Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Ocean Between Us GIVEAWAY!! $50 Gift Card!


Want to win a copy of this book AND a $50 VISA gift card?????


I was recently sent a copy of The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs to review for my blog via Big Honcho Media.

The book is a story about a Navy family and how they deal with deployments and the changes in the families over a period of time.  If you know me, you know that I LOVE any books about military life, and this one was no exception!


The Ocean Between Us is a powerful novel of love, duty and second chances.  Susan Wiggs deftly portrays the struggles and triumphs of an American family facing life’s greatest challenges as they come to understand the timeless lessons of the heart.
 
Grace Bennett has it all—three wonderful children, a devoted husband and a life of adventure and travel. But beneath the calm demeanor of an efficient Navy wife, Grace stands at the crossroads—of her life and her marriage. When she looks in the mirror, she doesn’t recognize the person staring back. She’s tired, out of shape and feeling invisible. Somewhere between her husband’s demanding career, raising a family, the constant uprooting and the Navy’s routine, Grace has lost her sense of self. Something needs to change. She needs to change.
 
Steve Bennett simply can’t understand the unraveling of his wife’s heart. He thought he was proving his love to her with each promotion. He believed he could still be a good husband and father while juggling an officer’s myriad duties. But he now realizes they were seeing their marriage through different eyes. And when a nearly forgotten secret resurfaces, Grace’s discontent comes into sharp focus. Now Steve must try to make their marriage right again before his next deployment. For himself. For his family. For the twenty years of shared history that have always anchored him to home.
 
Then duty calls.
 
Separated by an ocean of regrets and longing, Grace and Steve take a hard look at their faltering marriage, the love that brought them together and the family they cherish. They confront the choices they’ve made, the sacrifices they’ve rationalized and the dreams they’ve set adrift. 
 
But just as they come to grips with their marriage, the unthinkable happens—a disaster aboard Steve’s aircraft carrier shatters Grace’s world. As she gathers her children around her and waits for news, she faces a Navy wife’s worst nightmare—the cold truth that life’s biggest chances can slip away while you’re looking for guarantees.  (Synopsis provided to me)




I was provided a copy of this book for this review, but you too can win a copy and earn a $50 VISA gift card!  Who doesn't need a little pampering, especially as a military spouse?????



The Ocean Between Us
BOOK RELEASE + GIVEAWAY

One (1) Grand Prize winner receives:
  • Get a little renewal in your life with a $50 VISA gift card
  • Copy of The Ocean Between Us

Two (2) additional winners will receive a copy of the book!

In order to qualify:
    1 entry--leave a comment and tell me what your favorite aspect of military life is.
    1 entry--follow me on twitter  @ABW26 and leave a comment that you did
    1 entry--become a follower, of if you already are, then leave a comment!

I will  hold the drawing in two weeks on May 6th. 

Good luck!

39 comments:

Vi said...

My favorite aspect of military is the sense of community. You are with others that are going through similar things.

Vi said...

I am already a follower and I went ahead and blogged about your contest!

http://yeahyoucancallmecrazy.blogspot.com/2010/04/ocean-between-us.html

Dawna said...

Oooh! This does sound like a good book! I'm already a follower, but am leaving a comment... :-)

Dawna said...

Just requested to follow you on Twitter. I'm @tickledbymuses. :-)

Dawna said...

My favorite aspect about military life? The opportunities that I wouldn't have had otherwise. I, likely, wouldn't have been able to live in a foreign country, if it hadn't been for the military.

Ashley said...

My favorite aspect of military life is the camraderie among the families from all different areas and backgrounds. It doesnt matter where we are from, or who we are, we all have something in common that ties us together!

Ashley said...

I am already a follower! I love hearing about the silly and cute things your children do -- it makes me look forward to when our little devil pup is older and walking and talking!

Mary Madeline said...

I am a follower and this is a great giveaway!!! Thanks!!!

Anonymous said...

My favorite aspect of military life is being able to show our daughter (soon to be daughters) different cultures and points of interests and stuff that they wouldn't be able to see or know about if we were still in our hometown. I love how our 4 1/2 year old still talks about San Francisco (we went there post deployment last year on vacation) and the train going to the top of Pikes Peak (did that while he was deployed) and meeting different people. I like seeing new things too!

Anonymous said...

I am a follower of yours!

The Mrs. said...

My favorite aspect of military life? The commissary. Ok so that doesn't top the fact that I think flyboy and I have a much stronger relationship becasue of the USMC but the commissary does rock.

I think as tough as relationships can be in the military its made us stronger. We can stand on our own but at the same time, we are in this together. And we appreciate the little things, cards, emails, phone calls mean the world and so many people just blow past that stuff.

The Mrs. said...

oh and im a follower.

id follow you anywhere ; )

MTM said...

I'm already a follower of your blog :) My favorite aspect of military life is getting to live in places, I'd never thought I'd really even want to live! It's nice to get to know different parts of the country and such.

Allison said...

My favorite aspect of military life is all the wonderful wives I've met because we have a common bond.

Allison said...

I follow you on twitter already!

Allison said...

And I have followed your blog forever.

Amy said...

My favorite aspect to military life is the sense of community. When we lived on post, I loved it! I've already told my husband that I want to live on post when we move next time.

And it's not just the physical sense of community - it's the community of bloggers that I love too!

Amy said...

And I've followed your blog via Google reader for a while now but actually became a follower today :-)

Heidi said...

Oh crap all these 'rules'. LOL . . . just kidding . . . I follow (and laugh from time to time; how can one not with Abs). Favorite part of military life . . . well, not the one I am experiencing right now, at least I find humor (it has been over 5 years); ha ha!!!! Hmmmm, what I miss the most is the 'instant' friendship! Well, as long as they are not forced . . . man I am cracking myself up today!

Twitter: tweet, tweet . . . no time for yet another thing

Oh sounds like a great book to read . . .

Vintage Love & Photographs said...

I'm already a follower! My favorite aspect is the lost cost dental care which I seem to use up and the paid 30 days vacation leave lol

Shooting Stars Mag said...

my brother is in the military so my favorite part is getting letters from him.

-lauren
lauren51990 AT aol DOT com

Shooting Stars Mag said...

i follow on twitter: @shootingstarmag

lauren51990 AT aol DOT com

Unknown said...

My favorite aspect of being a mil spouse is always having a friend to lean on. It might not be family, but I have made so many life long friends through the Army that they have become my family.

Unknown said...

I follow your blog.

Unknown said...

I follow you on twitter. @IFOverachievers

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great book!

My favorite part of military life is that, through the deployments and weeks away training, I feel like my marriage grows stronger. Yes, I hate deployments, but when he comes home, its like we're newlyweds again. We forget all the fights and stupid things and remember why we fell in love in the first place.

That is my way of looking at the silver lining, a little gift in an ugly APO flat rate package. lol!

Thanks for the giveaway!

Anonymous said...

Im a follower now too!

gstaley@yahoo.com

Wiley said...

My favourite aspect of military life is knowing that every day I am serving. It makes those days when you're set on hiding under the covers a little easier to 'man up' to.
And besides, the uniforms are hot! ;)

Oh, and I'm a follower :)

Sarah said...

To be honest, I'm new to this military life. All I know of it is the separation from my husband in Boot Camp and now A-School. BUT even through that, I feel my marriage has somehow grown. For the first time in the (almost) 6 years of marriage, my husband and I writing letters to each other. Real handwritten, old school love letters. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to actually be with him at our duty station, but in the mean time I'm treasuring him in a different way and wouldn't have known this if the Navy hadn't taken him away for a bit.

Stephanie said...

I am following you on twitter.

I just became a follower of your blog because I am grateful for you being the first to comment on my little baby blog.

My favorite part of military life so far is the feeling when I see my soldier in uniform. Not only does he look good :) but he looks like he has a purpose in life, he is honorable, he is doing such an admirable thing that many cannot do. Maybe when I see him everyday I won't get the crazy butterflies of the uniform but I think that him wearing it will always be an admirable part. I can't wait to find new things about the military to love.

Stephanie said...

So does that give me three entries? I'm dying for that book :)

StephLo62 on twitter

trooppetrie said...

I am a follower

trooppetrie said...

my favorite part of military life is the moving around. although it is hard to like anything today as we are just starting our 7th deployment

Birdie said...

My favorite aspect of military life is knowing that our family is doing what we can for our country, and of course,the Reunions!!

Birdie said...

OOps forgot to say that I am following the blog and just requested to follow you on twitter! Im anarchica there!

Mel said...

I'm a follower!

My favorite thing about military life: all of it! Sure, it sucks being away from each other and worrying and waiting. That's nothing compared to the feeling of purpose and pride we have for our country, his job and the military as a whole. Not to mention how cute he looks in camo. It's all worth it.

2 entries!

Battles on the Homefront said...

I think it's awesome that you got to review this book. It sounds really cool.

Battles on the Homefront said...

You were already in my news feed but now I am officially a follower.

Battles on the Homefront said...

Oops, I forgot to put my favorite part of military life. I love knowing that my husband is doing something that many men can't do. He has an honor in his job that many people don't feel. I also love the sense of community that there is between military families.


I'm following you on twitter now too.

HAPPY MILITARY SPOUSE APPRECIATION DAY!!!