book lover giveaway and linkup

Whether you look forward to the lacy pink hearts and boxes of chocolates or despise the 24 hours dedicated to romance, a pile of books is hard to pass up! In honor of Valentine's Day, author Jessica Greyson is hosting a Book Lover Giveaway, so hop on over to her blog by the 14th to enter!

She also has a Book Lover Linkup that I couldn't resist participating in:

What book do you love but everyone else seems to dislike?
None come to mind...

What book does everyone else seem to love, but you just can’t get into?

Well, there's always Twilight, but that hardly counts since I haven't actually read it. The Wheel of Time is very popular among fantasy lovers, but I found book one rather mediocre.

Love in books—love or hate it?

I'm somewhere in the middle. Although I generally avoid romances, I will occasionally pick one up if it seems to have a decent plot. I prefer the romance to be a subplot.
What is your favorite friendship/brotherhood/sisterhood in a book?
Frodo and Sam from LotR. Also Gimli and Legolas. And Merry and Pippin. Oh, and Harry, Hermoine and Ron; Harry and Sirius; Harry and Hagrid... And, of course, just about any relationship involving a dragon (does that count?).

Your favorite Valentine gift, chocolate, flowers or something else? Chocolate, dark, milk, white—other?

Dark chocolate. Also truffles, cordial cherries... um, yeah, chocolate.

Your personal views on Valentine’s day?

Too commercial, but I like chocolate too much to criticize it overly much.

Favorite sweet read?

Either Dragons of the Watch or DragonQuest (or DragonKnight, I can't remember which one was more adorable). In any case, a Donita K. Paul book. :) Oh, wait, we can't forget Pride and Prejudice...

Favorite fairytale and why?

I never really thought about it--I also don't know many other than the Disney adaptations (which are probably all wrong). I like Disney's Beauty and the Beast for the don't-judge-a-book-by-it's-cover theme. I also like the moral of "Stone Soup."

Favorite romantic gesture in a book?

Mr. Darcy: "This is a lovely house." Ha! Just kidding. Seriously, though, he's adorable for all of his social awkwardness. Especially with everything he did that resulted in this quote: "You must know, surely you must know it was all for you."

Do you have a favorite “romantic movie” that you like to watch?

Umm... Pride and Prejudice, Tangled, and The Princess Bride. The last one is really too satirical to be romantic, though. How about Pirates of the Caribbean? Yeah, I really don't know.

Favorite literary couple and why?

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (P&P), Ron and Hermoine (HP), Kale and Bardon (DragonQuest/Knight), Ellie and Bealomondore (Dragons of the Watch), Shannon and Ewan (Dragon's Curse), Katniss and Peeta (HG). Why? Because they're adorable.

Favorite opinion about love from a character?

Elizabeth Bennet has some wonderful quotes, which of course I can't find at the moment...

Favorite quote about love?

Of course, there are many in the Bible that I really like, such as: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13)

C.S. Lewis also has some really good ones:
“Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over.”

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”