The time it was seven swans-a-swimming

Swans? WITAF is going on with these gifts? Anyways, here we are for day seven of the 12 Days of Christmas giveaway!

Today we have one of my favorite ladies visiting and sharing a lovely Christmas memory.  Everyone welcome Susan Dennard, AKA SOOZ to the blog!

One of my favorite Christmas memories is from when my husband and I first started dating (back in ye olde 2007). We'd been friends for a few months, but he hadn't yet "made a move". And oh, I liked him so much! And I thought it was pretty clear he liked me back...especially after Thanksgiving when he appeared at my house for our regular Friday night hangout. But THIS time, he had a giant gift in tow.

Basically, he'd made me an Advent calendar: 25 individual wrapped presents that were attached to a long bit of string. The string was meant to be hung across my living room wall, and the gifts had numbers penciled onto the wrapping paper. Each morning, I would scramble out of bed, search for that day's gift, and rip it open...From chocolates to Legos (yes, I still love Legos) to TICKETS TO THE NUTCRACKER, the gifts were varied and thoughtful. Honestly, it was SO ROMANTIC. Certainly, the boy liked me, right?

Well, that year's Christmas reached it's epic awesomeness when we finally used those aforementioned tickets to the Nutcracker a few weeks into December. During the "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" my not-yet-husband held my hand! Gasp! I thought I would die. And then a few hours later, once we were back at my house, he asked if he could kiss me, and my only response was, "Finally." ;)

So there you have it: one of my favorite Christmas memories of all time.

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Huge thanks to Sooz for taking the time! Make sure you're following her on Twitter, liking her Facebook page, subscribing to her blog and adding all of her books on your GoodReads shelves.

And now for the giveaway!!

The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

and

Perfect for readers Libba Bray’s The Diviners and Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Angel series, this spellbinding sequel to Something Strange and Deadly delivers a mix of intrigue, supernatural forces, intense romance, and revenge, all set against the enchanting backdrop of nineteenth-century Paris.

With her brother dead and her mother insane, Eleanor Fitt is alone. Even the Spirit-Hunters—Joseph, Jie, and the handsome Daniel—have fled to Paris. So when Eleanor hears the vicious barking of hounds and see haunting yellow eyes, she fears that the Dead, and the necromancer Marcus, are after her.

To escape, Eleanor boards a steamer bound for France. There she meets Oliver, a young man who claims to have known her brother. But Oliver harbors a dangerous secret involving necromancy and black magic that entices Eleanor beyond words. If she can resist him, she’ll be fine.

But when she arrives in Paris, she finds that the Dead have taken over, and there’s a whole new evil lurking. And she is forced to make a deadly decision that will go against everything the Spirit-Hunters stand for.
In Paris, there’s a price for this darkness strange and lovely, and it may have Eleanor paying with her life.

That's right.  Up for grabs is a paperback copy of Something Strange and Deadly and a hardcover copy of A Darkness Strange and Lovely. Rules for the giveaway are under "terms and conditions" on the Rafflecopter widget. The books will be coming from The Book Depository and this contest is international!

**Good Luck!!**

a Rafflecopter giveaway