Monday, June 12, 2017

Among the Branded by Linda Smolkin (VBB, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT






by Linda Smolkin

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GENRE: Contemporary Fiction

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BLURB:

While attending Valor of the ’40s, art director Stephanie Britain stumbles upon a flea market selling letters from the war. She buys a handful, hoping they’ll inspire the redesign for a client’s website at her branding and design firm. She’s at first drawn by the lost art of penmanship, but soon discovers a hidden treasure nestled inside declarations of love from homesick soldiers. Stephanie enlists a coworker to translate one and realizes it’s not a love letter after all. When a shocking discovery about a client causes Stephanie to question her principles and dedication to her firm’s business, she’s forced to make a difficult decision—one that could give her peace of mind, yet ruin her career in the process.

Contemporary fiction with elements of suspense, Among the Branded explores family life, an unexpected friendship, and moral conflicts that make us wonder what’s more important: our livelihood, or our beliefs.


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EXCERPT


My phone pinged, and I grabbed it from my pocket. These days, I had to put all my reminders in the phone, or I’d forget to take care of them. Everything was in there. Change the sheets. Take Jack to taekwondo. Pay the bills. Water the plants. This time it was a more interesting reminder about our getaway.



We decided to take a short trip after dropping Jeremy off at college, and Jack would choose the place, within reason. For the past few months, we’d been so busy finalizing college plans, shopping for supplies, stockpiling food for Jeremy, and now it was Jack’s turn for attention. I cleared the reminder from my phone and asked if he’d made a decision.



“Let’s go to the Bahamas, to that resort in the commercials.”



“Sweetie, it’s hurricane season, and I can’t take that much time off work. What if we hit a few theme parks?”



“That’s boring.”



Sveta walked in, overhearing our conversation. “Since you like costumes so much, why don’t you go to Valor of the ’40s?”



“What do costumes have to do with it?” I asked.



“You were so good as Ripsie. Maybe you’ll want to reenact a war.”



I rolled my eyes. “You’re joking, right?”



“Only about dressing up. Jack would love it. They have World War II planes, tanks, all that cool stuff. And it’s near Jeremy’s college.”



“Mom, can we go?”



“Sounds interesting. But maybe something more relaxing?”



“You just said theme parks. How’s that relaxing?”



Jack had a point. He always had a point. He was twelve after all, and he was onto me like my expression lines.





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AUTHOR Bio and Links:


Linda Smolkin always wanted to be a writer—ever since she saw her first TV commercial and wondered how to pen those clever ads. She got her degree in journalism and became a copywriter. Linda landed a job at an advertising agency, where she worked for several years before joining the nonprofit world. She’s the author of the novels Among the Branded (May 2017) and The Arrival of Elsa (March 2018). When not in front of the computer, she’s behind the drums (slightly) annoying her husband, son, and their 70-pound dog.  She grew up on the East Coast and currently calls Virginia home.




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GIVEAWAY


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The tour dates can be found here



21 comments:

  1. Congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)

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  2. Good morning, and thanks for stopping by on the final week of my book's blog tour. Hope everyone is having a good start on this beautiful Monday! If you have any questions for me, just leave them in the comment area and I'll stop by later today. Thanks! ~Linda

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  3. This book sounds like something I'd really enjoy reading, thank you for sharing!

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  4. This is a new to me author and I liked the excerpt.

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    1. Thanks, Mary! It's my debut novel, so I'm glad you liked the excerpt. Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. Great excerpt, I enjoyed reading it :)

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  6. WHat was your favorite book as a kid growing up? Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win. Bernie W BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com

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    1. Hi, Joseph! As always, great question! My favorite book growing up was Are You There Got, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume. I reread a few years ago and loved it just as much. Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. Among the Branded sounds interesting. I really want to know what Stephanie found among those letters! Adding to my list of must reads! Thanks!

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    1. Hey Margaret, thanks for your comment and for adding my debut novel to your list! Stephanie finds something that really changes the course of her life. If you wind up reading, let me know what you think!

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  8. This sounds like a good read! I've added it to my TBR on GR. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  9. Old letters certainly are interesting.

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    1. Hi, Mary! Thanks for stopping by on my book tour! I've always found old letters and photos really interesting!

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. I love the idea of how she found something hidden in the letters....though sounds like more than she bargained for! Thanks so much for the chance to win!

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    1. Kim, thanks! She finds it when she attends a living-history event when a lady is selling love letters from the war at the same event. It's set in the present day, but the book has some historical elements to it. If you wind up reading, let me know what you think!

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  12. Looks like a read that I would love to get my eyes on!

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  13. Thanks for hosting and congrats on your book <3 it sounds so interesting!

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