I have a fun and funky giveaway today, so get ready!
Lynsay Sands' Argeneau series has a new book, Under a Vampire Moon ( A | BN | K | S ), and Avon has offered some very fun prizes for you.
Because Under a Vampire Moon is partly about travel to exotic locales (in this case, St. Lucia), the prize is travel and beach themed, and I think the grand prize is really spiffy.
The grand prize is a Baggallini rolling tote bag in steel blue with green trim, stuffed with all of Lynsay Sands' Argeneau books, including:
- A QUICK BITE
- LOVE BITES
- SINGLE WHITE VAMPIRE
- TALL, DARK, AND HUNGRY
- A BITE TO REMEMBER
- BITE ME IF YOU CAN
- THE ACCIDENTAL VAMPIRE
- VAMPIRES ARE FOREVER
- VAMPIRE INTERRUPTED
- THE ROGUE HUNTER
- THE IMMORTAL HUNTER
- THE RENEGADE HUNTER
- BORN TO BITE
- HUNGRY FOR YOU
- THE RELUCTANT VAMPIRE
- UNDER A VAMPIRE MOON
There are also five runner-up prizes: a copy of Under a Vampire Moon and a Lynsay Sands beach ball.
Since I am all about the beach, here's the really tough and difficult question you have to answer: which beach do you think is best for reading? What's the best beach you've ever visited? Share – and we'll all have summer-beach envy together.
The contest will be open from today (24 April) through noon eastern on 1 May. I'll select the winners at random from the comments.
Standard disclaimers apply: I'm not being compensated for this giveaway, not even with spiffy luggage. Void where prohibited. Must be over 18 and wearing a hula skirt (but not a coconut bra – those things look itchy) to win. This giveaway is open to international residents (yay!). Clothing that is itchy is hereby outlawed in my immediate jurisdiction. Action figures and margaritas sold separately.
So, tell me: what beach do you think is the best for reading and relaxing? If you could visit a beach anywhere in the world with a book and no time limit, which would it be?
i think i would say my favorite beach that i’ve been to is over in cocoa beach,fl. quiet enough to sit and read, but still some surfing eye-candy when you want to look up from your book. and right now i’m dying to read the wolf gift by anne rice, but really any paranormal romance would make me a happy girl :0)
I like reading on the beach in St. Martins, NB in Canada when I visit my grandmother. It’s a rock shore, rather than a sandy one, so you have to be careful where you sit, but it can be really peaceful. Then my favorite beach to go to is call Brown’s Beach. It is near St. Martins, but you have to walk down this rickety staircase, but then you are on this really cool sandy beach hidden among the caves. =)
I love to read EVERYWHERE, not just the beach. If I have to pick one I would have to say Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was the most fun trip I ever took. The locals were amazing, made several friends that ended up coming to the US for our annual family BBQ in NC that is so big its a huge community event.
Living in Florida most of my life I have been to many beaches. I really enjoyed Treasure Island beach, it is across the bridge from Clearwater which is sooo crowded most of the time. Treasure Island is not. So it is a ggod beach to relax and be able to read and not have people stepping over you.
I would love to see the beaches of California and of course Hawaii!!
I gotta go with the fictional beach on the LOST island. Now, bear with me….
First of all, there seemed to be plenty of people just hanging around while Jack et. al. did all of the heavy work. I could be one of those people! Sure, I might have to light a fire or feed some kids or something, but how much of the day could that possible take up? Second, if I had a carry-on full of Sands’ books with me*, I could undoubtedly pick up some tips on how to kick some supernatural ass and/or seduce supernatural beings. That would come in very handy. Just sayin’…. Finally, there’s no TV or internet there, so for the entertainment of the adults, I could volunteer to act out some of the sexy-times scenes in Sands’ books with Desmond. Yes, it would be a sacrifice, but, you know, one does what one must.
*disclaimer: I do not wish a horrific plane crash on Ms. Sands. Perhaps the bag belonged to an evil press agent from a rival publishing house, who stole the books.
The one that comes with a drink and a shade and peace and minimum noise 🙂 I would love to try a few Hawaii beaches
We usually rent houses on the beach for summer vacations. We’ve stayed or played on all the major East Coast beaches and are working our way through the Gulf Coast of Florida beaches. The best experience so far has been in the Cherry Vale section of (northern) Myrtle Beach, SC. A calm, shallow inlet for little kids with waves around the corner for the bigger kids. At low tide, large, shallow tidal pools teeming with sea life. Not crazy about the crowds of Myrtle Beach, but that little section was perfect for a family with toddlers to teens.
I loved the Beach at St. Kitts. The water was so clear it was just the right environment in my mind.
A green sand beach on the Big Island of Hawaii. Or a black sand beach with big turtles, also on the Big Island. Hawaii is awesome.
Any Beach that is Quiet is a Great place to read a book!
The best beach I ever went to was on Ibiza, Spain. Las Salinas is a perfect place to relax, enjoy the sun and great for people watching. We were on Ibiza for four day went to Las Salinas three of those days, was perfect.
My parents live 5 minutes from a stunner of a beach on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. It is perfect – not just because of the beauty (which is immense), but also because it’s basically empty.
There are lots of lovely beaches over the word, however, I would read on one of the beautiful beaches in Jamaica.
I live in Kansas. Any beach is a treat. But I am thinking Hawaii sounds good.
I really dislike the beach—-I guess that makes me a party pooper 🙂 I burn faster than unattended zucchini pancakes. One time I set up a fake beach with friends—-we put beige paper on the floor to make “sand” and sat in our lawn chairs with the lights on. Oh, we also played ocean sounds.
Honeymoon Island, Florida. It’s near St. Pete and is a state park. Fewer commercial interruptions.
I can read on any beach. Love putting on my headphones, sunglasses and kicking back for a while. Cape Cod National Seashore always works for me.
I absolutely love beach reading-slate ‘beach’ (hey, I live in VT), sand, or cliffs, put me by a large body of water and I’m happy! I would say that, thus far, my favorite beach reading location was in Aruba.
All these other suggestions are giving me the travel bug again…
I have fond memories of Huntington Beach. Any beach in Hawaii would be my ideal beach even thought I’ve never been to Hawaii.
what beach do you think is the best for reading and relaxing?
-I think the beach by my university was the best for reading. Tybee Island Beach 😀 just calm ocean waves and a pretty chill beach. Surrounded by key westy buildings.
If you could visit a beach anywhere in the world with a book and no time limit, which would it be?
-Bonaire because of the beautiful pink beaches and what better way to enjoy a trashy book than on a pink beach soaking up the rays.
Well, I did visit the Jersey shore growing up. I haven’t been to a beach in a long, long time. No favorites but I would love to be on the Mediterranean and envision Homer and a wine dark sea.
The Turtle Bay Resort rocks on Oahu! A beach, a pool, and surf guys looking for “almost Eddie” waves!
My favorite beach to date is a stretch of sand in Cancun- maybe not your first thought for relaxation since until recently random hookups and multiple tequila shots come to mind more readily for this particular venue, but the first and only time (thus far) that I have been there was—wait for it—at a family resort! The sort where you have to be over 30 to buy a timeshare, and the average age of people in bikinis is 50 something, not 20 something (rock on with your bad selves, ladies!).
As a current 20 something myself, I went with my parents and partner (shocking I know, but astonishingly not uncomfortable, plus pretty much free for me, so yay) after my first year working full time post-grad school and man-oh-man!! Most. Relaxing. [and appreciated] Vacation. Ever. I didn’t have to do shit, except drink the occasional tropical-themed drink, play in the pool and wade in the warm shallows, or pass the fuck out after reading some romance novel mid-afternoon in some super comfy lounge chairs. Shared a condo-style 2 floor suite with family, so partner and I had plenty o’ private good times when reading just wasn’t enough, and otherwise we just goofed around and relaxed. It was practically prelapsarian, it was so good!
I went to Hawaii on my honeymoon and those are some of the the most beautiful beaches in the world!
Currently I read on the ‘beach’ around my pond. Out here in the country people call it a tank but I call it a pond. It is a nice and peaceful place. We have one crane that comes by for a visit.
Hole in the Wall Beach in Niantic, CT—within easy walking distance of all three locations of the finest UBS in CT, Book Barn. Can’t beat a bookstore with cats, turtles, bullfrogs and goats!
You are so right! It is sad that so many city dwellers never make it out to the real sand and surf, but until then… its Tar Beach Baby!
The best beach for reading is totally dependent on the conditions of the beach. The most beautiful beach with noisy kids and a nagging husband isn’t ideal for reading. My ideal beach/reading situation would include a hot day with a cool breeze. I’d be swinging in a hammock strung between two palm trees. My ipod would play soft music while I watch a hunk of a man nearby. A little eye candy and some cool fruity drinks with a book I’ve been waiting to read for weeks completes my dream day. That is my best reading beach – more of a setting than a particular beach.
The best beach I’ve ever visited was a small beach covered in sea shells somewhere in the Caribbean. I spent hours searching for the perfect shells to bring home from vacation. The beach was part of a shore excursion on a cruise I took forever ago. I have no idea which island, but I’ll always remember that day fondly.
I just got back from vacation, but hate my carry-on, yet can’t find a new one I like (or isn’t overprice). This looks intriguing, and it’s filled with a book series that I can continue reading before the plane takes off! Double win!
I’m going with Hawaii – the Big Island of Hawaii! The green sand beach at Ka Leo (South Point) is remote, pristine, and awesome. But a bit windy for a paper book so an ereader is best!
A beach in Tahiti, and all to myself and my 10yrs worth of TBR …
I live in Scotland so not many beaches to go to that aren’t freezing so I woulld have to say I wish I could go and lie on a beach in the Bahamas! 🙂
Nothing so exotic for me. I love the Los Angeles South Bay Beaches, not just for reading…which I often do there, but for writing as well. I take my notebook and pen…yeah, I know about laptops and batteries, but I take my notebook and pen, and write…oh yeah, and read too!! If I have to pick one, probably Redondo Beach. It’s peaceful, and I see Dolphins there nearly every time I walk there. Apparently they love it too1
Definitely Paradise Island in the Bahamas. It’s great for napping too! 🙂
I am all about the white sand Gulf beaches! My favorite is Destin, FL. We go there every year and I never go without my kindle!!! Last September I read 5 books while parked in my chair 🙂
Clear blue water and soft, white sand. Doesn’t get any better!!!
My parents used to take us to Atlantic Beach, NC when I was growing up. It was quiet and beautiful. I would love to go back.
Best beach I’ve ever been on is Guana Island (no, not Guano!) which is a private island in the Caribbean. Beautiful beach but even more beautiful was the fact that my husband and I had it all to ourselves. Entirely. Fabulous.
Well, I doubt anyone here has even heard of it, lol. It’s this beach my parents use to take me to, “Big Sands” is the translation. The water just went on and on. So shallow there, and the sanddunes, amazing. You could have your own private little dune and no one saw you
Any beach with very few or no people would be the best place to read.
Any beach…except maybe the ones in Washington that are rocky. If I could go anywhere though, it’d probably be back to the Cook Islands. Gorgeous, quiet beaches. At least many moons ago when I was there.
My best beach read was on a beach in Alexandria, Egypt…reading A Room with a View and feeling awesomely well-traveled.