Readers around the country are invited to join the ‘Smitten Book Club’
Special
promotion celebrates life-long friendship and love of reading
Fans of the Smitten series, written by Colleen
Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt and Denise Hunter, will have two unique
opportunities to connect with the authors and other readers and celebrate the
release of Smitten Book Club (Thomas
Nelson/ January 14, 2014/ISBN: 9781401687168/$15.99),
the third in the popular series. Each Smitten book is a collection of four
novellas, with a contribution written by each of the four authors.
The first event will be an hour-long virtual party held
on February 20 at 8:00 PM EST and hosted on the Thomas Nelson & Zondervan Fiction Facebook Page. The authors will be chatting online with readers,
answering questions and giving away prizes, including three Smitten Book Club prize packs that will
include 10 copies of the book for the winner’s own book club, cupcake kits,
coffee packs and a host packet. At the end of the evening, the winner of the
Kindle Fire will be announced. The party and giveaway will be promoted in
conjunction with a blog tour being held February 3-20.
The party to launch Smitten Book Club will be bittersweet
without co-author Diann Hunt present. Hunt passed away last November after a
long battle with cancer. “I think it’s perfect that our last book together is
about the very thing that connected us all to begin with: books,” says Hunter.
“In many ways the series has been a celebration of our friendship, enduring
love and God’s unexpected blessings. I hope our readers will feel a part of
that as they join us on our journey to a very special place called Smitten.”
Between now and February 26 fans can also sign-up at the Litfuse website
for
their reading groups to participate in a Smitten
Book Club brunch to be held on March 22. From the entries received, 100
hosts will be selected to receive a book-club packet that will include:
- A set of the entire series along with an additional title from each of the authors (for the host to keep for herself or share as door prizes)
- Series trivia and book discussion questions
- Information on how to purchase for the entire club at a discount
- A link to play a pre-recorded message from the authors that will be broadcast during the brunch
Three hosts will also
be selected to receive a live Skype call from one of the authors. “How many of
us ever get to create something so fun as Smitten
Book Club with her best friends in the world? I hope this book inspires
women to pursue those special friendships that will change their lives forever
as it did mine. And how fun it will be to include our readers into our
friendship via the Skype chat!” Coble adds.
“We love book clubs — there’s
nothing quite like hearing from a group of friends who’ve spent time discussing
one of our author’s titles and want to share their thoughts with our team,”
states Katie Bond, director of fiction marketing and publicity for Harper
Collins Christian Publishing. “Smitten Book Club is a celebration
of book clubs and their love and respect for great stories. The Smitten
ladies put all their hearts into this book, and we’re thrilled to see readers’
responses.”
Billerbeck is excited as well, “just like the characters in Smitten Book Club, we love that books
bring together good friends. We're
delighted to share in this fellowship and honored to share our friendship with
others.”
About Smitten Book Club
The
century-old Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and Courtship is no ordinary
book club choice. But for the little book club in Smitten, Vermont, it might be
their best pick yet!
The
thick, leathery tome Heather pulled out of the dusty cardboard box was
definitely coming home with her. Not only was The Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and
Courtship an appealing curiosity by virtue of its title; it was
also written by Smitten, Vermont native Pearl Chambers, a local gentlewoman
from three generations back.
Little
did Heather know the repercussions this little curiosity would have on her and
her friends’ romantic exploits.
When
Heather and her fellow book club members begin passing the book around, their
respective interpretations are unleashed on their respective love lives . . .
for better or for worse. Heather sees it as a mystery. Abby discovers delicious
dashes of Jane Austen. Lia sees in it the idealism of a bygone day. And Molly
just wishes they'd made the book into a movie! As romantic love finds its way
to each woman, the Guide proves itself both surprisingly prescient and
hilariously irrelevant.
What’s
more, a handwritten inscription indicates that the arcane book might hold the
only extant clues leading to buried gold — exactly what one of the members
needs to keep her house. How could they not go treasure hunting?
Colleen
Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable
animal of some kind — usually a dog — always populates her novels. She can be
bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.
Kristin Billerbeck is a proud Californian, wife, mother of four,
and connoisseur of the irrelevant. She writes Christian Chick Lit, where she
finds need for most of the useless facts lulling about in her head.
Denise
Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element.
Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise
insists a good imagination helps too.
Diann
Hunt was a writer of romantic comedy and humorous women’s fiction. She lost her
courageous battle with cancer last fall. A Hallmark Channel adaptation of her
novel For Better or For Worse will
air fall 2014.
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