Day: January 18, 2015

Blog Tour: Only a Kiss by Ines Bautista-Yao (Review + Giveaway)

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Blog Tour time again! Welcome to my stop of Only a Kiss by Ines Bautista – Yao.

Book Information:

Only A Kiss CoverTitle: Only A Kiss
Author: Ines Bautista-Yao
Publisher: Chamber Shell Publishing
Date of Publication: November 29, 2014
Genre: contemporary romance
Purchase links: Amazon | Buqo.ph
(The book is on sale for ONLY $0.99 until February 14!)
Summary
When she was nine-years-old, Katie knew she wanted Chris to give her her first kiss. It wasn’t because she was in love with him (no way, he was her best friend! Besides, she was in love with his fourteen-year-old big brother), it was because she could make him do anything she wanted.
Besides, it didn’t really mean anything. It was only a kiss after all.

But then things started to change. They grew up. They parted ways and went to different high schools. And other girls and boys—well, just one particular boy—came into the picture, throwing their lives upside down.

Told from the alternating points of view of Katie and Chris, this love story between two best friends will tug at your heartstrings and leave you thinking how the simplest things can mean so much.

My Thoughts:
For the nth time, I am going to say again that I am truly a fan of best-friends-turned-lovers stories. This is the reason why the blurb of Only A Kiss made me want to read it. However, I know that everyone has a unique love story to tell so I was really interested to know how the friendship of Chris and Katie bloomed into romance.

Only A Kiss was really an enjoyable read for me. I like that every stages of the characters’ life was tackled in the story. I also like that both have experienced love from other people before they found themselves in each other’s arms. The story of Katie and Chris reminds me that if two people are really meant to be, they will always end up together in the end.

What I love most about the story is the alternating point of view of the  male and female protagonists. As a woman, I am always curious and excited to hear (or read) from a male perspective. Chris’ POV has somehow gives me an affirmation that men are truly visual in nature. Haha!

If you also have a knack for unfriendzone-stories like me, maybe this one is for you.

My Rating: ★★★

About the Author:

Ines Bautista-Yao (1)Ines Bautista-Yao is the author of One Crazy Summer, What’s in your Heart, and Only a Kiss. She has also written two short stories, “Flashbacks and Echoes,” which is part of a compilation called All This Wanting and “A Captured Dream,” one of the four short stories in Sola Musica: Love Notes from a Festival.

She is the former editor-in-chief of Candy and K-Zone magazines and a former high school and college English and Literature teacher.  She is also a wife and mom and blogs about the many challenges and joys of motherhood at theeverydayprojectblog.com. She has recently launched The Author Project, a section in her current blog devoted to the stories in her head:http://theeverydayprojectblog.com/inesbyao-author-project/.

She posts on Instagram and tweets @inesbyao and her author page is facebook.com/inesbautistayao.

Links:

Giveaway Time!!!
Ines is giving away lots of things!
For Philippine residents:
One (1) winner will get a signed paperback of ONLY A KISS, a gift card from FILA, and a back issue of CAST comic book
Two (2) winners will each get a signed paperback of ONLY A KISS, light up laces, and back issue of CAST comic book
For everyone:
FIve (5) winners will each get an ebook of ONLY A KISS
Here’s the code for the giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here’s the link to it.

Birthday Musings

A few hours from now, I will be celebrating my 27th birthday. Yes, I am not ashamed of sharing my age because I tell you, I don’t look my age. People often mistake me for a student and I don’t know why but no matter how hard I try, I still don’t look like a young professional (or maybe a real lady?! haha!). But that’s the way God created me so I just have to embrace the advantage of being small – a youthful look.

Anyway, I don’t usually think about how old I am unless some people will ask me my age or will point out to me that I am already in my late twenties. I don’t also feel that I am running out time because I’m not in a hurry for marriage or even for earning a master’s degree because I’ve surrendered these ambitions to God four years ago when I gave up my life for Christ. Sure I do feel being tempted from time to time to choose my own fleshly desires but God is always gracious to bring me back to where I belong, that is, at the center of His will.

But then last year, while I was meditating on the Book of Ecclesiastes, I realized that time is really of the essence. I really need to learn how to number my days because this world is dying and Jesus is coming very soon. I know what God has called me to do yet I still choose to dillydally and wait passively for His second coming.

Praise the Lord that during the Sunday message this morning, I am reminded of the calling that God has entrusted to me: to follow Jesus and reach the whole world for Him. I know that there is no other way to live a fulfilling life but to live it for Christ.
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Based on what I witnessed this morning, there are still a lot of work to be done in this city and in this country and I can’t afford to waste my time.

And for this year, this is what I am really claiming:

But seek FIRST His KINGDOM and His RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things will be given to you as well. – Matthew 6:33