
Book Nerds Unite!
We all know winter-time is reserved for cozying up with some fuzzy socks, hot chocolate and a good book, right? That’s what we thought! Your #Wintervention is here so let’s all take a book day and warm up with the BookSparks Winter Reading Challenge! We’ve chosen four captivating fiction titles plus two BONUS non-fiction books to help you get ready for an amazing 2017. Read along with us!
Read and Win
If you’re in (and we sure hope you are!), we’d love for each of you to read and review these six must-reads between January and April for a chance to WIN BIG. Bloggers and readers alike can get in on the action, share their reviews on social media and enter the giveaway.
Here’s how to join the challenge:
- Sign Up to Review: Check out the lineup for our Winter Reading Challenge below and sign up for your review dates HERE. But hurry! The books are only available to bloggers while supplies last so sign up now. In exchange for each review you post, you’ll earn +5 bonus entries in the grand prize giveaway. Readers can participate, too! Just purchase copies of the books and share your reviews on your social media for entries in the giveaway (be sure to tag us using @booksparks #wintervention)!
- Enter to Win: We’ve got the perfect pairings for your winter reads and you can WIN IT ALL! Enter to win our winter prize pack with Hunter boots, a cozy scarf and mittens and a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card! Enter the giveaway HERE (U.S. residents only, please!).
- Spread the Word: We’re doing flash giveaways all winter-long so be sure to tag @BookSparks in all your #winterreading posts! Tag your friends because they can win, too!

Ready to Get Started?
Be sure to TWEET THIS so your friends can win too: Excited for @BookSparks #Wintervention challenge! @Susan_Schild @ChristineNolfi @SuellenDainty @AmyHatvany and more! http://bit.ly/2hTu6Te
THE LINEUP

January 10, 2017
Sweet Southern Hearts by Susan Schild
When it comes to marriage, third time’s the charm for Linny Taylor. She’s thrilled to be on her honeymoon with Jack Avery, Willow Hill’s handsome veterinarian. But just like the hair-raising white water rafting trip Jack persuades her to take, newlywed life has plenty of dips and bumps.
Jack’s twelve-year-old son is resisting all Linny’s efforts to be the perfect stepmother, while her own mother, Dottie, begs her to tag along on the first week of a free-wheeling RV adventure. Who knew women “of a certain age” could drum up so much trouble? No sooner is Linny sighing with relief at being back home than she’s helping her frazzled sister with a new baby…and dealing with an unexpected legacy from her late ex. Life is fuller—and richer—than she ever imagined, but if there’s one thing Linny’s learned by now, it’s that there’s always room for another sweet surprise…

February 28, 2017
Sweet Lake by Christine Nolfi
Linnie Wayfair knows just how many people are counting on her. But knowing doesn’t make doing any easier.
Everyone in Sweet Lake, Ohio, wants her to muster all her business sense and return the Wayfair Inn to its former glory. Her parents hope she’ll forgive her scoundrel of a brother and reconcile the family. The eccentric Sweet Lake Sirens want her to open the inn—and her heart—to new possibilities. And her hilarious lifelong friends Jada and Cat are dropping none-too-subtle hints for her to ignite a romance with Daniel Kettering, the sexy attorney who’s been pining for her for years…
Now a shocking turn of events will open old wounds and upend the world Linnie has carefully built. She has to make changes quickly—and the results, though not entirely what she expected, might be what she’s been yearning for all along.

February 28, 2017
The Housekeeper by Suellen Dainty
When Anne Morgan’s successful boyfriend—who also happens to be her boss—leaves her for another woman, Anne finds herself in desperate need of a new job and a quiet place to recover. Meanwhile, her celebrity idol, Emma Helmsley (England’s answer to Martha Stewart), is in need of a housekeeper, an opportunity which seems too good to be true.
Through her books, website, and blog, Emma Helmsley advises her devoted followers on how to live a balanced life in a hectic world. Her husband, Rob, is a high profile academic, and her children, Jake and Lily, are well-adjusted teenagers. On the surface, they are the perfect family. But Anne soon finds herself intimately ensconced in the Helmsley’s dirty laundry, both literally and figuratively. Underneath the dust, grime, and whimsical clutter, everyone has a secret to hide and Anne’s own disturbing past threatens to unhinge everything.
For fans of Notes on a Scandal and The Woman Upstairs, The Housekeeper is a nuanced and nail-biting psychological thriller about the dark recesses of the human mind and the dangerous consequences of long-buried secrets.

March 28, 2017
It Happens All The Time by Amy Hatvany
From master storyteller Amy Hatvany- whose writing has been hailed as “gripping and emotionally honest” (Stephanie Evanovich, New York Times betselling author)-comes a provocative and compelling novel about two friends whose lives are changed by a drunken kiss.
I want to rewind the clock, take back the night when the world shattered. I want to erase everything that went wrong. Amber Bryant and Tyler Hicks have been best friends since they were teenagers-trusting and depending on each other through some of the darkest periods of their young lives. And while Amber has always felt that their relationship is strictly platonic, Tyler has long harbored the secret desire that they might one day become more than friends. Returning home for the summer after her college graduation, Amber begins spending more time with Tyler than she has in years. Despite the fact that Amber is engaged to her college sweetheart, a flirtation begins to grow between them. One night, fueled by alcohol and concerns about whether she’s getting married too young, Amber kisses Tyler. What happens next will change them forever. In alternating points of view, It Happens All the Time examines the complexity of sexual dynamics between men and women and offers an incisive exploration of gender roles, expectations, and the ever-timely issue of consent.
BONUS BOOKS

Drop In: Lead with Deeper Presence and Courage by Sara Harvey Yao
In a society that deeply values productivity, speed, and external rewards, we often find ourselves with less of what we really long for: space, clarity, connection with others, and a sense of well-being. Our attempts to improve our lives and bottom lines by adding more to our calendars, expanding our to-do lists, and constantly being plugged in to technology is backfiring. Instead of getting more done, our minds are spinning, leaving us stressed, disconnected, and unable to focus.
Drop In challenges our assumptions about the effectiveness of our busy lives and offers a compelling alternative approach to living and leading by inviting people to “drop in” to the present moment. Deepening our awareness of the present moment, asserts Sara Harvey Yao, is the most efficient and sustainable way to navigate the complexities of work and life and to access our clarity, connection, and courage so we can lead your life more powerfully. Full of practical tools, Drop In will help busy professionals get out of the spin cycle of their minds―and tune in to their already-existing wisdom and clarity that resides within all of us.

Navigating Life: Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me by Margaux Bergen
You learn a few useful things at school–the three Rs come in handy, and it’s good to know how to perform under pressure and wait your turn–but most of what matters, what makes you into a functioning human being, able to hold your own in conversation, find your path, know what to avoid in relationships and secure a meaningful job, no teacher will ever tell you.This diamond-sharp, gut-punchingly honest book of hard-earned wisdom is one mother’s effort to equip her daughter for survival in the real world.
Wise, heartbreakingly funny, and resonantly true, Navigating Life has invaluable lessons for students of life of all ages. It will challenge you to lead a more meaningful life and to tackle the bumps along the way with grace, grit, style, and ingenuity. What The Blessings of a Skinned Knee did for the early years of parenting, Navigating Life does for the next, far more perilous chapter, when new graduates are cast out on the high seas and have to learn to swim and find their way by themselves.