"Coming Up For Air" Giveaway

Due to popular demand for this book, and because the author and the publicist were kind enough to offer more copies of this book for a giveaway, I am hosting another giveaway for this title that is SO close to my heart!!!

Synopsis 

Ellie Calvin is caught in a dying marriage, and she knows this. With her beloved daughter away at college and a growing gap between her and her husband, she doesn’t quite seem to fit into her own life. But everything changes when her controlling mother, Lillian, passes away. Ellie sees her ex-boyfriend, Hutch, at the funeral, and learns that he is in charge of a documentary that involved Lillian before her death – and he wants answers to questions that Ellie’s not sure she can face.

As Ellie and Hutch start digging into Lillian’s history, and speaking for the first time in years, Ellie’s closed heart slowly begins to open. Using both a hidden diary that Ellie found in her mother’s things, and a trip to the Summer House, a mysterious and seductive bayside home, they gamble that they can work together and not fall in love again. But in piecing together a decades-old unrequited-love story, they just might uncover the secrets in their own hearts…

My Review

"Coming Up for Air" by Patti Callahan Henry is a beautiful story about reconciling your past with your present. Ellie's mother Lillian has passed away, and while Ellie is taking care of, and sorting through, her belongings she comes across her mother's journal locked away from the eyes of the world. This discovery raises many questions for Ellie who, in order to find answers for them, decides to leave her home and husband in Atlanta to travel to Alabama to stay with her mother's best friend, Miss Birdie. In the meantime, Ellie's ex-boyfriend, and her first-love, surprises her by showing up at her mother's funeral - it turns out that he is doing a documentary on ten women and Lillian, Ellie's mother, is one of them.

So together Ellie and Hutch try and uncover the real Lillian, before she was a mother and a wife, who she really was. And in trying to uncover the mysteries of her mother's past, Ellie learns a lot about her own self, her marriage and her life. It is this journey within her own self, and coming to the conclusions that she does, that results in Ellie's "Coming Up For Air".

Patti Callahan Henry is indeed, as the blurb suggests, a tour de force. When I won this novel, and looking at it's cover, I thought it would be a sugary sweet, rot your teeth out sweet, kind of a novel. But I was pleasantly shocked to find out that it is nothing of the sort. Although author Patti Callahan Henry sure knows how to spin a romantic tale, she knows its place in the narrative, and never forces the romance beyond its bounds. Although, I must admit, this author definitely knows how to characterize the dynamics between different relationships. And although the narrative deals with the Civil Rights Movement, ethics and social inequities, it never ends up being preachy or tedious. I also love that this tale is set in the South - anywhere else, and this story may have fallen flat. I love the dialect, the way of life, and the tales/stories that emerge from the South - they have a culture of their own down there, and it is absolutely beautiful to read about.

All in all, "Coming Up For Air" really was like coming up for air for me. My past few reads have been really fast-paced thrillers. This books incorporates some mystery into its narrative and is very well-paced, but it is far more about the characters within the novel, than it is about the mystery to be uncovered. I loved being able to connect with Ellie on various levels, and at times with Lillian as well. This book was a breath of fresh air, and I am really looking forward to more by author Patti Callahan Henry. It's a beautifully written novel, and one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading about family dynamics, family secrets, the Civil Rights Movement, or generally about "the South". Enjoy! :)

My Rating : 5/5 Stars

More Info

But before I go further into the giveaway, I wanted to tell you about a NEAT, NEW and SUPER AWESOME fact about the book - it has an app that was just recently launched that goes hand in hand with the book, "Coming Up For Air" by Patti Callahan Henry. Yes, you read correct...and APP, that co-relates to the book! How COOL is that, right!?!?!? It's a wonderful book, and I wanted to be able to remember which parts influenced the app, so here I am reading it again!

Just a little info on the app: it is called "Wildflowers" by Patti Callahan Henry, and is created by Wildflower Wishes LLC. The app is inspired by a gorgeous garden scene in the book, and was commissioned especially for this Patti Callahan Henry's novel "Coming Up For Air", as it was released on paperback on May 22, 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin. Here's a FUN FACT: If you buy a paperback copy of "Coming Up For Air" by Patti Callahan Henry, (click on the book cover below) it features the QR code to the app on the cover of the book!!!!

The FREE app comes with five special wildflower icons, each with a designated meaning (I'm sorry; I love you; Good luck, etc) which can be send to friends or loved ones via email, to fellow Wildflower Wishes users or to Facebook friends, along with a personalized heartfelt message - with ONE click, you could make someone's day. Additional wildflowers (icons) can be purchased for a mere $0.99. You can use it for birthdays, anniversaries, or (my favorite reason), just because! It's FREE, what have you got to lose? Just click on the shot of the app below, and it will take you straight to the app store on iTunes. 

 

 A screenshot of the cover of the main screen or cover of the app - isn't it beautiful?

A screenshot of the actual app - with a wildflower icon. Again, isn't it absolutely ADORABLE? 

Also, here is a list of flowers available to you through the app, and more will be added along the way, for special occasions, and such.

Infinite Love -- Bellflower

I Am Grateful -- Bluebells

Sending Encouragement -- Black Eyed Susan

Thinking of You -- Zinnia

A Mother's Love – Impatiens

Pure Loyal Love -- Daisy

Bond of Love -- Honeysuckle

I am sorry; Please forgive me -- Purple Hyacinth

Don't forget me -- Forget Me Not

I will never forget you -- Everlasting

Sending Protection -- White Heather

Sending Cheer -- Crocus

Sending Courage and Daring -- Edelweiss

Sending Good Luck -- Clover

Sending Perserverance -- Chicory

Farewell -- Sweet Pea

Secret Love -- Acacia

Love at First Sight – Gloxinia

Now, THE GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the immense generosity of the author Patti Callahan Henry, and the Emily LaBeaume of Wunderkind PR - I have 4 copies of "Coming Up For Air" up for grabs. 

That's right...you read that right... FOUR. AWESOME. COPIES!!! Which means FOUR. LUCKY. WINNERS!

Unfortunately, this contest is limited to US readers. Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below...

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