**Blog Tour & Giveaway ~ Carry Your Heart ~ Audrey Bell**

Hey y'all! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Carry Your Heart, by Audrey Bell. My stop includes my review, Pippa and Hunter's favorite things, and TWO giveaways.

There is a rafflecopter below for the tour wide giveaway for a Kindle Paperwhite.

My tour stop giveaway is for ONE ecopy of Carry Your Heart. (epub and mobi formats only) To enter, simply leave a comment. This giveaway is open internationally and ends June 25th. Winner will be chosen randomly.

This tour is presented by Book Crush.

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Carry Your Heart by Audrey Bell

Release Date: May 3, 2013

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Champion skier Pippa Baker lost everything in the avalanche: her boyfriend, his best friend, and her will to win. After a year of grief, she returns to competition. 

She finds more than buried memories and steep slopes in Utah. She finds Hunter Dawson, a heartbreaking daredevil with the gold medals to prove it. And she finds that his reputation doesn’t stop her from falling hard, and that her heart might not be as broken as she once believed.

But, Hunter has scars and memories too—scars that make him believe falling in love might hurt too much, scars that make him run. 

Pippa knows how much love hurts when it’s gone. Will she stop herself before she’s in too deep? Or will she let herself fall? 

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My Review

Lately, I seem to be on a roll reading books whose locales I'm familiar with. This one is set in Colorado, primarily. And it centers around skiing and snowboarding. :) Carry Your Heart is a thrilling and emotional read. I think the characters are engaging and I like that the story seems to have a message.

Pippa Baker is struggling to find herself after losing her boyfriend, Danny, and their best friend, Ryan, in an avalanche. She hasn't been on skis since that day, a year ago, and since skiing has been her life for years, it's hard to figure out which way to go. Then her former coach shows up at her kitchen table and manages to talk her into doing just one more race.

Hunter Dawson is a sexy, champion snowboarder. He's the son of a famous skier and he also happens to be fearful of airplanes. Hunter is also a complete playboy who somehow manages to balance his time between competitions, his string of girls, and his little brother.

Pippa and Hunter meet while flying out to Utah for the competition Pippa has agreed to do. They seem to have a real connection. But Pippa's broken and she's not sure she can be fixed. And Hunter isn't sure he's man enough to stick it out.

I really enjoyed the way Ms. Bell allowed the relationship between Pippa and Hunter to progress. Did I want to smack them both on occasion? Yes! But they both have their issues to work through and I was so proud of them both in the end. Pippa is a strong girl but realizes she has to let people in if she doesn't want to be lonely. Hunter has this whole tender side that is a shock considering the persona he's perfected. It was poignant watching the walls both had built begin to crumble and fall.

I also liked the racing/competition element of the story. Ms. Bell might know a thing or two about being a competitive skier or she did some in depth research. Her descriptions of the feelings a skier has, both when skiing and when having to deal with competitors feels very realistic. I feel as though I know have some insight into this world and the competitive nature of those in it.

Ms. Bell created a great supporting cast as well. Joe and Parker, friends of Pippa, Danny, and Ryan, are still struggling with the loss of their friends. And they seem to struggle even more so with the thought of Pippa moving on. Lottie, once one of Pippa's best friends on the team, has a difficult time coping with Pippa's return to being a competitor. Even Danny and Ryan, whom we only meet through memories, play integral roles in the story. 

I'm kinda hoping we get to see more from these characters, as I grew attached to them. I loved the message of the story, which, in my opinion, is to live life to the fullest...none of knows how long we have. Carry Your Heart made me smile, it made me cry, and it made my heart pound and melt. And in the end, it made me sigh. 

Favorite Quotes:

"Well, it put a lot of things into perspective for me. I stopped holding back. You know? It wasn't even that I thought I would die in an avalanche, it was just - I realized I could die crossing the street. I had to hurry up and do what I wanted to do now."  -Lottie

"'Pippa, I was in so deep with you and it happened so fast,' he said. 'And you wouldn't let me in. And I thought that I didn't matter to you. And you mattered to me so much it scared me. And you wouldn't talk to me.'"  -Hunter

"'I should never have let you push me away,' he says. 'I'm not going to let you do that again. I'm here. For real. As long as you want me.'"  -Hunter

"If Hunter is okay, I'll stop being such an idiot. I'll live. I'll really, truly, and deeply live like I might die young, too. Because I could. Because any of us can."  -Pippa

**I received an ecopy of this book, as part of the blog tour, in exchange for an honest review.

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Pippa & Hunter's Favorites

Pippa’s Favorite Things

1. Spyder Skis

2. Fresh powder

3. Red wine and pizza

4. Danny’s ring

5. Hunter Dawson

Hunter’s Favorite Things

1. Burton Camber done White board

2. Big air

3. Spending time with his little brother

4. Taking the long way home

5. Pippa Baker

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Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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About Audrey

Audrey Bell lives in New York City, where she indulges her SoulCycle addiction and expresses her passionate hatred of the 6 Train. You can find her reading in Central Park, overcaffeinating at Starbucks, or trying to kidnap her neighbors’ Maltese puppy. She loves hearing from readers.

Blog | GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook

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Participating Blogs

Sunday 6/16
A Diary of a Book Addict  http://adiaryofabookaddict.blogspot.com/

Monday 6/17
le Book Squirrel Lebooksquirrel.blogspot.com
Jess's Book Blog http://jessbookblog.blogspot.com
Amber's Reading Room http://www.ambersreadingroom.com

Tuesday 6/18
Bookworm Brandee http://www.bookwormbrandee.blogspot.com
Paperback Cowgirl http://paperbackcowgirl.blogspot.com/?m=1

Wednesday 6/19
Sarah’s Book Blog www.sarahsbookblog.com

Thursday 6/20
Fiona's Book Reviews http://nannyfi71.wordpress.com
Book Reader Chronicles www.bookreaderchronicles.com

Friday 6/21
#BookNerd http://booknerdash.blogspot.com
Christine's Blog http://www.shebookblogs.com/
HEA Book Shelf http://heabookshelf.blogspot.com
I Love Indie Books www.iloveindiebooks.com
A Book Lovers Review www.abook-loversreview.com

Saturday 6/22
I Heart Books http://officialiheartbooks.blogspot.co.uk/
I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews http://bookienookiereviews.blogspot.com/

Sunday 6/23
Kindlehooked http://kindlehooked.blogspot.com/
Wolfel's World of Books www.wolfelaworldofbooks.com

Monday 6/24
Life With Lesley http://www.lesleypeck.com
Books, Babes and Cheap Cabernet http://bbcc1113.blospot.com

Tuesday 6/25
If the Book Fits http://happy-in-between.blogspot.ca/

Wednesday 6/26
Book Addict Mumma www.bookaddictmumma.wordpress.com
Hooked on Books
the Suburban Eclectic http://suburbaneclectic.com

Thursday 6/27
Scandalous Book Blog http://scandalousbookblog.blogspot.co.uk/
whoyoucallinabookwhore whoyoucallinabookwhore.wordpress.com
Butterflies, Books & Dreams http://butterlfiesbooksanddreams.blogspot.com/

Friday 6/28
Book Crush http://bookcrushbookreviews.com

Saturday 6/29
Alphas Authors & Books Oh My http://alphasauthorsbooksohmy.blogspot.com/
Sugar and Spice Book Reviews http://sugarandspiceandeverythingnaughty.blogspot.com/
Faerie Tale Books www.faerietalebooks.org