First, let me say I had SOOOO much fun reading your FIRST or MEMORABLE kiss stories! Oh my gosh, some of them made me crack up! I loved in particular the one from the girl who ended up locking lips with the boyfriend's older brother on the basketball court to make the younger brother jealous! And also the one from the first kiss on the wedding day! There were sooo many awesome ones. Thanks for taking the time to share them with me. I hope they brought back some fun memories for you guys as well!
Random.org chose the winner so congrats to:
KELTBAN!
Email me your full name and address so you can receive both books by Trish Ryan! And there are so many more great books coming your way-- As I write this, it's only March 14! So keep coming back! Thanks everyone!
Books: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not & A Maze of Grace
Author: Trish Ryan
Website: Trish Ryan Online
Winner: KELTBAN
Hello Again! And here we have ANOTHER TWO-FER! And this is gonna be a long one, and I’m going to make you work for it today. There are SPECIAL instructions! I know you’re tired of just putting in the comments, “Pick me! Pick me!” so you get to tell me something fun today. Pay attention!
Today’s author happens to be another good friend of mine in real life. Do you get that I stalk them until they have no other choice but to like me? I met Trish Ryan at a Chicago author fair when Swishy and I went to see Stephanie Klein, Jen Lancaster and Stacey Ballis on a panel together. That was also the same day we drove four hours through six hurricanes and two tornadoes to go to Jess Riley’s book party and then another four hours back home. Here’s THAT blog post (there are actually two parts!) if you have more time than Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen will need to get their heads on straight.
The books. Oh yeah.
So Trish is a memoirist. Sounds classy huh? I love that! The first book she wrote is He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Hope, and Happily Ever After. The original hardback cover looked like this:
Trish Ryan was the quintessential successful thirtysomething woman -- she had a career as an attorney, a nice car, and a succession of men clamoring for her affection. But despite all her accomplishments, the things by which she defined her life continually left her disappointed, especially when it came to dating. Like the heroines of chick-lit novels and Sex and the City, she couldn't escape her bad luck with men: men who cheated, who left her, who made her a lesser version of herself. After years of trying everything out there to make love work -- new age philosophy, feminist empowerment, myriad self-help programs -- she finally, hesitantly, decided to give God a try. This is Ryan's story of how her search for the right guy turned into the search for the right God, and (spoiler alert!) how she ended up with the happily-ever-after ending.
When I first offered the book on my blog, I told the stories of my first kisses, because, like Trish’s story, you gotta kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince. I just so happen to have the diary entry from my very first meaningful kiss, I was 13:
My first kiss, a diary entry:
December 29, 1982
Hey,
Chris and Andy came over at 8:30 pm. We hung around talked and stuff. Stacy and Leslie kept whispering to Chris and trying to get us alone. We walked outside with Chris and Andrew at midnight – “The magical hour" ha ha, and said Goodbye. Then Stacy and Les went towards the house but snuck behind the cars. Me and Chris told them to go in the house. Then he turned towards me and put his hands on my hips. He told me that Stacy and Leslie told him to kiss me. Then he turned his head and came closer and we were almost kissing and I burst out laughing. We finally kissed then Stacy and Leslie came out and started spying. So Chris said, “You want to make them mad?” We walked over to the hedge and he kissed me. I really can’t remember that much. But then he asked if I would write. I said of course, “Yes.” Then I kissed him and said “good-bye.” We kissed at least 3 times. I’m kinda glad Stacy and Leslie told him to kiss me. His lips were soft. Ha, ha. Love, Steph
December 30, 1982
Chris left.
Bye.
Then I met Mr. Manic junior year in college. (Not to worry, I had more kisses between 1982 and 1990, I assure you!) Our first kiss happened the night we met, among other things. We met in a bar called Molly’s. Later that night, we went to another bar.
We first kissed in a bar called Amnesia, but I forget the details. Get it, Amnesia, can’t remember the details. Ha. But isn’t that what happens when you fall in love? There are so many great moments, but the details are hard to recall. When you’re in love, there are great details that just keep coming and they outshine the next so the previous ones start to fade. I do remember though, I was dying for him to kiss me, and I was so glad when he finally did, right there at the entryway of the bar, and again, on the dance floor at Amnesia. And now that I have him available to me any time I want, I should remember this, and kiss him as often as I want. That’s what it means to me to finding the one. He Loves Me, He Loves Me … He Loves Me!
So, in order to win He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, you have to comment here AND tell me your first OR your first MEMORABLE kiss story. And that will enter you to win BOTH Trish’s books! If you don't tell me a story, you won't be entered this time. Make something up! I'm getting tough on ya! : )
And here’s info on her follow up book:
A Maze of Grace: A Memoir of Second Chances is the story of Trish and her husband Steve’s first five years of marriage… it’s inspirational and thought-provoking, and many times I stopped during my reading and really thought about what she has to say about her relationship with her husband, and with God. I am especially giving serious thought about the part in the book where a female pastor proclaims: GIVE THAT MAN SOME SEX. Seriously, read it, and you will KNOW what I’m talking about. It is SOOOO true, but how do you GIVE THAT MAN SOME SEX when the last two times you’ve tried to GIVE THAT MAN SOME SEX these kind of things have happened? Anyway, Trish has a way of writing down her story to make you think about how YOUR own story is forming, and I think that’s a talent not many possess.
OK, A Maze of Grace is NOT all about sex (Drat, I know, I know) but when I read it, we had just moved into our new home in Scottsdale, and things were quite challenging and I guess all I was focusing on was that part when I wrote this previous review. Trish is an extremely talented author, who is spiritual but NEVER in your face spiritual. Read her books and you’ll feel as if you’re walking away with a friend!
DON'T FORGET .... I WANT YOUR GOOD FIRST KISS OR MEMORABLE KISS STORY OR THIS TIME YOU WON'T QUALIFY TO BE ENTERED!
*****
Please leave a FIRST KISS COMMENT, and all those who do will qualify to win both Trish Ryan's books! I’ll draw the winner on March 11 and I will post the winner’s name at the TOP of this post, in the highlighted area.
Come back and read about each book every day in March. Choose the books you'd like to win. Enter for any or ALL the books. Each entry will count as an entry toward the grand prize of winning ALL 31+ books at the end of the month. You can win the book of the day and still qualify to win ALL the books at the end of the month!
PLEASE be specific with your name in the comment section, and IF YOUR NAME is listed as the winner, you must email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com in order to claim your prize. Email me with your full name and address so I can have your book(s) sent to you.
Thanks, and GOOD LUCK! And come back tomorrow to see what book I’ll be giving away then too!
It’s MaNiC MoMMy’s March Madness Book-A-Day Giveaway! Read ALL the Rules and Details Here!
Sorry, only U.S. and Canadian residents only!
