Monday Book Review: Where You Lead by Leslea Wahl

If you’ve been around the blog a while, you know I love a good YA mystery by Leslea Wahl. Today I’m happy to tell you about her latest, Where You Lead.

Title: Where You Lead

Author: Leslea Wahl

Genre: mystery (with a side of romance)

Age group: young adult

High school junior Eve keeps having visions of a boy she’s never met. All she knows is that his name is Nick, and she thinks she’s supposed to help him. After a while Eve starts having difficulty telling reality from the visions, so she seeks help at school. When neither the nurse or the counselor offer any helpful suggestions, Eve turns to the elderly priest at her parish. He reminds her of the story of Samuel, who kept hearing a voice calling for him in the night, but when he ran to the priest Eli, Eli said that he had not called him. Finally, Eli tells Samuel that if he hears the voice again to say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

Eve realizes she needs to pray about what these visions might mean. She decides to ask God for help and promises to go wherever God leads her (hence, the title of the book). When she learns that her dad has been offered a job at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., (right after she’s had a vision of Nick in D.C.), she decides to convince her dad to take the job and move the family from New Mexico to D.C.

Once there, she finds Nick, who turns out to be the son of a newly elected senator. Nick had been the one to convince his dad to run for office, so now both Nick and Eve feel like they are on a mission from God (cue the Blues Brothers music!). This mission involves stopping a foreign entity from getting his hands on a potential treasure that was buried years ago during the Civil War. Nick and Eve follow the clues to the treasure around historic sites in Washington, D.C.

Woven into this mystery is a little romance (because, of course, Nick is a handsome boy) and lots of fun characters, like Eve’s cranky neighbor in her new apartment building and the rule-breaking teenage daughter of an ambassador.

If you like fun mysteries set in historical sites with a little romance and humor, you definitely need to check out Where You Lead by Leslea Wahl!

Also, check out the giveaway Leslea is doing at www.lesleawahl.com/treasure.

You can also learn more about Leslea Wahl and her other mysteries, The Perfect Blindside and An Unexpected Role, on her website.

My latest giveaways!

I have several giveaways going on right now, and I wanted to make sure everyone knew about them.

First, I’m super excited to announce my very first Instafreebie giveaway. For the next few weeks, I’m giving away preview copies with the first five chapters of Angelhood for free. If you haven’t purchased a copy of Angelhood, but you’ve been wanting to check it out, now’s your chance! Click here to claim your copy today.

 

 

 On Instagram, I have two giveaways going on. The first ends this Friday. I’m giving away two copies of Matthew Kelly’s Resisting Happiness. Visit my Instagram account here.

For my other Instagram giveaway, I’ve joined with fellow YA author Leslea Wahl for a double book prize. We’re throwing in a claddagh bracelet just for a little St. Patrick’s Day fun. This giveaway is happening over here.

So be sure to check out the Instagram games, and don’t forget to claim your free preview of Angelhood right here!

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Come to our Christmas Book Party!

On Wednesday night, nine young adult authors from the Catholic Writers Guild will be teaming up to give one whopper of an early Christmas party on Facebook!

(We know, we know, it’s too early for Christmas, but we thought we’d do it now so that people who are already doing their Christmas shopping could check out these books for gift ideas and maybe even win some books to give as gifts!)

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We’ll have more than just books to give away, too! Many unique, special prizes will be offered, so come check it out. Click here to join the Facebook group, and then find the party under the “Events” tab. Be sure to click that you are “going” so that you get all the updates!

Join 9 Catholic authors as they give away books and prizes in time for you to receive (or give a loved one!) for Christmas!

Click here to join the fun!

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Facebook Launch Party for Seven Riddles to Nowhere!

It is now less than a month until the release of my middle grade mystery Seven Riddles to Nowhere!

Where has all the time gone?

Like I did with Angelhood, there will be a launch party on Facebook with lots of fun giveaways! You might win a copy of Seven Riddles to Nowhere, Angelhood, book marks, pens, or one of many other children’s books (from picture books up to young adult books) that my writing friends have generously donated.

So if you’re on Facebook, come join us here on Wednesday, August 31, from 7-9 p.m. Central Time.

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YA Books Galore Giveaway!

Who wants to win a whole stack of

YA books?

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This contest is open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address. (Sorry, international YA fans, I found out the hard way that mailing a book is really expensive. Mailing a whole stack of books would be outrageous.)

Contest opens: June 14, 2016

Contest ends: June 27, 2016 (midnight, CDT)

To enter, you just need to do two things:

  1. Sign up for my Insiders Club (where you’ll get to learn about all sorts of giveaways).
  2. Comment below that you signed up!

That’s it!

Want an extra entry point? Share the news of this giveaway on Instagram. Tag me @a.j.cattapan and use the hashtag #YABooksGalore.

Want to see me look silly? Watch this video.

 

Click here to sign up for the Insiders Club. Then comment below to enter!

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March Giveaway: 5 audiobook copies of Angelhood!

In April, my debut novel Angelhood will be one year old. Awww!

To celebrate, I’m giving away five copies of the audiobook version of Angelhood to five people who subscribe to my newsletter during the month of March.

Win one of 5 audiobook copies of the award-winning YA novel Angelhood. If you love "It's a Wonderful Life," then you'll love "Angelhood."

What else do you get when you subscribe besides a chance to win an audiobook copy of Angelhood?

  • monthly updates on my writing, speaking engagements, and appearances
  • the chance to download free books and stories
  • highlights from last month’s blog posts
  • and free dessert recipes (because I like to bake, so why not?)

Subscribe to my mailing list

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Buy Angelhood, Get Two FREE Gifts!

Do you know someone who might enjoy Angelhood as a Christmas gift? (After all, it does have that It’s a Wonderful Life kind of vibe! 🙂 )

Buy Angelhood for someone you love this Christmas, and I’ll send you two FREE gifts!

A personalized, autographed bookplate!

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An Angelhood bookmark!

 

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To claim your two free gifts, first purchase your paperback copy here.

Then fill out the special claim form for your two gifts here.

Purchase your book and claim your two free gifts by December 15, 2015, in order to receive the bookplate and bookmark in time for Christmas!

Win a FREE author visit to your classroom!

Free author visitTo celebrate Angelhood winning a 2015 Readers’ Favorite Book Award, I’m giving away one free author visit to a classroom in the Chicago area. Details and entry form are here.

But hurry! Contest is only open until November 15, 2015!

Spread the word to any teachers, principals, and school librarians you may know in the Chicago area.

 

Major Audiobook Giveaway!

Big News!

We’ve got 5 (five!) copies of the audiobook version of Angelhood to give away!

Audiobook giveaway

Five copies of my award-winning young adult novel Angelhood have just been released to be given away as prizes! To enter this contest, simply subscribe to my monthly newsletter between September 22 and October 2 (the Feast of the Guardian Angels!). Since this contest is for an audiobook, international contestants are welcome!

Enter to win by subscribing below!

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Three Giveaways!

Did you know I have three giveaways going on right now? Enter to win!

  1. On Emilie Hendryx’s “Thinking Thoughts” blog, she is giving away a copy of my book Angelhood and a copy of Misty Beller’s The Lady and the Mountain Doctor. Just comment on the blog to tell her which one you’d like to win. Click here to enter. Also on the same page, I discuss who would play me in a movie version of my life. 🙂  This contest ends May 11.
  2. On Patti Shene’s Teens of Today and Tomorrow, I’m giving away an ebook copy of Angelhood. This contest ends May 18. Enter here. Also on this blog post, I talk about why teens like fantasy so much and how my careers of teaching and writing overlap.
  3. On Sara Ella’s blog, I’m the “Featured Author” this weekend. Come find out what made me want to be a writer, how I deal with rejection, and what I’d do if I got to hang out with my characters for a day. The ebook giveaway on this blog runs until May 31. You can read the post and enter to win here.

And if you just can’t wait to read Angelhood, don’t forget that all ebook copies are still only $1.99. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks.

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