Happy Birthday Jennifer L. Armentrout + Surprise for all JLA fans!

Hello all and happy Wednesday. It's been a big day for us here at OneGuysGuideToGoodReads today! I started us up an official Facebook page (check it out by clicking here) and the initial reaction has been amazing, but that's not why I am here today.

Today, instead of posting about book reviews, cover reveals, or giveaways, I am going to take a few minutes of your time celebrate one special lady. Today, June 11, is one of my all time favorite authors birthday! What better way to celebrate the birthday of such an amazing woman and author than with a really cool surprise for all her fans? One of my dear friends who admins one of the best book blogs I have ever seen, IHeart Big Books, has created quite the special gift for JLA and I would like to share it with all of you!

Check it out JLA fans, if you have ever been so overwhelmed by all things JLA (Jenn, JLArmentrout, or J Lynn), fear not! We have here for you a MAP of JLA's works! So cool and obviously the hard work of a truly devout fan! Check it out guys:

http://www.iheartbigbooks.com/2014/06/happy-birthday-to-jennifer-l-armentrout.html

Full credit given to the amazing Christine at IHeart Big Books! Here's the link to HER full Happy Birthday JLA post. Christine is amazing, she and I are ALWAYS talking about JLA, check out her blog post here: http://www.iheartbigbooks.com/2014/06/happy-birthday-to-jennifer-l-armentrout.html!

For those of you who have been living under a rock and haven't seen my multiple posts bragging about how JLA is the greatest thing ever, here is some information about JLA!

Jennifer L. Armentrout

# 1 New York Times and International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Visit Jennifer's Website Here 

View's Jennifer L. Armentrout's AMAZON page by clicking here!

View's Jennifer L. Armentrout's Barnes & Noble page by clicking here!

Check out this picture from when my best friend, Megan, and I met JLA at AViD back in April such an awesome experience!

I seriously cannot write enough about how amazing JLA is and how honored I am to have gotten to meet and connect with her. She is awesome!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT!!
Hope you have the greatest one yet!

Be sure to check out my post from last week where I reviewed JLA's entire Covenant series and am even doing a Giveaway! I'm including the giveaway here for any JLA fans who may have missed it! Here we go!

Covenant Series Review Click Here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Alright readers, I thank you for stopping by and joining me in wishing the absolutely amazing Jennifer L. Armentrout a very Happy Birthday. Please check out any of her series, you most definitely will not regret it! Fill out the rafflecopter above, comment below, and tell your friends! Come on back after you've read one and let me know what you thought about the it. Thanks for stopping by readers and until next time, Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Authors Visiting in Des Moines Review!

As my readers will remember, this past weekend I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel up to Des Moines, Iowa to attend the New Adult panel of this years Authors Visiting in Des Moines event. I know this isn't a book review or anything so I will keep it short and sweet. I just wanted to share about my experiences and show you guys a few pics!

Last week I posted a huge exciting preview to the AViD event, you can see that post By Clicking Here! Three authors were to grace the stage in Des Moines: Jennifer Armentrout, Jay Crownover, and Cora Carmack. Unfortunately due to horrible weather conditions, Jay was unable to attend, but Cora and Jennifer made sure the crowd was still satisfied. As I stated before, the weather was HORRIBLE this past weekend and sadly several people tragically lost their lives in the storms that passed through the Midwest and the South. We traveled 6 hours north to Des Moines from Springfield, Missouri for the event and were very fortunate to not get trapped in any of the horrible weather (although driving home was a mess). Anyways... Here are some pictures of our experience at AViD!

Jennifer L. Armentrout (Left) and Cora Carmack (center) are interviewed by the moderators during the New Adult panel at AViD. They answered a variety of questions pertaining to their histories, writing experiences, and what we can expect in the near future from both of them!

Megan (one of my best friends), Jennifer Armentrout, and I posing for a picture after the panel. Meeting Jennifer was an amazing experience, she is such an amazing author and woman. She definitely gained two HUGE fans here! I am currently reading Jennifer's Lux series and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone! Per Cora's recommendation, I will be reading her Covenant series very soon!

And of course, the moment we have all been waiting for. When I FINALLY got to meet the AMAZING Cora Carmack. This was our very first time meeting. As a huge fan of Cora's and a member of her Street Team, it was a great honor to meet Cora in person after having worked closely with her over the past couple of months. She has become a great friend and this experience will always stay special to me!

After a busy day of rubbing shoulders with the literary elite, Megan and I were just going to turn around and head straight back to Springfield. After talking it over, we realized we would probably never be in Des Moines again, so we decided to take a little time to do some sight seeing while we were downtown. Megan and I are both history majors who love anything old. Well, it just so happened we were downtown and only minutes away from what was quite possibly THE most beautiful building I have ever seen: the Iowa State Capital. We spent over an hour walking the grounds and snapping pictures. It was definitely an amazing experience that neither of us will soon forget.









Overall, this trip was probably one of the best experiences I have ever had. As you guys well know, I am a HUGE fan of anything that has to do with literature. I would have never thought in a million years that I would be traveling to meet New York Times Bestselling Authors Cora Carmack and Jennifer Armentrout to hang out in Iowa for the day. We not only got to hang out with them at AViD. We also got to spend a little time with them before and after the event. For a small town guy from nowhere, this was a really big deal. This blogging world has really given me some amazing experiences thus far. I am very excited to see where it takes me next. A huge shout out and thanks to Cora and Jennifer for making Megan and I feel so welcome in your company, we are both very blessed and had a great time! You guys made us feel like old friends! I cannot wait to see you both again! 

Also, a special message to Jay (if you are reading this), we were so bummed that you didn't get to make it. I can only imagine how frustrating it was to be stuck with the weather acting the way it did. I cannot wait to meet you in Nashville next month, don't worry, I'm a hugger as well! See you soon!

Oh yeah, and one more shout out to Megan. Thanks so much for coming with me and dealing with the major freakout I had since I was so excited! You're awesome, I am so glad we got to experience this together, I don't know what I'd do without you. Also, sorry we had to eat McDonald's on the way home. We were in Des Moines, we should have gone somewhere fun... Oh well :D


One more thing I almost forgot! I forgot to mention that I got to met two of the amazing girls behind my "sister blog" GrownUpFangirl at AViD as well! Here I am pictured with Carmen and Christina (Amber, be jealous)! Amber from GrownUpFangirl is one of my amazing blog mentors who has taken me under her wing and showed me the ropes, I owe a lot to her and these ladies for being so awesome! It was a great honor to meet them as well! Check out their amazing book blog at http://www.grownupfangirl.com/!

Alright guys, be sure to be on the lookout for more awesome posts soon here at OneGuysGuidetoGoodReads! Comment below and let me know if you were at AViD as well! I'd love to hear from you! Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Authors Visiting in Des Moines Event This Weekend!

Hello readers! Ethan here, I am currently reading three books at one time right now to have some awesome reviews for you soon, but I wanted to stop by with a little promo for an FREE event that is going on this weekend where you all have a chance to meet 3 amazing authors. Where can I find out more information about this exciting event, you ask? Well, read on my friends!

Authors Visiting in Des Moines, better known as AViD is a program held through the Des Moines Public Library (that's in Iowa for you geographically challenged folks). The programs bring many amazing authors from around the country to Des Moines to speak on their latest works, as well as meet and greet their fans! Click Here To Learn About AViD

This coming Sunday, April 27, 2014. AViD will be hosting a New Adult Panel. As any of my readers will tell you, I am a big fan of the new adult genre. Plus, it just so happens that one of my all time favorite people, the amazing Cora Carmack will be one of the featured authors! The other two featured authors will be the renowned author, Mrs. Jennifer L. Armentrout and the always unexpected and awesome Jay Crownover! Here's a little bit of information about each of the three authors!



Cora Carmack

 
Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. She is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Losing It series. 

Visit Cora's Website Here

Jennifer L. Armentrout

# 1 New York Times and International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Visit Jennifer's Website Here 

 

Jay Crownover

 

Being native Coloradan is a source of pride if you ask Jay.  She loves all the things her home has to offer, and that is why she set her books in this familiar place. Writing about what she knows is why her stories feature plenty of rock and roll and body modification.

Jay has been a bartender since she was in college, spending over forty hours a week watching interactions between men and women.  This 9 to 5 job offered great insights into relationships - how they start and how they evolve in a social setting.

This cutting-edge author likes to write New Adult novels because she remembers being in her early twenties and thinking she had it all figured out, only to be proven wrong time and time again.  When she looks back, she see's that those years defined who she is today, and, good or bad, those decisions ultimately set her current path.

 Visit Jay's Website Here

Click Here To Learn More About This AViD Event 

Where: Des Moines Public Library (Central Location)

(Click here for library information, location, contact info, parking, etc)

Date: April 20, 2014 (this coming Sunday)

Time: 2:00-4:00PM

Like I said guys, this is a great experience to hear three amazing authors discuss the New Adult genre and what we can expect to see from the genre in the future. This is the first authors event I will be attending since starting this blog, so I am really excited to meet these authors and hopefully let you guys live vicariously through me! I will be coming up from Springfield, MO that morning and will leaving that evening to return to Springfield, but I understand that many of my colleagues in the blogging world will be there and I would love to meet each and every one of you! Please don't be a stranger! 

Another really special part of this event is that it is the first time I will be meeting Miss Cora Carmack in the flesh! As you guys have heard and seen from previous posts, I am a member of Cora's street team promoting her upcoming Rusk University Series starting with All Lined Up releasing on May 13 (check out links in the sidebar). Be prepared for a meeting of epic proportions. 

I will be bringing one of my best friends and One Guys Guide to Good Reads "support staff" member, Megan with me to this event as well. She is also very excited about what the day will hold for us. Like I said before, I hope to see lots of people there and feel free to contact me for more information about the event! Hope to see you all Sunday afternoon!

Until then, Happy Reading!

-Ethan