Please read these full official rules before entering any contests on the Harlequin Blog. Harlequin’s Privacy Policy can be found here at eHarlequin.com.

HARLEQUIN BLOG SITES SWEEPSTAKES RULES

HARLEQUIN BLOG SITES SWEEPSTAKES (EACH, A “BLOG SWEEPSTAKES”) ARE INTENDED TO BE CONDUCTED IN THE U.S. AND CANADA ONLY AND SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO APPLICABLE U.S. AND CANADIAN LAW.  BLOG SWEEPSTAKES ARE OPEN TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE U.S. AND CANADA (EXCLUDING QUEBEC) WHO HAVE REACHED THE AGE OF MAJORITY IN THEIR STATE/PROVINCE/TERRITORY AT TIME OF ENTRY. DO NOT ENTER A BLOG SWEEPSTAKES IF YOU ARE NOT A LEGAL RESIDENT OF THE U.S. OR CANADA, OF LEGAL AGE, OR IF YOU RESIDE IN THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY. VOID IN WHOLE OR PART WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. ENTRY IN A BLOG SWEEPSTAKES CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES (THE “OFFICIAL RULES”) AND THE DECISIONS OF HARLEQUIN ENTERPRISES LIMITED (“SPONSOR”), WHICH ARE FINAL AND BINDING.

1.  ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible for a Blog Sweepstakes, an individual must be: (a) a legal resident of the U.S. or Canada (excluding Quebec); and (b) of the age of majority in his/her state/province/territory or older at the time of entry.  Employees of Sponsor, its parent company, affiliates, subsidiaries, related companies, advertising and promotional agencies, and the household members and/or the immediate family of any of the above, are not eligible to participate in a Blog Sweepstakes. For the purpose of these Official Rules, “immediate family” means husband, wife, spouse, mother, father, brother, sister, son and/or daughter, whether or not they reside in the same household.  Sponsor shall have the right at any time to require proof of identity and/or eligibility to participate in a Blog Sweepstakes. Failure to provide such proof may result in disqualification. All personal and other information requested by and supplied to Sponsor for the purpose of a Blog Sweepstakes must be truthful, complete, accurate and in no way misleading. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entrant should he/she supply untruthful, incomplete, inaccurate or misleading personal details and/or information.

2. BLOG SWEEPSTAKES PERIODS. Each Blog Sweepstakes has a specific start date and time, and a specific end date and time (each, a “Promotion Period”), as announced on the blog site relating to the specific Blog Sweepstakes (each, a “Blog Sweepstakes Website”).

3. HOW TO ENTER. There is no purchase necessary to enter a Blog Sweepstakes. To enter, individuals will be invited by Sponsor to post a comment on a Blog Sweepstakes Website during a Promotion Period. No entries will be accepted by any other means. Limit one entry per person, unless otherwise specified by Sponsor. Multiple entries by the same person shall result in disqualification.  Entries must be received no later than the end of the applicable Promotion Period. No communication or correspondence will be exchanged with entrants except with those selected to receive a Prize (defined below).

4. PRIZES. A description of the prize(s) available to be won in connection with a Blog Sweepstakes (each, a “Prize”) and the approximate retail value of each Prize will be announced by Sponsor on the Blog Sweepstakes Website prior to the invitation to enter.  Generally, Prizes shall include books published by Sponsor, promotional material distributed by Sponsor (e.g., tote bags) and any other item selected by Sponsor in its sole discretion. The approximate retail value of each Prize will be less than fifty dollars (CDN $50.00). Prizes will be delivered by mail to the address provided in the confirmation email sent to Sponsor by entrant.  Sponsor will not be held responsible for any misdirected, lost, or returned Prizes.  Each Prize must be accepted as awarded and cannot be transferred, assigned, substituted or redeemed for cash, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to substitute a prize of equal or greater value if the Prize (or any portion thereof) cannot be awarded for any reason.

5.  WINNER SELECTION. At the end of each Promotion Period, a potential winner will be selected by a random draw from among all eligible entries received with respect to each Blog Sweepstakes. If the selected potential winner is a Canadian resident, he/she shall be required to answer, without assistance of any kind, whether mechanical or otherwise, a time-limited mathematical skill-testing question during a pre-arranged telephone call.  The odds of being selected as a potential winner are dependent upon the number of eligible entries received during the applicable Promotion Period.  EACH SELECTED POTENTIAL WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THE BLOG SWEEPSTAKES WEBSITE NO LATER THAN TEN (10) DAYS AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE PROMOTION PERIOD AND MUST RESPOND WITHIN TEN (10) BUSINESS DAYS OF SUCH ANNOUNCEMENT. The selected potential winner will be asked to send Sponsor an e-mail containing his/her name, complete mailing address and telephone number. No P.O. boxes will be accepted. If the selected potential winner does not respond in accordance with the Official Rules, he/she will be disqualified and will not receive a Prize, and another potential winner may be selected in Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor is not responsible for the failure for any reason whatsoever of a selected potential winner to receive notification or for Sponsor to receive a selected potential winner’s response.

6. INDEMNIFICATION BY ENTRANT. By entering a Blog Sweepstakes, entrant releases and holds Sponsor and its parent company, subsidiaries, and affiliated, related and associated entities, and each of their respective employees, directors, officers, suppliers, agents, sponsors and administrators (collectively, the “Releasees”) harmless from any and all liability for any injuries, loss or damage of any kind to the entrant, Releasees or any other person, including property damage, resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any Prize, participation in a Blog Sweepstakes, or in any Prize-related activity. The entrant agrees to fully indemnify Releasees from any and all claims by third parties relating to a Blog Sweepstakes, without limitation.

7.  LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability for late, misdirected or incomplete entries, notifications, responses, or any replies, or for any computer, online, software, telephone, hardware or technical malfunctions that may occur, including but not limited to malfunctions that may affect the transmission or non-transmission of an entry. Sponsor is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in a Blog Sweepstakes, or by any technical or human error which may occur in the administration of a Blog Sweepstakes. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries. Sponsor is not responsible for any problems, failures or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, providers, computer equipment, software, e-mail, players, or browsers, on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, at any website, or on account of any combination of the foregoing or otherwise. Sponsor is not responsible for any injury or damage to entrant or to any computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in a Blog Sweepstakes. Each entrant assumes liability for injuries caused or claimed to be caused by participating in a Blog Sweepstakes, or by the acceptance, possession, use of, or failure to receive any Prize. Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability in the event that a Blog Sweepstakes cannot be conducted as planned for any reason, including those reasons beyond the control of Sponsor, such as infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or corruption of the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of a Blog Sweepstakes.

8. CONDUCT. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant found to be: (a) violating the Official Rules; (b) tampering or attempting to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Blog Sweepstakes or the Blog Sweepstakes Website; or (c) acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.

9.  PRIVACY/USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION. By participating in a Blog Sweepstakes, each entrant grants to Sponsor the right to use his/her name, mailing address, telephone number, and blog site user ID (collectively, “Personal Information”) for the purpose of administering the Blog Sweepstakes, including but not limited to contacting potential winners, announcing confirmed winners and distributing Prizes. Sponsor will use the entrant’s Personal Information only for identified purposes and in a manner that is consistent with Sponsor’s Privacy Policy which can be found at www.eharlequin.com.

10.  TERMINATION. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate the Blog Sweepstakes, in whole or in part, and/or modify, amend or suspend the Blog Sweepstakes, and/or the Official Rules in any way, at any time, for any reason without prior notice.

11.  LAW. Blog Sweepstakes are subject to applicable federal, state, provincial, territorial and municipal laws and regulations. The Official Rules are subject to change without notice in order to comply with any applicable federal, state, provincial, territorial and municipal laws or the policy of any other entity having jurisdiction over Sponsor.  All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of the Official Rules or the rights and obligations as between the entrant and Sponsor in connection with a Blog Sweepstakes shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the province of Ontario including procedural provisions without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other jurisdiction’s laws.