The time it was about The Winner’s Curse

Posted February 1, 2015 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Giveaways | 23 Comments

When I got the invite to be part of the blog tour for The Winner’s Curse, I think I actually said I would do anything. I absolutely love this series, so I definitely wanted to be a part of the promo.

WinnersCurse BlogTour(1)Before we get to my post, let’s check out the books, shall we?

16069030Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

and

20443207Book two of the dazzling Winner’s Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

Sounds good, right? {They totally are.}

right

The “Winner’s Curse” is an economics term that means you’ve gotten what you wanted . . . but at too high a price. For the tour, we were prompted to answer the question:

What would you pay too much for?

Of course, there are a million true real world things that I could list here: love, family, good health. Not to mention ending hunger and achieving world peace.  All of those are valid choices, but I feel like that is a bit too serious for me right now.  So, I’m going to take the question literally and answer that I would pay too much to travel.

I’ve been lucky enough to go to Ireland and London, but my dream trip is Italy.  When it came to our 10 year anniversary, we went to a travel agency early in the year to set up a trip.  I had a ridiculous idea of what I wanted to do {including staying 2-3 days in one city, then taking a train to another city and doing that all over the country} and went to the appointment armed with a list of places I wanted to see and the idea that money was no object.

Thankfully, the travel agent wasn’t scared about my anal retentiveness.  We chatted with her for bit and she assured us that she would put together a fantastic 3 week trip and get back to us.  Fast forward a week later and she called me to tell me that she felt my trip requests were unrealistic and setting it up was far more work than what she wanted to deal with.

I was stunned into silence — which doesn’t happen often.

Sadly, we went to three other travel agencies and they all told us basically the same thing: that the trip was nearly impossible.  None of them understood that I was prepared to pay whatever it cost to take that dream trip.

We still haven’t made it to Italy.  We’re hoping to take a trip this year for our anniversary, this time to Paris.

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1238111Marie Rutkoski is the author of several novels for children and young adults, including The Winner’s Curse (March 2014). She grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She holds a BA from the University of Iowa and a PhD from Harvard University. Marie is now a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance drama, children’s literature, and fiction writing.

Marie has two small sons who try very hard to make friends with the family cat, only to be snubbed for the dark quiet of a closet. Marie can tie a double figure-eight knot with her eyes closed. She’s learning how to play the violin. She’s a sucker for fancy tea, and her favorite dessert is crème brulée. Or maybe sticky toffee pudding. Tough call.

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Huge thanks to Macmillan for the invite! Make sure you’re checking out Marie’s website, following her on Twitter, liking her Facebook page and adding all of her books to your Goodreads TBR shelf.

Now. Macmillan has so nicely offered up a copy of either The Winner’s Curse or The Winner’s Crime. Keep in mind, if you choose The Winner’s Crime, you will have to wait until it’s released. Book will be coming from Macmillan, contest is US only, and additional giveaway rules are here.

Be sure to go here to see the rest of the blogs participating and for even more chances to win!

**Good Luck!!**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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23 responses to “The time it was about The Winner’s Curse

  1. Oh man that is so crazy that those travel agents couldn’t come up with ANYTHING!! I am currently living in Naples, Italy and it is so easy to take the train to so many places. I am kind of curious about where you wanted to go and your expectations because I can’t imagine they couldn’t do anything for you. You should work on planning the trip yourself though. Don’t even worry about a travel agent. If you have any questions about logistics or whatever, you can feel free to email me. Look up Rick Steves. He has awesome resources and forums and his Italy guidebook is wonderful. You will get there!

  2. ReadiculousGirl

    I would definitely go to France, Italy, or Scotland! The farthest I have gotten is Canada, and so I really want to travel the mid-west, and then Europe. I hope you get your Italian dream trip!

    Thanks for the giveaway!

  3. Christina R.

    Italy, just like you. I’d love to see it all, see it like a local :)

    I have a US address but rafflecopter might show my location outside US because I’m doing a semester abroad.

    thank you so very much :)

  4. Danielle D

    Back to New Zealand! I didn’t get to spend near enough time there for how beautiful it was! I’d love to rent a camper van and then drive around the perimeter of the south island, stopping and staying wherever for as long as I want. And I’d try to spend some time on the north island this time too! Seriously, my dream trip – if only I had the time and money!!

  5. Mary G Loki

    South Korea!! :D I have a few friends there and I had planned on going there for a summer but that didn’t work out. :/ Anyway yes Korea!!

  6. Nancy L.R.

    First, I’ve never traveled anywhere outside the country except Mexico, and even then there’s not much going on.
    But I would KILL to visit Scotland or Ireland! I mean, I want to travel a lot, but those two places are at the top of my list, Scotland even more because it just looks timeless! I can’t, no, I won’t die until I visit.

  7. Michelle Lee

    For my dream trip i’d like to back-pack across Europe and Australia/ New Zealand! It’s always been a dream of mine. After that, I’d like go see some exotic, tropical places! Thank you so much for this amazing chance! :)

  8. Christine

    Italy for me, too. I want to travel all across Europe, like England and Ireland, but Italy has always been my top dream vacation :-)

  9. You know, I could have sworn that I had actually added you on Goodreads. Turns out… I was only following your reviews this whole time. Ooops. Well… it’s remedied now. D:

    My dream trip, right at this moment, is to take a visit to the United Kingdom! On top of wanting to visit some of my friends, I would also love to visit some book stores and see all the beautiful scenery. ;v; That’s my dream. Maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to live there too! But… that’s a bit trickier to tackle.

  10. sarah s

    There are so many place I would love to visit, one of them would be to go to Kauai, Hawaii and the surrounding islands with my sister.

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