Review: The Seeds of Beauty (+Giveaway)

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my stop on the tour for Seeds of Beauty by Lakeysha-Marie Green, presented by Pump Up Your Book. Read on to discover my thoughts on the book as well as enter a giveaway.

Title: Seeds of Beauty: Defining Your Beauty and Style From The Inside Out:

Author: Lakeysha-Marie Green

Drawings By: Alyse DeCavallas

Publisher: Createspace

Published: May 30, 2013

Pages: 216

Format: Paperback

Source: Received From Author In Exchange For An Honest Review

My Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:

What's the real secret of radiant beauty? It may come as no surprise that how we look on the outside is directly connected to the beauty deep inside us. What's more, when we are imbalanced with the weight of low self-esteem, it's all-too-visible in our physical appearance. That's why every truly successful makeover begins by reconnecting with who we are at our very core-long before the swipe of the credit card or snip of the shears. Now, fashion stylist Lakeysha-Marie Green has written a groundbreaking new guide to developing show-stopping beauty from the inside out. Inspirational and easy to use, The Seeds of Beauty seamlessly joins the key elements of inner beauty with savvy, expert advice on making the most of your own physical attributes. In Part One, "Beauty Within," you'll learn how to build a foundation of self-love, exploring subjects such as acknowledging your value, developing resilience and finding the courage to move forward. Part Two, "Beauty Reflected," offers you practical advice on wardrobe fundamentals to bring out your beauty and create a winning style. By combining these equally important aspects of true beauty, this gorgeous resource comes together in one illuminating journey that looks as fabulous as it feels. The Seeds of Beauty challenges you to discover just why you are uniquely beautiful on the inside. Once you have embraced your own brand of beauty, you'll be truly motivated to master the building blocks to accentuate your appearance-and glow with your own exquisite beauty from the inside out.

Want To Read It For Yourself?

AMAZON

Melissa's Musings:

This book is a pleasant mix of self help and fashion. The book just jumps right in, there isn't really a solid preface as to what the goal of the book is. In a sense, it's a bit free-spirited. I don't mind this, but it would have been nice if there were a little more setup/introduction rather than just jumping right in to things.

Each chapter has an inspirational quote as a sub-heading and this was a really nice feature. The quotes were well suited to each of the different chapters. I also thought it was great that the book focused on the self help portion first, and saved the fashion element for second, because this really ties in with the nature of the book, defining beauty from the inside out.

There are a lot of important reminders, for women on various aspects of life that we tend to sometimes have trouble with. Important messages like "Don't beat yourself up too much for your mistakes," and "Don't compare yourself to others, love yourself for who you are," are just a few of the points reiterated in this first section. The end of each chapter has a beauty brainstorm, so that the reader can take some time to reflect on these lessons and make the connections to them in their own life.

The second section is full of great fashion tips and advice on everything from body types and what styles work best on each, to accessories and picking out clothing for each season, plus more. This section is really helpful for someone like me who doesn't know much about fashion. I learned a lot about how to pick clothing that really will suit my body type well, and that will make me feel good about myself. I also learned that maybe one of the reasons I like purple so much is because it is a color that goes well with my skin tone. I'll definitely be referring back to this section of the book often for help choosing clothing.

Overall this book is really lovely. I learned a lot, with great reminders on how to improve my life through positivity and small mental changes. And I also picked up a few great fashion tips that will help me dress more confidently and shine both inside and out.

And now you can shine a little on the outisde and enter for your chance to win a Macy's and Sephora giftcard. Enter using the rafflecopter below. Here are the details:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. If your blog isn’t set up to accept the form, we offer another way for you to participate by having people comment on your blog then directing them to where they can fill out the form to gain more entries. This promotion will run from June 17 – September 13. The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on September 14, 2013. Each blogger who participates in The Seeds of Beauty virtual book tour is eligible to enter and win. Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour. If you would like to participate, email Tracee at tgleichner(at)gmail.com. What a great way to not only win these fabulous prizes, but to gain followers and comments too! Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Pretty Is As Pretty Does

Hello fellow readers!

I am thrilled to be part of the book tour for Pretty Is As Pretty Does. Read on to find out more about the book and read my thoughts on it.

Title: Pretty Is As Pretty Does (Class Reunion #1)

Author: Debby Mayne

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: June 1 2013

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: Received in exchange for an honest review

My Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis: 

Priscilla Slater goes to her ten-year high school reunion with equal parts dread and eager anticipation. Even though she s a successful owner of a chain of hair salons and no longer has the mousy brown hair, crooked teeth, and discount-store wardrobe, she still feels like the ugly duckling. But when she arrives at the reunion, Priscilla soon realizes that her old classmates aren't exactly as she remembers them. With humor and a just a touch of sassiness, Priscilla finds herself facing her own truth and she may be surprised at what she discovers

Want to try it out? 

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | ABINGDON PRESS

Melissa's Musings:

Reunions are supposed to be nostalgic, in a way.  A chance for you to relive your high school memories, meet up with old friends, compare lives. That's what happens here. But, with a bit of a twist, so to speak. Throughout the planning and preparation for the reunion, old feelings, and old rivalries and even old crushes are brought to the surface.

At times, you might even think the characters were back in high school all over again with the way they behaved. But, as the novel progresses, so do each of the characters. They learn from their mistakes, realize they aren't in high school anymore, and start to grow up and move forward.

The book is told from multiple perspectives, with labeled chapters, which works really well here. You get to see the reunion from people from different "cliques" perspective. And also from Tim's (who's an outsider to the graduating class) so that makes it really interesting. It reminded me of The Breakfast Club as I was reading it.

All of the characters were really well developed and had distinct personalities, even the secondary characters. And they all experienced growth, even just in small ways. Priscilla is a strong main character. She's determined, knows what she wants and goes after it. She's not without her weak moments, especially when it comes to Maurice, but she is also one smart girl so she's able to see through the haze of his good looks and charm and recognize what he really is before he ends up hurting her.

I felt the most for Tim, as he's so smitten with Priscilla and would do anything to be in her good graces. She doesn't really give him much in return though. She's a good friend, but that's all she wants to be, and he wants more. Since this is a series, there may be more that happens between them, which I'm interested to see.

There are some religious undertones to the story, so if that isn't your cup of tea, be forewarned. They are very subtle, and light.

The antics of this group make me glad that I didn't have to go to my ten year reunion (which was supposed to be this year, but I don't think anyone planned anything.) After reading this, it seems like more stress than it's worth. While it would be fun to reminisce with some people I haven't seen in a while, I don't think I'd like the pressure of having to prove myself, or feeling small when those same popular, successful people walk into the room.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If your looking for a cast of unique characters, complete with Southern charm and hospitality, this is the book for you. I'm glad this is a series, because I can't wait to see what all of these characters get up to next.

Did you go to your ten year high school (or college) reunion? Or, do you plan to?

About the Author:

Debby Mayne has published more than 30 books and novellas, 400 print short stories and articles, more than 1,000 web articles, and a slew of devotions for women. She has also worked as managing editor of a national health magazine, product information writer for HSN, a creative writing instructor for Long Ridge Writers Group, and a copy editor and proofreader for several book publishers. For the past eight years, she has judged the Writers Digest Annual Competition, Short-Short Contest, and Self-Published Book Competition. Three of Debby’s books have been top ten favorites by the Heartsong Presents book club. Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida received 4-1/2 stars from Romantic Times Magazine, and was named a Top Pick for the month of July 2009.

You can visit Debby Mayne’s website at www.debbymayne.com.

Connect & Socialize with Debby!

TWITTER | FACEBOOK

Pretty Is As Pretty Does Tour Page:

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2013/06/24/virtual-book-tour-pretty-is-as-pretty-does-virtual-book-publicity-tour/