Happy Hanukkah, 2019! Tonight is the seventh night, and of course we have another giveaway. Are you having fun? I’m having fun. Boatloads.
Ready? Let’s do this!
Today’s prize is: a Kate Spade Mavis Street Taden tote in Rose Gold!
Of course I have pics!
Isn’t it cute? AND ALSO SPARKLY? I confess, I went for a lot of sparkly things this year.
Want some specs?
- The bag measures approximately 12.1″h x 13.3″w x 4.3″d
- It has a strap drop length of 8.5″.
- The top zips closed – very important to me, personally.
- The interior has two slide pockets, and one zipper pocket.
- IT SPARKLES ALL OVER.
Want to enter? Yay!
Just leave a comment telling us about one romance that is in your essential, most-read, absolute favorite list.
Standard disclaimers apply: I am not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and open to the option of fabulous bags, and also candles, chocolate, and jelly doughnuts (It’s Hanukkah after all!). Not responsible for how much awesomeness you can carry in this sparkly-great tote.
Comments will close Sunday 29 December 2019 at or near 12pm ET, and winner will be announced shortly afterward.
Good luck, Happy Hanukkah, and thank you for being part of Smart Bitches!
Winner update: Congratulations to Francene! We’re nearing the end of our giveaways!
Like Never and Always by Ann Aguirre, a YA romantic suspense. The title comes from a Pablo Neruda poem, and maybe this inspired the moments in the book where there is such beautiful imagery, which I did not expect. I love the voice and strength of the heroine.
Romancing Miss Bridgerton. It was the first romance my best friend sent me in the mail, and the one I associate with her.
Off Campus by Amy Jo Cousins. My favorite comfort read (and it’s great on audio too!).
Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie for sure. I may or may not be responsible for the wear and tear on my library’s copy from the amount of times I’ve checked it out.
The Kong’s Man by Elizabeth Kingston
Sorry, The King’s Man
The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan.
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold. I’ll fight anyone who says that isn’t a romance. This was my favorite book for, like fifteen years.
Don’t Say A Word by Barbara Freethy.
Marry Me by Jo Goodman.
Isn’t it pretty! I was given some rose-gold earring this year …
As you may guess by my username I adore Venetia by Georgette Heyer. I think it is one of her most romantic books yet with a very clear-eyed heroine who sees the rake for who he is. No other ‘rakish’ romance has every really compared for me!
Lord Perfect by Loretta Chase. (I love that they literally “read the riot act” in this book. I always thought it was just a figure of speech until I saw it used here.)
Act Like It, by Lucy Parker, and Sweet Disorder, by Rose Lerner
Ooh, love the tote, it’s so pretty! I would say Lisa Kleypas’ Love In The Afternoon is one of my all time favorites
Lois McMaster Bujold, Beguilement (book 1 of the Sharing Knife fantasy tetralogy).
I keep recommending The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare, and find that it’s as close to perfect as I’ve read in a while.
Pretty much all of Mariana Zapata’s books are my go-to comfort re-reads.
Cinderella is my favorite romance book ever since I was a child.
Family Man by Jayne Ann Krentz
Comfort re-reads: Blank Canvas by Mari Carr, and Romancing Mr Bridgerton by Julia Quinn. Heroines trying to figure out life.
“The Road to Kaluga” by Dinah Dean.
“As the Grande Armee of Napoleon pushed the Russians back towards Moscow, Major Orlov, a handsome, aristocratic Staff Officer knew that the wounded would be abandoned in Smolensk to certain captivity and even death. Although badly injured himself Orlov’s sense of duty impels him to lead a company of wounded Russian soldiers away from the battle scarred city… They have not gone far when they come on a deserted inn – deserted except for a young woman, the Countess Irina Barova.”
It is a lovely sweet romance, but not at all twee with realistic problems along the way including an pre-anaesthetic amputation.
I have the first edition, hardcover, published in 1974 by William Heinemann. An abridged version was published by Masquerade as “Flight From the Eagle”. According to internet reviews it is not as good as the original.
Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royal series but if I had to choose just one it would be A Prince on Paper. Johan and Nya are hands down my favorite couple!
One of my favorite comfort reads is Wait for It by Marianne Zapata. I know there are some issues with it, but I keep coming back to it.
Cordelia’s honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. Is one one that list for me.
Sarah MacLean’s The Rules of Scoundrels series
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas.
Old school reading here – anything by Victoria Holt/Jean Plaidy. I was introduced to these by my mother when I was a precocious preteen. I also reread Skye O’Malley by Bertrice Small every few years.
It may be silly, but Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Welcome to Temptation and Faking It by Jennifer Crusie
The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas.
In terms of long-term lasting favourites, it would have to be something by Mary Stewart – maybe Nine Coaches Waiting.
Not strictly a romance, but I reread Sarah J Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy a bunch.
Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick has to be in my go-to reads list. If I have to pick one book, it’s Absolutely Positively.
SUGAR DADDY by Lisa Kleypas. I love that it’s a coming-of-age story and a romance at the same time.
Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient!
“Red, White & Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston. This book is practically perfect in every way and I’ve read it three times this year and really want to live in that book. (Also, it just so happens to be a KDD for $2.99 today. Grab it if you haven’t read it yet!)
“Pride & Prejudice”, of course, and also “Faith & Fidelity” by Tere Michaels.
I can’t pick just one, but they’re all forever keepers in their own ways.
Years by LaVyrle Spencer
The Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts!
Sherry Thomas’ Not Quite a Husband. Two other Sherry Thomas books–His at Night and Luckiest Lady in London are other favorites! (Thank you, Sarah, for hosting this giveaway every year!)
PRIEST by Sierra Simone; GOING NOWHERE FAST by Kati Wilde; TAP LEFT by A. Zavarelli; AFTER WE FALL by Melanie Harlow; and—based on the number of times I’ve re-read them just in the past few months alone—I suspect both HEATED RIVALRY by Rachel Reid and FAR CRY by Kate Canterbary will soon be inducted into the DiscoDollyDeb Comfort Re-Read Pantheon.