestions on who you would like to see featured, please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. Thank you for your support!