Backlist Revival Tour: The First Time They Met by Ana Valenzuela

Saturday, August 20, 2016

The First Time They Met

Ana Valenzuela

Blurb

What’s making Mayumi anxious on her best friend’s birthday party?

Is it her long time best friend Marie? Marie is now in college, and Mayumi starts to doubt their friendship as Marie meets new people and gets closer to them.

Or is it this basketball player named Micah? A guy she recently met and is making every girl fall for him---Mayumi included.

Review

Markado Lines

The First Time They Met is a feel-good story perfect for young adults. It talks about the issues of teenagers. A story about friendship (best friends to be precise), young love, dates, family, and stuff... Mayumi, the main character, is a young girl in high school who is experiencing a struggle with her best friend Marie (called Mars by her college friends); and Micah, the love interest, is a college student and also happens to be a basketball star player in their university, and that's hot. Stuck with the idea of being too young or too old, they explore each other's issues in life through a conversation that has led them to something, something more Mayumi has never expected. It's a must-read, especially for high school students. Taking things one step at a time. ^-^

Markado Lines

About the Author

Ana Valenzuela graduated with a degree in AB Literature from UST. She is currently taking up her masters major in Development Communication at UPOU.

She works as a content writer for an online retail company and does freelance work on the side.

Author's Blog

Join Us for the Special Advanced Screening of Precious Pelikula

Friday, August 19, 2016

Precious Pelikula

Project Brief

In April 2016, Precious Pages Corp., the publisher of Precious Hearts Romances, called on amateur filmmakers nationwide to participate in this momentous project. A total of 40 applicants, from students to film enthusiasts sent in their portfolio in the hopes of being able to enter the competition.

Ten applicants were shortlisted. They chose from a selection of PHR titles on which they formulated a film concept as out-of-the-box as they could while still maintaining the romantic personality that Precious Hearts Romances has embodied. From their pitches, five applicants and a “wild card” were granted a much-coveted spot. They each were given P15,000 to produce their respective films by August 12, 2016.

· Marco Mata of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila - Fallin’ For You by Heide Colette

· Ian Abaya of Asian Pacific Film Institute - Her Own Brand of Hero by Sofia

· Paolo Pascual of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila - Angel Bautista’s Dreams Café 4: Dream Master

[Can't find it on Youtube, sorry...]

· Miguel Potestades of Collosus Films - Mga Apo Ni Rustica: The Girl in His Arms by Rose Tan

[Can't find it on Youtube, sorry...]

· Richmond Cadsawan of Far Eastern University - Me, Myself and Peregrine by Jamie Black

Carl Ruiz of De La Salle College of St. Benilde - Kensi’s Unconventional Love.

[Can't find it on Youtube, sorry...]

On September 3, 2016, 2pm, their films will be screened and then uploaded online as the readers are called to vote for their favorite.

The top three films will be awarded at the Manila International Book Fair on September 18, 2016.

Winners will also receive the following cash prizes:
·         1^st place - P100,000.00
·         2^nd place - P50,000.00
·         3^rd place - P25,000.00.

Loved the version on paper? Now it’s time to see it for reel. Watch it with us!

Mechanics for the Passes

Complimentary passes will be distributed in Precious Pages outlets at SM Manila, SM North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia. Readers only need to buy any 3 of the 6 books included in the competition from August 19 to August 31, 2016, and they will automatically receive one (1) complimentary pass for the screening.

THE TAKEDOWN TRILOGY Blog Tour and Giveaway

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Takedown Trilogy Blog Tour
August 15-21

About the Takedown Trilogy

Follow the trail of one extraordinary woman with a special set of skills and a past both mysterious and painful in the Takedown Trilogy: a romantic suspense tale of thrilling twists and a whole lot of steam.

Watch the action as it jets from a lush tropical island in the midst of a tempest, springtime in Amsterdam, a sticky Barcelona sojourn to a final assault in a posh London neighborhood. Meet the cast of characters: a Frenchman bent on payback. The aristocrat with a score to settle. A distant father and demanding boss. The cop who needs her. And the equally mysterious, equally skilled man drawn to her against both their better judgments.

First time in paperback. For the first time in print, all three books of the romantic suspense Takedown series will be published in one paperback! The books are:

BOOK 1: IN TOO DEEP | BOOK 2: PEYTON RILEY | BOOK 3: SCORCHED EARTH

To order your own copy, email thebiancamori@gmail.com. The price is Php350.

Read them anywhere. The Takedown books have been previously exclusively available on Amazon only. Starting August 21, they will be released in various ebook formats and platforms, including Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. Go to Smashwords.com for In Too Deep, Peyton Riley, and Scorched Earth in your preferred ebook format!

Win a signed copy of the paperback. One reader and one blogger participating in the Takedown Trilogy blog tour will get the chance to win a signed copy of the Takedown Trilogy paperback! Open to Philippine residents only; shipping fee shouldered by the author.

International participants picked for the raffle will win the Takedown Bundle in their preferred format.

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Praise for the Takedown Trilogy

"If In Too Deep was summer fling, sexy trysts, and gorgeous island, Peyton Riley is full on bad-assery." - Jay E. Tria, author of Songs of our Break Up and Blossom Among Flowers

"Action, intrigue, gorgeous European settings and a redhead? Count. Me. In." - Carla de Guzman, author of Cities and Marry Me, Charlotte B!

"The third and longest book in Bianca Mori's Takedown series, Scorched Earth also happens to be the best...A must-read for fans of romantic suspense." - Liana Smith Bautista, blogger, Will Read For Feels

About the Author

Bianca Mori is the author of "One Night at the Palace Hotel" and "Tame The Kitten." She is interested in exploring power in romance and enjoys reading about demimondaines, pin-up girls and Jazz Age personalities and hopes to reinterpret these in her stories. She lives with her family and a hyperactive pug. Sign up for Bianca Mori's newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/3BfSb, follow Bianca on Twitter (@thebiancamori), add her on Facebook and on GoodReads.

WHEN SPARKS FLY Blog Tour (EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY)

Monday, August 15, 2016

Spark. It's one thing I always tell my co-workers and friends whenever they ask me why I'm still NBSB. "Walang spark e." or "Basta may spark, I know he's the one," my usual litanya. I'm praying for him, so he'll definitely come soonest. Haha. ^_^ So, When Sparks Fly by Ms. Ines is something to look forward to, because SPARKS. Hahaha. And let me just say this, The book cover! Ugh! Gorgeous!

WHEN SPARKS FLY
by Ines Bautista-Yao

Genre: Sweet Romance

Amazon

SYNOPSIS

Twenty-four-year-old photographer's apprentice Regina has always felt like the plain, dull orange next to the shiny red apple that is her best friend Lana. But then she meets Ben—the first guy to ever break Lana's heart, and the first guy to ever make Regina feel that he only has eyes for her. As Regina finds herself falling hard for Ben, she also finds herself breaking all the rules of best-friendship. Will she give up the love of her life for Lana, or will she finally realize that she deserves her share of the spotlight, too?

EXCERPTS

Regina Salvador wasn’t too sure what she was doing at El Tomador on a work night. She had to be up and on location early the next morning, which was going to be in, oh, maybe three hours—the Philippine sun did have a habit of rising before six a.m. But she had promised her best friend Lana Lucero she’d be there to support her. To support her as she drank three boys under the table in a freaking drinking contest. Which just so happened to take place in a dark bar, hidden along with one of the shadier streets of Makati, reeking of smoke and blasting grunge. What was this? A throwback to their college days?

Through narrowed eyes, she watched Lana chug down another tumbler of beer, the frothy amber liquid dribbling down the sides of her mouth, running down her neck, and soaking through the neckline of her white tank top, probably staining it forever. Why her friend thought she had to do these things, she would never know. When Lana triumphantly held the tumbler up and turned it face down to the whoops and cheers of the thickening crowd, Regina felt someone jostle her arm, causing her to lose her balance.

“Watch it!” she snapped, feeling the beginnings of a tirade gathering in the middle of her chest, just waiting to be released. She was tired and worried about Lana. She didn’t want to acknowledge it, but she thought she knew why her best friend was there. Regina didn’t even want to admit it to herself because that would mean her best friend had it really bad, but at the back of her mind, there was a nagging voice whining for attention, chanting one name: Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben Marquez who didn’t call her back after turning her world upside down and making her believe that she was the one—the one who was going to change him, the one who was going to make him forget about all the other girls in his life, the one he was finally going to settle down with—at their ripe old age of twenty-four. Right.

Regina had no idea who this Ben Marquez was. She had been out of town on another shoot when it apparently had all taken place. She was training to be a photographer under Paulo Javellana, one of the most sought-after lensmen in Manila. When she had gotten back from a beach shoot in Boracay, a gorgeous island of powdery white sand and clear blue water that was gaining popularity, Lana was already in tears. She had fallen in love, she said. She had finally found him. The one. The guy she was going to give up her wild, carefree days and take up an apron and a spatula for. Regina was sure Lana didn’t even know what a spatula was.

Lana had met him at this very bar, El Tomador, where their college friends hung out every Wednesday night after work. He was someone’s friend from high school and had wanted a change of scene. They’d had a drinking contest and he’d won. Lana was smitten. No one had ever beaten her before. That was all it took. She was his. But a few days later (“Days? How can you know you’ve found forever in a few days?” Regina was incensed. Her irresponsible best friend had always been flighty but this was the worst she’d seen her), he was gone. Not a call, not a text message, not an email. She actually began stalking him, driving by his apartment and dropping by places she thought she’d find him in. This was one of those places. And when Regina heard what she was planning to do, she insisted on coming along. No way was Lana going to make an utter fool of herself without backup, without someone to take her home at the very least.

So here she was, ready to snap someone’s head off just because he had bumped into her. “I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?” He had puppy dog eyes. Round, dark brown, and piercing. Regina blinked, imagining herself getting lost in those warm pools, the angry words fizzling out on her tongue.

“Uh, no, I…” she stammered, unable to tear her gaze away. Well, he didn’t seem to be looking anywhere else either.

When he broke into a relieved grin, she found herself smiling too, the tirade all but a distant memory. What was wrong with her? She’d seen cute guys before, kissed a few of them too. But this one’s eyes made her feel as if she weren’t in a noisy bar worrying about her best friend drowning her brain cells in alcohol.

“Did you want another drink?” He gestured toward her empty glass. Which had been filled with water earlier.

Regina twisted her lips in a grimace. “No, I can’t. I have to be at the bus terminal at five.”

“Five this morning?” His eyebrows shot up. “That’s like three hours away.”

“Yeah. I like living dangerously.” She felt her lips twitch.

He laughed. And she felt as if she had hit all three cherries on a slot machine. She usually didn’t talk to strange guys in a bar, especially those with eyes that pulled you in like magnets. But then again.

“I think a cup of coffee is your best bet.” He didn’t even wait for her to agree. He wove his way through the heated bodies cheering someone else on and asked the bartender for the unexpected drink.

Regina watched him walk away. He was in a long-sleeved blue shirt and dark pants. He probably worked in an office or something boring like that. She rebelled against what she called the corporate life. She hated dressing in clothes people wore to an office. She had no idea what they consisted of anyway, unless Paulo had to shoot them for a magazine spread. But otherwise, she lived in jeans, oversized t-shirts, and Doc Martens. With the ease in his movements, this guy looked like he lived in office clothes. She could easily picture him in jeans and a tee though. And that made her smile.

“Reg! What are you smiling at? Why weren’t you watching me?” a slightly slurry Lana yelled in her ear.

Regina’s smile dropped from her face and she grabbed her best friend’s upper arms, shaking her slightly. “Are you okay?”

“God, Reg, what’s wrong with you? Of course, I’m okay!” Lana swung herself free from Regina’s grasp. “I won! And you didn’t even see!”

That’s right. She didn’t. She was too busy being charmed by… where was he anyway? She looked behind her, convinced that Lana would understand once she met him. But he seemed to have disappeared. Was she that exhausted that she had imagined him?

“You!”

“Hi, Lana. Congratulations.”

Regina spun around to see who Lana was shooting daggers at with her wide, flaming eyes. Her heart sank to her stomach when she saw who it was. He was smiling at her best friend, holding coffee in a paper cup.

“Is that for me?” The anger in Lana’s face was receding, as if she was willing to accept a peace offering from him. Any peace offering.

But he didn’t take the hint. Or maybe, wouldn’t.

“No, this is for…” He turned to Regina and smiled again. “I’m sorry, we never introduced ourselves. I’m Ben.”

Holy Crap.

GIVEAWAY

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reading and writing are close to Ines Bautista Yao's heart ever since she was a child. She graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in AB Communication Arts. She has been a teacher at the Assumption College San Lorenzo and the Ateneo de Manila University's English department.

Her debut novel One Crazy Summer was first penned in 2007 when she was pregnant with her first daughter Addie. Being a mother has taken much of Ines' time so she was only able to write 13 pages of her novel. She completed her story in April 2011, while three-year-old Addie was sleeping and inspiration struck her again. Two months later her story was complete. After eight months, her dream of publishing her own book came true. The book was only launched last January 26, 2012, but Ines is already writing her second novel.

Most readers can remember Ines as the former editor-in-chief of K-Zone Magazine and Candy Magazine . At present, Ines is working as an editor of Summit Books. She is also married to photographer Marc Yao, whom she says she consults whenever she's stuck in the middle of a story she's writing.