Hi there gorgeous people! I'm excited to be part of the Landry Park blog tour and to have author Bethany Hagen as a guest in the blog today. You can find more information and the rest of the tour at the Merp Squad website, here.
About the Book
Author: Bethany Hagen (Landry Park #1)
Published by: Dial
Release date: February 4th, 2014
Pages: 374
In a fragmented future United States ruled by the lavish gentry, seventeen-year-old Madeline Landry dreams of going to the university. Unfortunately, gentry decorum and her domineering father won't allow that. Madeline must marry, like a good Landry woman, and run the family estate. But her world is turned upside down when she discovers the devastating consequences her lifestyle is having on those less fortunate. As Madeline begins to question everything she has ever learned, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself and David at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty - her family and the estate she loves dearly - and desire.
Guest Post
Does Love Really Conquer All?
I think we live in kind of a cynical time, which is the
natural outcome of decades of highly commercialized romance: Valentine's Days
and formulaic rom coms and seventeen different wedding dress shows and the
like. We tend to be suspicious of anything that smacks of the saccharine,
and we tend to embrace things that underscore the dark or ironic elements of
romance. But love isn't the same thing as romance, and I think it's good
not to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to narratives of
love and romance.
In Landry Park, there are many different kinds of love
at work. Firstly, Madeline Landry loves her house and her land. Her
estate is her anchor and her center, and all of her decisions about the future
are made with the estate in the front of her mind. We have the love that
Alexander Landry bears for his daughter--a stern, demanding kind of love--and
the love that Madeline bears for her father, which is riddled with doubt and
confusion and distance. And then Madeline meets David Dana, a person who
challenges her, who puzzles her, who seems to adore and scorn her, and a
romantic love blossoms.
All these different kinds of love push Madeline to step
outside of her normal bounds of behavior and thinking, they all exert pressure
on her to act, and to that end, it's love that compels her to make a decision about
where she stands. Not necessarily romantic love, but the deep love she
feels for her family and for her house, and for the promise of deep love with
David, is the force that eventually leads her to conquer.
So does love conquer all? Yes and no. Love isn't
an all-consuming force that takes over our bodies and make us do the hard
things. Love urges us, nudges us, to make difficult decisions, and it's
up to us whether or not we choose to. And some of the most wonderful
books out there right now--Code Name Verity, The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series,
the Divergent series--they demonstrate this principle beautifully.
Love can help us conquer all.
About the Author
Librarian by day, Bethany Hagen is the author of the
forthcoming LANDRY PARK, set to be released from Dial February 4th, 2014. She
lives in Kansas City with her husband and two children.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads
Giveaway
The giveaway is for one finished copy, bookmarks, &
stickers. US Only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Merp
Squad Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author.
Although payment may have been received by Mero Squad Blog Tours, no payment
was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to
write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not
necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of
this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade
Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and
Testimonials in Advertising*
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