{Blog Tour} What's Your Winner's Curse + Giveaway

The Winner's Curse was one of my absolute favorite books last year. I've read or listened to it no less than three times already. And I'm currently devouring The Winner's Crime. So, when I was asked to participate in a promotional tour for The Winner's Curse in anticipation of the sequel, which is due out in March, I couldn't say YES fast enough.

As part of this tour, bloggers were provided the following prompt:

The ‘Winner’s Curse’ is an economics term that means you’ve gotten what you wanted – but at too high a price. What would you pay too much for?

I've often found myself a victim of buyer's remorse over the years. Even as a teenager, buying CDs or clothing made me feel guilty because I knew that money should be going toward college expenses or the purchase of a car. As an adult, I suffer from this affliction much less often because I'm more attuned to my financial situation and have better spending habits. But it still happens.

The one thing I tend to overspend on these days is books. I'm sure that's probably a given, since we're all book bloggers. But if I'm being honest, I never feel guilty for those purchases, even if I have bought a certain book in every format available to me. ;0)

No, the one thing that comes to mind recently that I spent a great deal of money on -- most definitely too much -- is a good night's rest. My husband and I had been talking about buying a new bed for some time, but we never discussed it seriously. While we were at the State Fair in September, we walked into the Mattress Firm tent "just to look around". They were running a special where you could pair a new mattress with a massaging chair or a hot tub or some combination of those three things. It sounded great, but we weren't really in the market for any of those things.

We tried out a few beds, just for kicks, but I kept telling the husband we should get a move on before we got cornered by a salesman. Too late. The guy shows us this awesome Tempurpedic bed that massages and adjusts, raising the head, the feet, or both. We were sold. And then it came time to discuss the price. Then we were not so sold.

But we did need a new bed. We'd had ours since before we got married and it was beyond uncomfortable, neither of us getting a decent night's sleep in ages, waking up with more back pain than we went to bed with. So, we financed the bed and it was delivered two days later.

We sleep so soundly now; it's one of those that leaves your partner undisturbed when you move on your side of the bed, and the massaging feature is sooo nice. I love showing off the bed, too, and hearing people oooh and aaah over how comfortable it is and telling their significant other that they need a new bed now. :) Some make fun, saying it's an old people bed or that it's like a hospital bed, what with that function to raise the head up, but it's perfect for watching movies in bed...or reading. =)

What I don't like is when they start asking how much it cost. Because the thing was NOT cheap. I did mention we had to finance it, right? A mattress. But a very nice one. Still, if and when I finally do own up to the total cost, literally everyone has shaken their head, as if that price is astronomical. And I didn't even tell them that we got a discount because they were running a special while at the fair. o_O

A good night's sleep was worth the cost to me in the end because being rested and happy transfers to all other aspects of your life. Sure, we could have used that money for so many other things. Sure, others see this purchase as wasteful. Yes, I paid too much -- it cost more than all of our living room furniture combined -- but in the end, I got what I really, really wanted.

So, now that you know how crazy insane I am for good, restful sleep, what would YOU pay too much for?

You can see the rest of my fellow bloggers' answers to this question here.

About the books:

Title: The Winner's Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Curse, book #1
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR
Publication Date: March 4, 2014
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Title: The Winner's Crime

Author: Marie Rutkoski

Series: The Winner's Curse, book #2

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR

Publication Date: March 3, 2015

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

For more info about the Winner's Trilogy, visit the website dedicated to the trilogy. You can also play the Bite & Sting game from the book or visit author Marie Rutkoski's website and chat with her on Twitter.

The generous folks at Macmillan are offering up a copy of EITHER The Winner's Curse OR a copy of The Winner's Crime as part of this tour.

Rules:

• This giveaway is US only. The publisher will be providing the prize for this giveaway.
• One entry per household. 
• Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant. 
• Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!! 
• We are not responsible for lost packages. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck & happy reading!