Day 1 of the Magical Christmas with Amalie Howard + Giveaway

Here is the first day of the Christmas celebrations and today, we celebrate it with Amalie Howard, the author of "Waterfell" (read my review) and "The Almost Girl".  And don't miss the giveaway!

And come back every day until Christmas to celebrate this event and win more awesome prizes!!!

Original Title: Waterfell

Series: The Aquarathi #1

Author: Amalie Howard

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: October 29th 2013

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young-adult

Seventeen-year-old Riven is as tough as they come. Coming from a world ravaged by a devastating android war, she has to be. There’s no room for softness, no room for emotion, no room for mistakes. A Legion General, she is the right hand of the young Prince of Neospes, a parallel universe to Earth. In Neospes, she has everything: rank, responsibility and respect. But when Prince Cale sends her away to find his long-lost brother, Caden, who has been spirited back to modern day Earth, Riven finds herself in uncharted territory.

Thrown out of her comfort zone but with the mindset of a soldier, Riven has to learn how to be a girl in a realm that is the opposite of what she knows. Riven isn’t prepared for the beauty of a world that is unlike her own in so many ways. Nor is she prepared to feel something more than indifference for the very target she seeks. Caden is nothing like Cale, but he makes something in her come alive, igniting a spark deep down that goes against every cell in her body. For the first time in her life, Riven isn’t sure about her purpose, about her calling. Torn between duty and desire, she must decide whether Caden is simply a target or whether he is something more.

Faced with hideous reanimated Vector soldiers from her own world with agendas of their own, as well as an unexpected reunion with a sister who despises her, it is a race against time to bring Caden back to Neospes. But things aren’t always as they seem, and Riven will have to search for truth. Family betrayals and royal coups are only the tip of the iceberg. Will Riven be able to find the strength to defy her very nature? Or will she become the monstrous soldier she was designed to be?

Original Title: The Almost Girl

Author: Amalie Howard

Publisher: Strange Chemistry

Release Date: January 7th 2014

Genre: Science Fiction, Young-adult

Seventeen-year-old Riven is as tough as they come. Coming from a world ravaged by a devastating android war, she has to be. There’s no room for softness, no room for emotion, no room for mistakes. A Legion General, she is the right hand of the young Prince of Neospes, a parallel universe to Earth. In Neospes, she has everything: rank, responsibility and respect. But when Prince Cale sends her away to find his long-lost brother, Caden, who has been spirited back to modern day Earth, Riven finds herself in uncharted territory.

Thrown out of her comfort zone but with the mindset of a soldier, Riven has to learn how to be a girl in a realm that is the opposite of what she knows. Riven isn’t prepared for the beauty of a world that is unlike her own in so many ways. Nor is she prepared to feel something more than indifference for the very target she seeks. Caden is nothing like Cale, but he makes something in her come alive, igniting a spark deep down that goes against every cell in her body. For the first time in her life, Riven isn’t sure about her purpose, about her calling. Torn between duty and desire, she must decide whether Caden is simply a target or whether he is something more.

Faced with hideous reanimated Vector soldiers from her own world with agendas of their own, as well as an unexpected reunion with a sister who despises her, it is a race against time to bring Caden back to Neospes. But things aren’t always as they seem, and Riven will have to search for truth. Family betrayals and royal coups are only the tip of the iceberg. Will Riven be able to find the strength to defy her very nature? Or will she become the monstrous soldier she was designed to be?

A Neospes Christmas

- Guest Post by Amalie Howard

Christmas doesn’t exist in Neospes as much as it does in your world. It does in spirit more than anything. We don’t have Santa Claus delivering presents down chimneys or flying reindeer piloting magic sleighs from continent to continent. We don’t have magical elves appearing and disappearing from night to night the twelve days before Christmas. We don’t have live trees strung with tiny lights and presents littering the floor.

Like you, we celebrate something similar to Christmas at the end of the year during the winter solstice at the close of the Winter Games. We give thanks for everything we have achieved and all that we have survived. This is a time to give … not gifts, but our time and our skills for the benefit of others. Our tradition gets rid of the sense of expectation and expense by focusing on the giving and not the receiving.

At the end of the Games, we celebrate our families and our society by having a huge potluck in the castle square—where everyone brings something special to them and we all partake in each other’s offerings. During the festivities, each person receives a name from the monarch of Neospes and we must help that person for a half-day in any way we can, whether it’s to prepare a meal or do some helpful service or teach them a new skill. The most prized gift any citizen of Neospes can give is one of time.

The last but also important tradition that occurs primarily between family members is an actual exchange of gifts. But instead of buying someone a present, you choose to give that person one of your favorite things—an item that has some special meaning to you. One year during our childhood, my sister Shae, gave me a ribbon that she had won for archery during the Summer Games. It meant so much that she would choose to give one of her most valued possessions to me.

At the end of the day, our tradition, like yours, is steeped in the spirit of giving, and in the sharing of hope for the future. We laugh, we dance, and we make merry. We celebrate what it means to be alive. And to be human.

GIVEAWAY

The winner of the below Rafflecopter widget will win one paperback copy of the "Waterfell" (Courtesy: JKS Communications).

a Rafflecopter giveaway