Friday, November 15, 2013

Beautiful Beautiful by Heidi Garrett Blog Tour & Giveaway

   


 Hi lovely followers! Welcome to my stop for Beautiful Beautiful by Heidi Garrett blog tour hosted by Ms. Shane of Itching for Books. Today, I'm going to share my review  and some of my favorite excerpts.

      Have you already added this book on your TBR? If so, then I got exciting news for you! Tomorrow ( November 15th!)  will be the release day! Definitely a Yay! for all of you! Be sure to grab your own copy by then!

Book Details:
Release Date: November 15th
Series: Once Upon a Time Today Colloection
Genre:  Adult Contemporary Fairy Tale Novella
Publisher: Half-Faerie Publishing
Click Here to add to Goodreads Shelf
Buy Links : Amazon US   Amazon UK

Synopsis:
     Movie Director  Kerrin Mayham has an eye for beauty. Now her years of struggling on the indie film circuit are about to pay off. She's the frontrunner to win Pinnacle  Director of the Year.  Winning will mean generous financial backing for her next project  and the most bankable actors in the industry are already signaling interest in the lead role. How will she decide which Adonis is right for the part Demion Glass.

     In this contemporary retelling of eponymous Hans Christian Anderson fairytale, Kerrin's journey leads her to discover a deeper meaning of beauty.

Meet Ms. Heidi Garrett:

     She is the author of the contemporary fairytale novella collection, Once Upon A Time Today. In these stand-alone retellings of popular and obscure fairy tales, adult characters navigate the deep woods of modern landscape to find their Happily Ever Afters. The Original Fairy Tale Short dtories : The Girl Who Watched For Elves, The Girl who dreamed of Red Shoes and The Girl who Couldn't Sing are prelude to that collection.

    She is also the author of The Queen of the realm of Faerie series, a fairytale /high fantasy mashup about a young half-faerie, half mortal woman who must save both  both the Enchanted and Mortal Worlds.

     Heidi was born in Texas, an in attempt to reside in as many cities as she could, made it to Houston, Lubbock, Austin and El Paso. She now lives in Eastern Washington state with her husband, their two cats, her laptop and Her Kindle.

     Being in the South, she often contemplates the magic of snow and hopes to remind readers that: Once upon a time , you lived in an enchanted world..

Follow her around through these:
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       And now, let me share  my thoughts about this book.  I'll try very hard  to give you a spoiler- free review! 

       This is one of my most anticipated books this year. Coming from one of my favorite ( and well loved) author, Ms. Heidi Garrett! When Ms. Shane offered the cover reveal, I immediately volunteered to do it. ( I think I was the first one to sign up?!  Hehe.)  The reveal day came...and as I took my first glance at the cover.. these two words escaped my lips..."Beautiful...Beautiful!" ..and the next words were..asghtydk ..asgefkk!? Yes! Incoherent words, out of excitement ?! Haha. Oh. I can translate that words for you! It means... I want ...need ...want..need to read that book NOW!  Lol.

      Of course, my demands were heard! Maybe , I caused too much scene ( more like a trouble?! ---Tee-hee! ) and I even got this book before the release date! ( lucky, lucky me! ) The truth was, I was addicted to the taste of magic I had from Ms. Garrett's previous book, True Love's First Kiss ...and now a new one? And in a contemporary setting? This got to be good!

      I was never disappointed when I read this book. There was definitely magic. Not that kind of magic that we saw in our faerytales. There are no spells...no pixie dust...no dragons..but  a different kind of magic. This kind of magic touched my heart so deep that it reached my soul. 

      Kerrin Mayham work so hard  to be the Golden  Pinnacle 's director of the year.  She knows that  if she wins this award ,she will be moving up. Which also means bigger projects  and making  full use of the talent that she knows she had.  

      Once she finally had that award in her hands, fame started to follow. The biggest project was being handed to her in a silver platter and that includes the casting of this high budgeted film. The search for the lead role , Demion Glass is on.

      Hollywood has the abundance of potential leading men to choose from. But Kerrin's full attention was locked when he saw  Anthony Zorr. There is something in him  that says he's Demion Glass.. 

“Anthony grinned.
Dawn shimmered across a rising tide.
Kerrin lost track of the conversation. All she saw were those cheekbones, those masculine bow lips, and that stance—not bloated and beefy, just taut. And tan. He glistened. Standing with his hands jammed into his pockets, he gave off an air of bashfulness.
Where had he come from?”

“Kerrin wanted him—she didn’t know for which film, and she didn’t care. She just wanted him in front of her camera, filling frame after frame, with that natural boyish exuberance, at the edge of becoming a man.”


      That smile ... from that beautiful boy .... Kerrin was more than intrigue as I am. What's behind that beautiful exterior? Oh , if you ask me? I'd say, TROUBLE is clearly written over Anthony Zorr. But can Kerrin see that?

      As I read this book , I found my self entering into the glittering world of showbiz where BEAUTY is everything...

    Yes, I imagine all the glitz and glamour...the beautiful actors and actresses ...the eager paparazzi , the flashes of cameras ...all of it. They wanted recognition... they clamor fame. But have been thinking what's behind all of these? Take a closer look... you might even be surprised.



     I love how Ms. Heidi Garrett wrote this  book.   Kerrin's life story was told as  a fairytale . And Kerrin was quite a good storyteller herself... sharing this to her daughter , Mirbella each night. I find this scenario very touching as I remember my Mom reading me bedtime stories each night as a child. Every word feels like magic to me and I never grew tired of hearing it again and again.  So, when Kerrin told her story, I am Mirbella.


      The way Ms. Garrett interweave both reality and faerytale was a wonderful surprise.  I never read anything like this... and it was really refreshing.  So, Kerrin story begun...

“Once upon a time there was a girl who believed in beauty,” Kerrin began, “and there wasn’t an aspect of beauty that she couldn’t appreciate.”

“Why did the girl like beauty so much?”

“Because she realized it was everywhere, and that no matter how many things she lost, or how many things were taken away from her, or even how many things she’d never had in the first place, beauty was always available.”

“So finding beauty helped the girl?” Mibi asked.
“Yes, it did. Whenever she was lonely or disappointed, she would go in search of the most beautiful thing she could find that day. When she found it, her troubles slipped away.”

“How did she know when she found it?”
“Her heart would feel like it could fly.”

     See? That was the kind of story telling I always loved! Ms. Garrett has captured the whole essence of story telling. That was definitely one of my favorite excerpts from the book. 

      As I read... I walked through Kerrin's life. In the quest of finding Beauty ...her Demion Glass, she has to face  and battle her personal demons along the way.  Could the beautiful, Anthony Zorr  be  her Demion Glass?  Like the little girl  trapped inside the oak tree with the beautiful boy, she discovers Beauty's true face. .. and make a decision that would change her life forever.

    I  loved everything about this book.  I wish I could put into words the wonderful experience I've gone through with each page I flipped. It was definitely magical.  Like, I was inside the two layers of stories : First,  inside Kerrin's life story  and  secondly , inside her faerytale . These two stories were both   weaved into a truth that we all probably search throughout our lives. And at the end of it all, leaves us with this question: What's your beautiful, Beautiful?

    What's  your Beautiful ,beautiful ?  Read  this book ...you might just find your answer...just like how I found mine...



              I'm giving this book:
       5 Beautiful, Beautiful Stars!



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4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. @Shane: I had a lot of fun doing your tour! Thank you! :)

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  2. Billie, wow. What a beautiful beautiful review. (No words.) Thank you for being so generous with my stories. I'm so glad you loved the storytelling. That is a gift passed down to me from my mother and her family. <3 Heidi

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  3. Your'e always welcome, Heidi! I love love your book! It was pure joy reading it! :)

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