Sorry, I actually started to do this this morning but we started picking up the house. Then watching an episode of Firefly on Blu Ray (my husband has never seen it before and I’m always happy to watch it again). And then we had to get dressed and go to the mall, where we spent 2 hours getting Brianna’s pictures taken for my MIL (long story and really painful experience. Ugh). And then we spent another hour in line so Brianna could see Santa. Gah! No more mall, please. But at least I’m getting it done before I leave for date night with my husband. He suggested it would be okay if I waited until tomorrow. Heh.
So anyway, Day 12. Thanks for all the wonderful things you guys said about the contest. I do have to admit, I’m kind of glad it’s over. Not the least because I can get all these boxes out of my bedroom! I feel for my mailman because I’m doing home pick up. For almost 20 boxes. Poor guy. On the good side, I do give him a gift card every year for Christmas (this year it’s to Famous Dave’s) and cold gatorade on hot days in the summer. So it’s not like I’m the WORST customer on his route. I don’t think.
The Day 12 winner is Maureen who said:
It’s been fun to see what prizes you’ve offered each day, of course. But it’s also been great to just think about the answers to all the different and unique questions you’ve asked and seeing what others thought too.
Maureen, please use the contact form to get me your full name and mailing address as soon as possible. If I don’t hear from you by Tuesday at 5pm Eastern, I’ll redraw for a new winner.
I know you’re all waiting for this part. The Kindles. After I disqualified a few people who entered multiple times (one person for entering five times, all on different days, and another for entering once the first day with a very incomplete form and then entering again at a later date. Sorry, your first entry is it!) we ended up with 612 entries for the first Kindle! The first winner I actually picked was also disqualified because they had random answers instead of the correct ones (kind of defeats the purpose!). So, without any further ado, the winner of the first Kindle is…
Pam P. in Stamford, CT! Congratulations, Pam. Please contact me as soon as possible with a list of what Samhain book you’d like from each of the 38 authors I’ve listed below. I’ll load them onto your new Kindle before I mail it later this week.
The second Kindle had fewer entries and multiple entries. 496 people tried their hand at this one. The winner of the second Kindle is Julie S. from Lee’s Court, MO. Julie, you also need to contact me with the list of books you’d like.
Congratulations to both of you! Please contact me by Tuesday, 5pm Eastern to get me your list of books or I’ll ship your Kindle without the books and you forfeit that part of the prize.
Thank you to everyone who entered. I really wish I could have given everyone some sort of prize and introduced you to how wonderful it is to have an ereader. I wish for you all to find one under the Christmas Tree!
I hope to see some of you coming back to read and comment on my blog, even now that there’s no prize to be had for doing so 
Of course, if you need some short term incentive, I’ll be posting a link to a guest blog on Monday, where I’ll be giving away a prize pack. I’ll also be doing one more giveaway sometime soon to give away one last prize pack I had assembled (why, yes, I did have a lot of books and things I acquired for giveaway!)
A special thanks to these authors for contributing money towards the purchase of the Kindle. It is these 38 authors who purchased the two Kindles for the contests. Without them, there would have been no Holiday Hell contest. I hope you’ll go back and check their websites out, look up their books (from Samhain and other publishers), read the excerpts and spread the word if you enjoy them. An author’s career is made on word of mouth.
Alexis Fleming
BH Dark
Dana Marie Bell
Evangeline Anderson
Gia Dawn
Jaycee Clark
JB McDonald
Katrina Strauss
Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
Lorelei James
Lynne Maris
Mandy Roth
Michelle Pillow
TK Winters
Sasha White
Shannon Stacey
Taryn Blackthorne
Vanessa Jayne
Ashleigh Raine
Bianca D’Arc
Deidre Knight
Eve Vaughn
Jaci Burton
Jayne Rylon
Kate Davies
Kaye Chambers
Nicolette Derens
Lena Matthews
Lynne Connolly
Mackenzie McKade
Maria Zannini
Nicole Austin
Paige McKellan
Sela Carsen
Sloan McBride
Ursula Bauer
Lyn Cash/Bobbie Cole
Last, if you’ve stuck around this long, I’d love to hear in the comments if the contest convinced you to buy books from any of these authors.
Thanks again to everyone who’s participated in the last two weeks’ of contests. As much as I’m glad it’s over, I’m going to miss the fun answers to all the questions and the hopping activity on my blog. You guys have been so much fun. I hope you all make yourselves a very happy, amazing holiday season.
~Angie
Wicked cool contest! And, you watch Firefly – we loved this series and the movie too!
Just finished Collision Course and reviewed, it was excellent. There are certainly a few other authors I’d really like to try and you’re right – it is often word of mouth that gets you hooked and interested enough to try.
Congratulations to all the winners!!:)
Thank You Angie for this amazing 2 weeks!! The contests have been amazing and YES….YES I have discovered so many new authors and have already bought books and have many more on my TBB list!!!
There is another author who has a blog and I have been reading his web site for several years. His question today was what ever happened to… He was talking about other authors that started about the same time he did and never did another book. Many times because their publisher dropped them. I told him about your contests and how you keep your names in front of us.
Many thanks for introducing me to so many different authors through this contest. I will check back Monday!
Congrats winners! If I knew how to turn my text color green to express my envy I would lol.
As to authors, I’m already a reader of several. Jaci Burton, Deidre Knight,Eve Vaughn,McKenzie McKade, Kaye Chambers and Lynne Connolly I’ve read. And since I read on average 7-15 books a week I’m sure I’ll read some of the others eventually too!
Great contest all around, and thanks for the new blogs and author sites I’ve bookmarked as well!
It’s been a great and exciting 2 weeks of fun.
Well for us I’m sure and I can only imagine how happy you are it’s done. lol
But yes, I have found several Authors I intend to buy their books. Another great part of the contests were all the new Authors to be found.Congrats to all the winners and to everyone Happy Holidays.
Carol L.
Congrats to the winners of this contest! And special congrats to the Kindle winners! I was so happy and thankful to have won and to have participated in this very fun contest.
Angie, you really did a great job and your blog is in my favorites.
I’ll definitely be back to read more, always with a cup of coffee in hand. 
There are tons of authors I’ve got my eye on. Very interesting and different plots that I can’t wait to order.
Thanks again, this was great!
Where is Lena Matthew’s icon located? That’s the only icon I couldn’t find.
Pam and Julie, I am so happy for you both, (and envious!!) Congrats to both of you and all the other winners.
Angie, it was a very cool contest. I have read books by some of these authors. A couple of them are on my favorites list. AND, for their reward for being so generous, many of us have added them to our gotta-have-list.
Congratulations to all the winners. I had fun with the contests and I definitely found some new authors that I will be reading in the very near future. I have bookmarked your blog and I will definitely come back! Happy Holidays!!
@Albert: here you go
http://www.lenamatthews.com/books/excerpts/SBSB.htm
BRAVA! You and all the authors deserve a standing ovation for all the fun of the past 12 days!
And Congrats to all the winners, including you lucky dawgs who won the Kindles.
I DID see some books I want to go back and look at again. But I have to say that there is one author site that I most DEFINITELY will be revisiting:
Nicole Austin! Have you seen her blog?! WHEW! I actually forgot to look for the Kindle icon while I was browsing through the man candy. *_*
It was a lot of fun even if sometimes frustrating trying to find the icons. But I did get a chance to be exposed to some new authors who I’ll probably buy someday after the holidays and I’m flush with cash again.
Congrats to all winners and to Angela, it was a fun contest. Thanks!
Yep, I found several new authors I might not otherwise have found. Kudos for savvy advertising!!
Have a great holiday!
Congratulations to Pam and Julie!
Ah well, one of these days I’ll get an e-reader so I can more easily read my e-books!
Angela – THANKS to you and the authors for hosting this fun contest! I had to rush through the 2nd Kindle Contest since I only started this week and had a busy work week and a DH that wants me to spend time with him, not just the computer. *G* (Go figure!)
I want you to know that I wrote down the names and made comments so I could go back and visit several of the authors who I think I would particularly like!
Happy Holidays to everyone!
Yes, Yes, and Yes! I found all sorts of titles I’m sifting through to form a MUST have NOW…Must have SOON list.
I already knew I loved Lauren Dane books..but hadn’t tried Jaci Burton (though I had heard great things about her) so..after reading some of her excerpts several of hers added.
Now am going back through the Author sites as hubby threw away my 2nd sheet….and all I remember about another Author was her covers…”looked” like they were going to read Atlantis…but actually most weren’t?
Wish me luck finding her again.
And THANK YOU for taking time out of the busiest season of the year..to hold this uber fun CONTEST.
Have a warm and memorable Holiday Season!
Dana
Woo hoo, thank you so much Angie and Samhain authors!! I almost forgot to enter those, but for Angie’s reminders. Congratulations Julie and Maureen.
I pretty much keep up to date on books I want and have a list, but I did find a few more to add doing this contest, Angie, I always check once I get to a book site for any reason for anything new or that I missed. I do read the blog in GR all the time, even if I’m racing through and don’t always comment, another way I keep my booklist up to date.
Thanks again for a great contest and a fabulous Christmas present for me.
Congrats to the winners! Color me green with envy.
Thank you Angie for the great contests and fun times!
I actually have been a huge fan of Sasha White for some time now and she sent me here. She has also introduced alot of new authors to me but I have to say this contest is going to make me book rich and wallet poor. I can’t read a lot of stories at the computer becauseof nerve damage but I do enjoy paper when I can get comfy! Congratulations to the ladies that won, you really got great prizes!
Congrats to all the winners, especially Pam and Julie! Huge thanks again to Angie and all the authors for making such a fun couple weeks possible! And yep, tons of new-to-me authors to follow and buy now! Thanks again!
Congrats to all the winners! I was so sure it was my time *sniff*… oh well, me and my ebookwise will stay nice and warm by the fire.
Thanks to you, Angie, and to all the fabulous authors for putting on the contest!
Congrats to the winners.
I guess the one with the incomplete entry later submitted was me. That happened when the browser decided to sub it instead of clicking to the next line in the form. Oh well. It was fun.
Congratulations to all the winners!
There are definitely some new names on that list of authors that I’ll be checking out again soon since I was intrigued by some of the books and excerpts on their sites. The contest definitely worked well for that in my case.
Congratulations to all the winners! Enjoy your prizes and happy reading to everyone who discovered books that were up their alley.
Happy Holidays,
Jayne
I loved the contests, even though I didn’t win anything. I already knew/read some of the authors, but I discovered a lot more with the Kindle contest. I happily went to Amazon and ordered me some more books. (Merry Christmas to me!)
Merry Christmas everyone!
Patty
Congrats to the winners! I wish I’d gotten in on time to do the contest. You snooze, you lose, and I did. I will have to come back and check for more contests. I did check out most of the websites today and will probably put a lot of the books on my to read list. Thanks!
I mentioned in an earlier comment, that I could tell you were a clever girl. Sending us book lovers to all the different author sites and setting us up to search through them to find the icons was brilliant. I’ve found lots to read. I kept my lists of the kindle icon books and starred the ones I want to buy first.
Thanks to you, Angie, and all of your wonderful authors. Your generosity is heart warming. I know that all the winners feel very blessed.
Congrats ladies!
Thank You Angie and all the authors!! It was so much fun!!
I found a LOT of new to me authors and added so many books to my TBB list! Can’t wait to buy and read!
Happy Holidays all!!
Thanks to Angie and all the wonderful Authors. This was a TON of fun…and yes, I will be back. Yes, I did find a few authors I’m interested in and will definately be buying some books. I was very fortunate to win one of the daily prizes, and I want to CONGRATULATE the Kindle winners!
And thanks to everyone who participated…I loved reading the comments/answers to the daily questions.
Congrats to the winners — I nearly had a heart attack as I read the name of the second winner. But I’m Julie H. Not Julie S. Bummer.
As far as finding new authors, a lot of the authors I already have read. But I did find a couple of new ones.
I’ll be real honest and say that while I didn’t expect the authors to put the graphic with their cover right on the front page, if it took me a way long time to find it, that was a bit of a turnoff. And the longer I had to spend on a web site looking for the graphic, the less likely I was to actually check out the author’s books.
Just MHO.
Julie
Big thanks to Angie and all the Samhain authors for a very fun two weeks. Enjoyed checking out new authors and I did find new stories to add to my tbb list.
Best wishes to everyone and happy holidays.
*standing ovation* Congrats, Maureen and Julie and Pam P! Lucky ladies, enjoy the spoils
Angela, thank you for hosting this giveaway extravaganza, but it’s perfectly understandable that you’d be ready for it to be over. It’s a lot of work!
Thank you to each of the authors who contributed for the Kindles!
Congrats to the winners and to Angie too, for running an awesome contest. I wasn’t able to participate as often as I would have liked, but it was great fun when I did find the time.
I found several new books and authors to add to my growing wish list. I use this list for small rewards to myself or when someone asks what I might like as a gift.
During the hunt for the answers on the first Kindle (the only one I was able to complete) I spent more time than I should have blurbs and excerpts on each authors web page. I can’t wait complete my tasks these days with good reads as the motivation.
Thank you for the introduction and Happy Holidays.
Dragon
There are several I want to purchase…will have to go find some of my answer though to figure out where I saw them! lol
thanks for the awesome contest! Hope to see you around!
congrats winners! what a wonderful treat and thank you so much for having hostessed this event!
Congrats Pam and Julie! I’m totally jealous, but that’s okay! Merry Christmas!
Congratulations, ladies! Enjoy
And thanks for much for having the wonderful contests, Angie!
Well, I thought it was a great way to advertise for all of your authors! I have to say that I haven’t been reading much lately, though, with the baby. I’m hoping to do some reading (of books, even, rather than just blogs!) soon.
Congrats to the winners!!
I actually am a huge fan of most of Samhain’s authors. It really is all about the story. I can’t think of one book that I was disappointed with that I bought from Samhain and I have alot.
I’m always so amazed at how generous author’s are and when I get lucky enough to meet them in person at a booksigning I always try and give a little something back. After all I get so much pleasure reading their stories.
Awards and so many fantastic reviews. I was so amazed at Bianca’s website. It must be such a great feeling to have so many people enjoy your books.
Thanks so much!
I loved the contest and had a lot of fun going to all the websites and looking for the icons. By the way, that Kindle icon with the different covers was a really cool touch.
Yes, I will definitely be picking up some of their books just from looking at the different author’s websites and reading some excerpts. Happy Holidays.
I love an excuse to go visit an author website. I am actually familiar with over half of the authors and aware of most of them since I visit Samhain at least twice a week. I will be back to read the blog just because. Thanks
Congratulations to the winners! Thank your for picking my name and thanks for some fun contests.
The winners are all very lucky!! I envy not only the Kindles, but the 38 new books. I love Jaci Burton, Eve Vaughn, Lauren Dane, Bianca D’Arc, Mandy Roth, and many others on the list and look forward to reading many more stories from them and some of the other authors on the list. Thank you for a great contest.
Some of the authors I already knew and enjoyed, but since I didn’t win know I’m gonna have to go buy the books that I wanted from the ones I found during the contest. I’m blaming going over my book allowance completely on this site because of it. LOL.
angie, I just wanted to drop in and tell you how much I appreciate all you do for others. Not just your authors, and I do appreciate the job you do with books because you’re shiny (since we’re talking firefly and all) but with everyone in general.
I hope people get even just a smidgen of an idea about how much work you do on a daily basis. Without you, Samhain and the romancelandia would be a far less wonderful place.
Congrats Maureen, Julie S and Pam P! And happy holidays to everyone!
Congrats to all the winners. Thanks for these wonderful contests.
Sorry I didn’t win, but congratulations to all who did. Thanks for holding the contests. Have a great holiday season, everyone!
You would not believe the happy dance going on here. LOL I’m sooooo thrilled to win! Congrats to Pam and to all the daily winners! ;-0
A big thank you to all the authors & Angie for having such a great contest.
Hugs,
J
Congrats to all the very lucky winners!
This has been such a great and fun contest and I really enjoyed it. You were marked as one of my favorites before the contest and will stay on my list…even though I am a lurker quite a bit.
Sorry if I have already posted, but hey can you ever have too many congrats?
Congrats to Pam and Julie!
It was a wicked fun contest and there were a few times I got distracted by the excerpts before remembering I was supposed to be looking for something!
CindyS