5 February 2014

Blog Chase and Giveaway: Falling for the Farmer by Narelle Atkins

Today we have something new—a blog chase, where we join Australian author Narelle Atkins in celebrating the release of her debut novel, Falling for the Farmer. During the chase, we will visit six blogs in Australia and New Zealand, ending at Narelle's blog where you'll find the entry form and giveaway information. 

Each stop on the blog chase has an excerpt from Falling for the Farmer, and a question. Follow the chase in order to read the opening pages, starting at Australasian Christian Writers (follow the link to visit now—you can then come back and read the second excerpt below).

Narelle is giving away three print copies of Falling for the Farmer to three lucky readers who provide the correct answers to all five blog chase questions. We hope you enjoy the ride!

Back cover blurb:


KATE LAWSON IS A RUNAWAY BRIDE 

And she’s incredibly grateful when Jack Bradley offers her a job on his apple farm. Working side by side in the orchards with her best friend’s brother seems like the perfect way to get over her disastrous engagement. Until Kate finds herself falling hard for the handsome farmer. 

Jack Bradley knows city-girl Kate isn’t here to stay. Yet suddenly he’s imagining a life with her in the country. When Kate considers going back to the city, can Jack find a way to show her that her real home is here on the farm, by his side? 


CHAPTER ONE excerpt:

Gulping air into her burning lungs, she wrenched open the cumbersome passenger door of the Cadillac and threw her bridal bouquet on the floor. She slid onto the soft cream leather seat, the full skirt of her gown settling over her legs.

Jack Bradley spun around in the driver’s seat, his tawny-brown eyes widening after she pulled the door closed and fastened her seat belt.

Her pulse raced and she sucked in a shallow breath. “Let’s go.”

“Where? Why?” He stashed his phone in the dashboard console. “Aren’t you supposed to be inside the church getting married?”

Kate glanced out the rear window. Her mother hobbled down the church steps in three-inch heels, her crimson face glowing in the late-morning Sydney sunshine. “Please, Jack, I’ll tell you later.”

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If Kate ran away to Tauranga, New Zealand, where could she go? 
Tauranga is the main city in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, named by Captain Cook for the plentiful supply of food and water. If Kate ran away to Tauranga, she would get a temporary job in the kiwifruit industry and would spend her days off swimming, surfing or getting a suntan at The Mount. The Mount is the local name for the beach suburb of Mt Maunganui, which includes shopping, a famous surf beach and a 242m peak rising straight out of the sea.

If Kate wanted to travel a little further afield, she could visit Hobbiton, the set from the Lord of the Rings movies, now a permanent tourist attraction.
 
My question for the blog chase: What is Mt Maunganui beach called by locals?
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You're at Stop 2 on the Falling for the Farmer blog chase. 

Please fill in your answers to the questions located on each of the participating blogs when you reach Narelle’s blog at Stop 6. 

If you have five correct answers, you'll receive an entry in the drawing to win one of three print copies of Falling for the Farmer. 

You can gain a bonus entry in the drawing if you have five correct answers and leave a comment below on this post.  

Current and new subscribers to Narelle’s email list will automatically receive an extra entry if they correctly answer all five questions. The giveaway entry form and terms and conditions are included with Narelle’s post at Stop 6. The winners will be announced in a comment on this post on Wednesday, February 12.

Your next stop on the blog chase is Ink Dots.

The full blog chase itinerary is listed below.

Stop 1: Australasian Christian Writers (ACW) http://australasianchristianwriters.blogspot.com.au/ 

Stop 2: Iola’s Christian Reads http://christianreads.blogspot.com/ 

Stop 3: Ink Dots http://dorothyadamek.blogspot.com.au/ 

Stop 4: Come Meet Ausjenny http://ausjenny.blogspot.com/

Stop 5: Soul Inspirationz http://soulinspirationz.blogspot.com/ 

Stop 6: Narelle Atkins http://narelleatkins.wordpress.com/

A fun question: Do you have a favourite beach to visit, or one you dream of visiting?

Text Copyright © 2014 by Narelle Atkins 
Cover Art Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited 
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. 
Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. 
All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.
Copyright© 2014 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited 
Cover copy used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited

42 comments:

  1. I'm loving this Blog chase...see you all at the next spot.
    Favourite beach? The one named in this post of course!

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    1. Hi Cat, I so want to visit this beach :) And visit you and Iola, too!

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  2. Hmm--as a Queenslander from way back and despite living in New South Wales for many years now, I'd have to say my favourite beach is still Burleigh Heads. But I have visited the one mentioned in this post too and it IS lovely!

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    1. I haven't been to Burleigh Heads. Maybe one day ...

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    2. Hi Jo-Anne, it's hard to pick a favourite beach in Australia because they're all beautiful :) I do like the Gold Coast beaches, and the mild Queensland winter climate.

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  3. I still reckon we Aussies are pretty spoilt when it comes to beaches.Some of the ones on the North and South Coasts of NSW are very special. But I gotta say, having visited family friends who live on the beach in Auckland, they're pretty good too.

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    1. Auckland has a huge variety of beaches - harbour, sea, and the rugged West Coast surf beaches.

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    2. Hi Ian, I'd love to explore the beaches in New Zealand, too :)

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  4. I'm an avid traveler and going to Australia and New Zealand are in the top section of my go-to list. When I was in the Philippines teaching for a semester I thought I was going to be able to go to Australia, but it fell through, because I had a one time entry VISA to the Philippines. Bummer. But I'm sure I'll get there one day. : )

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    1. We'd love to see you down here - thanks for stopping by today.

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    2. Hi Janice, I hope you have the opportunity to visit Australia and New Zealand :) The hard part is choosing your itinerary because there are so many great places to visit.

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  5. My favourite beaches are the ones I'm most familiar with, around the South Australian coast at Port Elliot and Victor Harbor. I have to say Victoria has a stunning coastal drive along the Great South Ocean Road, with lots of spectacular scenery, including the 12 Apostles. For a South Aussie to admit that about Vic is praise indeed.
    I'm enjoying this blog tour.

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    1. I've never heard of the 12 Apostles - well, I've heard of the biblical ones. Just not the Australian ones. I'll have to put that on my list of places to visit!

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    2. They are a whole lot of big old sandstone slabs sticking out in the ocean. It looks a lot more beautiful than I've made it sound. Although there clearly used to be 12, some of them have suffered a bit of wear and tear over the years. Still a gorgeous spot.

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    3. Hi Paula, I've only seen a small section of the Great Ocean Road (Melbourne end) and I'd love to do another trip there. I've heard the South Australian beaches are beautiful, and I'd love to visit Kangaroo Island :)

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  7. Hi Sonja - is that your favourite beach as well? Are you another local?

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    1. Hi Sonja, I'm glad you're enjoying the blog chase :)

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  9. The Twelve Apostles are spectacular though there are not quite 12 of them, especially after one of the stacks collapsed a few years ago. I have very fond memories of Rose Bay, near Bowen where we spent a couple of months as children swimming in the sea, clambering over the rocks - but then Green Island is rather spectacular too with pure white sand, crystal waters, coral and tropical fish within easy snorkeling distance and turtles frolicking in the surf. Perfect.

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    1. lol! The ten-and-a-half Apostles doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?

      We went snorkelling in Hawaii last year, which also had coral and lovely tropical fish. It was beautiful.

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    2. Hi Jeanette, Rose Bay and Green Island sound gorgeous :) And Iola, snorkelling with tropical fish would be lots of fun, too!

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  10. What a fun way to do a giveaway. I haven't visited many beaches, but I have gone to South Padre Island beach in Texas.

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    1. I guess that's one down side of living in the US - there's this huge bit in the middle with no beaches.

      My sister spent a year living in Oregon as a high school exchange student. One of her friends was commenting about how it was a great place to live, because they were only a two-hour drive from the beach. My sister explained that almost everybody in New Zealand lives closer to a beach than that.

      We are about a ten-minute drive from the beach (of course, it's summer now, which means it takes another fifteen minutes to actually find a car park ...)

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    2. Hi Susan, I'm going to San Antonio in July but unfortunately I won't have time to visit the coast in Texas. I've been to Cannon Beach, Seaside and a couple of other beaches on the Oregon Coast - a beautiful part of the world :) Iola, the parking is the downside of not being in walking distance to the beach. When I lived in Sydney (Northern Beaches) I used to catch a bus to the beach because it was easier and I didn't have clean sand out of my car, lol.

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  11. Hi Iola, kiwi fruit farms would be my husband's ultimate destination. We hired a car and travelled to Rotorua when we visited NZ. A kiwi farm was on our wish list but a low fuel tank meant we had to go another way and we missed out. Maybe next time. Such a beautiful country... even 'smelly' Rotorua didn't bother us too much. :)

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    1. I'm sure Catherine and I can get you to a kiwifruit orchard the next time you visit!

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    2. Hi Dotti, A kiwifruit orchard sounds like a fun (and yummy) place to visit :)

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  12. Hi Iola, It looks like Blogger has eaten my comment from this morning. I'd love to visit the Bay of Plenty and I know Kate would love to hang out at the beach :) Thanks for participating in my blog chase.

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  13. The Bay of Plenty sounds interesting. We have a regional town an hour away called Mount Gambier and we call that The Mount.

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    1. Hi Jenny, When I read about The Mount in Iola's post, I thought of how you've talked about The Mount in your part of the world :)

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    2. I suppose most places will have somewhere called The Mount!

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  14. The Mount sounds like a quick and easy name to remember. I have only been to a couple beaches

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    1. Hi Connie, The Mount is an easy name to remember. I don't get to the beach as often as I'd like because I live inland. I traded ocean views for mountain views :)

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    2. I'm sure there's some wonderful scenery where you live. Thanks for stopping by!

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  15. Good Day Ladies... You know here in the US, I never saw the Ocean even and the Beach here till in NH. I live now inland in Central NY, little town called Red Creek. There is a Beach north of me on Lake Ontario and we go there often in summertime to relax.
    Blessings
    Linda Finn
    Faithful Acres Books
    faithfulacresbooks@gmail.com

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    1. That is the thing that amazes me about the USA - it's just so big. I can't imagine living that far from the sea.

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    2. HI Linda, I saw Lake Michigan for the first time last year and it was amazing, and kind of like looking out on the ocean. We don't have enormous inland lakes In Australia unless there has been cyclones and a lot of rain up north that temporarily floods the outback, creating an inland sea.

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  16. My beach would be in Grenada, West Indies, where I went on a missions trip in 1993. The water was so clear you could see your feet and blue bouncing from the skies. Grand Anse Beach ~* no one was there but our group and two little boys searching for small shells for us. Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House

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    1. Sounds beautiful - nothing beats clear blue water, especially when it's warm!

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    2. Hi Kathleen, Grand Anse Beach sounds gorgeous, especially since it wasn't packed with people. And pristine water, what more could you want? :)

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  17. Hi everyone!

    Narelle and I would like to announce the winners of the blog chase:

    Linsey Painter (Australia)
    Catherine Hudson (New Zealand)
    Linda Finn (USA)

    Your books are on the way!

    Congratulations to the three winners, and thanks to everyone who joined in the fun.

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