How Liz and Lisa celebrate Independence Day...plus an e-book giveaway!

**Giveaway is now closed**

To us, Liz and Lisa are the rock stars of the chick lit blogosphere! They not only blog together and bring in some really cool authors, but they also host some amazing giveaways and even do fun features on their blog. We can only hope to be as cool as they are one of these days. And even better...they write novels together! They wrote one a few years back called "I'll Have Who She's Having" and now they have just produced "The D Word," which is already garnering rave reviews!

However, we do have some things in common with them. They grew up in the same town and now live halfway across the country from one another. We grew up in the same neighborhood and then moved to opposite sides of the country. (Oddly enough, we're from Chicago, but Lisa is the one living there now and she's from California.) They blog together from a distance, just like we do. They go way back, just like we do. Liz and Melissa P. both live out west. Lisa and Melissa A. both had baby girls within the past year. Their names sound and look similar, our names are the same...you get our drift. We admire their enthusiasm for chick lit and we definitely share that love with them.

Check out what they had to say about how they have celebrated 4th of July together over the many years they have known each other. And then check them out on Facebook, Twitter and of course, their fabulous blog!

To top it off, Crystal Patriarche from BookSparks PR has one e-book of "The D Word" and one e-book of "I'll Have Who She's Having" to give to some lucky readers anywhere.

Liz & Lisa's Five 4th of July memories

We love us some 4th of July. In fact, it's probably one of our all-time fave holidays. Something about the combination of sun, fireworks and an adult beverage or two makes our hearts a flutter. But as we've matured, so have our 4th of July activities. And since we've spent most of the past twenty-four of them together, we thought we'd show you how we've evolved.

1. High School: The Water tower
We were so desperate to get away from our parents that we thought four-wheeling our scrunchie-wearing selves up to a deserted water tower was the only way we could chug our Strawberry Boones and Brass Monkey in peace. *gag*

2. The college years
Back in those days, all we needed was a beer bong and a pair of roller blades to have fun on the 4th. Especially in Newport Beach-where the streets were filled with thousands of other nineteen-year-olds with the same agenda. Now we're the ones calling the police at 10:01pm. How things change.

3. The pretend adult phase
Newly graduated, Lisa was playing house with her college boyfriend and couldn't wait to "entertain". So she put out her best bowls filled with M&Ms and the martini shaker Liz gave her for a housewarming gift. Meanwhile, we both turned a blind eye to our boyfriends hitting on the bikini-clad beach crusin' hotties on the Hermosa Beach boardwalk.

4. Almost grown-up: San Diego
Being prego really put the brakes on our 4th of July. Both of us have spent a 4th of July(or two-Liz) watching everyone else party it up while we treated ourselves to an extra smore. And it *almost* prepared us for....

5. Finally adult: San Diego
Now the only floaties in the pool are on the kids’ arms as they learn to swim. And we don’t exactly look how we used to in our bikinis- or should we say tankinis. We're so exhausted by the end of the fireworks show that we couldn't lift a shot glass to our mouth if we tried. But after twenty-four years, we're still celebrating together. And you know what? The 4th of July has never been better.

Special thanks to Liz and Lisa for stopping by to share their 4th of July memories and to Crystal for including us in this blog tour and for sharing the e-books for the giveaway!

How to win "The D Word" or "I'll Have Who She's Having":
Please comment below with your e-mail address.
(Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)
Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: What is the most amazing, funniest or craziest thing you and your best friend have done together?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Follow Liz and Lisa on Facebook and Twitter. Let us know your name on either/both.
4. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
5. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)

Giveaway ends July 6th at midnight EST.