Blog Tour & Giveaway: Taking Chances by Loni Flowers

Title: Taking Chances
Author: Loni Flowers
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pub. Date: Mar. 1, 2012
Find “Taking Chances”:
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At age twenty-three, Alex has had a hard life. His parents died when he was quite young, leaving his grandparents to raise him. Right before his high school graduation, his grandparents passed on too, leaving him all alone. After losing everyone he’s ever loved, Alex turns to the streets in a self-destructive pattern until he finally ends up in Springhill, where he tries to make a new life for himself.

Clair’s childhood was normal until age thirteen, when her father left the family and she never heard from him again. Consequently, her mother went into a deep depression, forcing Clair to grow up quickly. After finishing high school, Clair’s heartache over her father’s absence as well as her unbearable mother drive her to strike out on her own. But having nowhere to go and no family to speak of, Clair wanders aimlessly from town to town, homeless, and without purpose. Looking for work wherever she goes and living hand to mouth on the streets is tough, Clair discovers, but living with her mother is worse.

Now twenty-one years old, Clair has found her way to the last place she and her family took their final vacation as a family–Springhill. While in town, she crosses paths with Alex and their ensuing relationship grows faster than expected. Soon Clair wonders if coming back to Springhill and meeting Alex was the best decision or the worst decision she ever made.

~From the Author~

Hi Christy and thanks so much for having me at Captivated Reading. I’m honored to be here and thank you for giving me a chance to talk to your readers.

Today I thought I’d share with everyone some of my favorite quotes. They are in no particular order, but are quotes that once I read them, I pulled out one of my Post-It flags and stuck it to the page or highlighted it on my Kindle. Yes. I’m that person. I love to flag sentences, pages, chapters… it doesn’t matter. When I read something that give me pause, makes me think a minute about its meaning or makes me laugh or sigh and swoon over a character… I have to flag it. You’ll notice reading my quotes that I have a variety of books. I read a lot of Young Adult and Adult books… no matter the genre.

I love Maggie Stiefvater and The Wolfs of Mercy Falls has so many great quotes, but this one is by far my favorite:

“I won’t let this be my good-bye. I’ve folded one thousand paper crane memories of me and Grace, and I’ve made my wish.
I will find a cure. And then I will find Grace.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Linger

I have two favorite quotes from the one and only zombie book I’ve ever read… I thought this book had such a great take on seeing the world and people through the eyes of a zombie. Never thought I could fall in love with a zombie, but that’s just what happened.

I’m watching her talk. Watching her jaw move and collecting her words one by one as they spill from her lips. I don’t deserve them. Her warm memories. I’d like to paint them over the bare plaster walls of my soul, but everything I paint seems to peel.
― Warm Bodies, Isaac Marion

I crush her against me. I want to be part of her. Not just inside her but all around her. I want our rib cages to crack open and our hearts to migrate and merge. I want our cells to braid together like living thread.
― Warm Bodies, Isaac Marion

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma was a book I didn’t think I would get into, let alone understand. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Its plot is has a taboo subject that people don’t like to think about, let alone read. This book easily fits on my list of the-best-books-I’ve-ever-read. It tore me to pieces and will stick with me forever.

You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.
― Forbidden, Tabitha Suzuma

At the end of the day it’s about how much you can bear, how much you can endure. Being together, we harm nobody; being apart, we extinguish ourselves.
― Forbidden, Tabitha Suzuma

I picked this book up as a Valentine’s Day gift for a one of my book friends after hearing how good it was from the blogosphere. It’s short and tells a story using a word for each letter of the alphabet. There were so many great quotes for this one as well and here is a few I liked most.

Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life. No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough.
― The Lover’s Dictionary, David Levithan

Libidinous: Adj: I never understood why anyone would have sex on the floor. Until I was with you and I realized: you don’t realize you’re on the floor.
― The Lover’s Dictionary, David Levithan

Livid: F* You for cheating on me. F* you for reducing it to the word cheating. As if this were a card game, and you sneaked a look at my hand. Who came up with the term cheating, anyway? A cheater, I imagine. Someone who thought liar was too harsh. Someone who thought devastator was too emotional. The same person who thought, oops, he’d gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. F* you. This isn’t about slipping yourself an extra twenty dollars of Monopoly money. These are our lives. You went and broke our lives. You are so much worse than a cheater. You killed something. And you killed it when its back was turned.
― The Lover’s Dictionary, David Levithan

I also have a weakness for paranormal romance. BIG TIME. This debut novel has a sexy, extremely hot male lead and he has such a way with words.

You just happened to have a bottle of wine and two wine glasses here?” I asked skeptically.”
Hunter smiled conspiratorially and said, “It’s a rule of mine to have it available in case of special occasions. You know, like a beautiful woman in my apartment with a desire for… answers.”
― Guardian of Fate (Fate, #1), L.J. Kentowski

The Fever series is by far the best paranormal series I’ve read to date. It was unlike anything I’ve ever read. Such mystery, tension build up that will nearly have you pulling your hair out and so many twists and turns that I wasn’t sure I’d survive the journey. I could pull a ton of quotes from this series but I’ve only selected two and saved my favorite of the two for last.

Flirtation doesn’t have to go somewhere; it certainly doesn’t need to end up in bed. I like to think of it as a little friendlier than a handshake, a little less intimate than a kiss. It’s a way of saying hi, you look great, have a wonderful day. A tasteful flirtation, played out people who understand the rules, leave everyone feeling good and can perk up the bluest mood.
― Karen Marie Moning, Bloodfever (Fever, #2)

“Was he a good kisser, Ms. Lane?” Barrons asked, watching me carefully.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand at the memory. “It was like being owned. Some women like that. Not me.”
“Perhaps it depends on the man doing the owning.”
“I doubt it. I couldn’t breathe with him kissing me.
“One day you may kiss a man you can’t breathe without, and find breath is of little consequence.”
“Right, and one day my prince might come.”
“I doubt he’ll be a prince, Ms. Lane. Men rarely are.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Bloodfever (Fever, #2)

Well, let me stop here. I could go on and on but will resist the urge to post more. Tell me, have you read any of these books? How did you like them? Or better yet, post your favorite quotes here in the comments and let me see what piques your interest.
Again, thanks so much for having me. I really had a great time with this one!

Thanks for those awesome quotations, Loni!!! I found a few in there that I can remember reading and LOVING!!!! Thanks for stopping by!

~Giveaway~

There are TWO giveaways for this blog tour! YES! TWO! Enter the first by filling out the rafflecopter below. To win an ebook of Taking Chances, leave a comment below! Winner for the ebook will be picked Aug. 26th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~About the Author~

Loni Flowers lives in Eastern North Carolina with her husband; two wild toddlers, who never slow down for a second; and three couch-potato dogs, who only raise an eye when foods around. She spends her days working full-time for a well-known bank. When she’s not playing on the internet or chatting on Twitter or Facebook, she spends her free time with friends and family waiting for the next big idea strike.

She enjoys reading most anything, but is a sucker for a good romance story. Contemporary romance is her writing genre of choice but isn’t opposed to writing something different should an excellent idea hit.

Some of her favorite authors include: L.J. Kentowski, Stefne Miller, Cassandra Clare, J.K. Rowling, and Karen Marie Moning, Nicholas Sparks, Jodi Picoult… just to name a few.

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