Wednesday, July 31, 2013

BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY: Vigilante Nights by Erin Richards


Book Info
Vigilante Nights
by Erin Richards
Publication Date: July 18th, 2013


A "good boy" will do anything for vengeance when a gang rite kills his twin sister. Will Lucas win, or follow his sister Silver into the darkness?
After a hideous car wreck, Lucas wakes from a coma to find that his world is gutted. Not only is his beloved twin sister, Silver, gone forever, but Lucas is broken in body and spirit. He will never be a college athlete, and is robbed of what he now realizes was the most important bond of his life. Although they weren't identical twins, Lucas and Silver shared a bond so fierce it defied reason, and was nearly supernatural.
After her death, that bond seems to endure when Lucas sees Silver everywhere he turns. Either he's crazy, or Silver is trying to tell him something about the California gang initiation they stumbled into that cost Silver her life. Lucas is bent on revenge, turning on Raymond, Silver's former boyfriend; the one Lucas never wanted her to date. He forms a posse of vigilantes to take out the gangsters responsible for Silver's death, but he risks not only his own life, but the love of the new girl on his block, who knows more about Lucas and Silver than can be accounted for by mere chance


Excerpt

I leaped at him, my fist hitting his face full force. I felt his nose fracture against my knuckles and the scathing chaser up my hand. He roared and shot an arm toward my gut. Lashing gusts forced us backward, and we rolled down the side of the cliff onto a narrow stony landing. The last firm footing before we tumbled into hell. That’s when I noticed the ripping burn in my middle. Stunned, I felt the warmth of blood mushroom across my stomach beneath my cold, clammy shirt. He’d stuck me with the knife, buried so deep it appeared his fingers were digging inside my gut. My hands circled his neck. As I began to squeeze, a mountainous wave blasted the rocks and slammed us flat. Water sloshed over the ledge, dragging at us like an undertow.

He lost his hold on the knife. Pulling on my arms, he tried to loosen my grip on his neck. I dug for his jugular. Blinded by blood lust, I lost notice of everything except the sneering face pissing on my car, the lustful eyes staring at Silver, the gaping mouths when the two hotrods approached the intersection.

Another wave smashed into us, knocking us apart. He toppled backward, tumbled into the receding water. I fell forward on my hands and knees, gripping a sharp edge of rock.

“I’m gonna kill you.” Pisser sprang up bowed over, prepping to gore me again.

I rolled out of the way, tripping him. He fell onto another flat boulder. I managed to push to my feet, the dark, tempestuous sea behind me an ominous threat. Pisser lunged for me, barreling us both onto the jagged rocks along the edge. He thudded on top. I rolled, flipped him on his side, my hand fisted on his jacket sleeve. His body thumped on another ledge of rocks.

Another wave towered up. Too late. It crashed down, a bludgeoning, suffocating weight pinning me to the boulders. Hanging on for what sketchy life remained, I waited for the wave to recede. It didn’t. Another followed and a third. A triple threat.

I heard screaming. Tara or Alyssa? Strange thoughts of death flashed through my mind. A white beam lit the rocks lending their dark death a momentary glimpse of rebirth. If I died, am I supposed to limp into the light or some stupid thing? Did Silver ever go into the light? Where’d she go? She seemed to disappear when I didn’t think of her. My mind rambled.

A hoarse, terrified voice spiraled above the storm. “Help me, man. You want another death on your hands?”

Water flowed, ebbed, and I lay half over the cliff, my right leg stuck between two rocks. Frozen fingers slid over my hand. I tightened my tenuous hold, reaching forward to grab Pisser’s arm with my other hand. He dangled from the cliff, dead weight in my faltering grip. Without my help, he’d bite it hard. In one split second, I contemplated letting go, prying his fingers off the rock one by one, hearing his body plop to its death on the boulders below.


Giveaway

Friday, July 26, 2013

BOOK BLITZ: Bittersweet Junction by Ivy Sinclair


Book Info
 Bittersweet Junction
by Ivy Sinclair
Publication Date: 2013

Best friends once, lovers never, yet an attraction that can’t be ignored.
Five years ago, Julia Bell walked away from her life the moment her high school diploma was in her hand. She left her family and friends behind to start over and escape the chokehold of small town life in Benton Hill. But an urgent call from her little sister brings Julia back to her hometown wholly unprepared for what awaits her.
Ben Miller was always the nice guy. Just before high school graduation, he stepped out of that role hoping to capture the heart of the woman he loved. Instead, in quick succession he lost the girl, and the future he worked so hard to achieve.
Even though Julia and Ben are drawn to each other, echoes of the past block them at every turn. Secrets are exposed, and reality needs to be dealt with if they can ever hope to move past the bittersweet junction that ripped them apart.


Interview

Describe Bittersweet Junction in one sentence.

Fate gives two former best friends a second chance at romance, if they overcome old misunderstandings and deceit.

Give a quick blurb about the book and why readers would enjoy it.

Bittersweet Junction picks up with the main characters, Julia Belle and Ben Miller, five years after high school graduation. Julia left the small town of Benton Hill right after graduation because she was faced with some grown-up kind of decisions that she couldn’t make. Ben, one of Julia’s childhood best friends, was left confused and hurt after her departure. Julia’s sister Clary lures Julia back to Benton Hill under false pretenses, and that’s when Julia realizes it’s impossible to outrun the past.

I think what readers will enjoy most about this story is the way that Julia and Ben eventually overcome the obstacles in their path to have a shot at their happy ending. I found it very satisfying to write, and I believe that will resonate with readers.

How did you come up with the idea for Bittersweet Junction?

I’ve had several ideas for stories that revolve around the idea of a five year high school reunion. The idea for Bittersweet Junction started there, although in the end, there is no actual high school reunion in the book. That wouldn’t have been a good enough reason to drag Julia back to Benton Hill.

If Bittersweet Junction were made into a movie, who would you want to play the main characters?

I’ve thought a lot about this. I could see Emma Roberts playing Julia and Chris Pine, with his gorgeous blue eyes, would make the perfect Ben. Emily Browning would play Julia’s little sister Clary, and Max Thieriot would round out the casting as Mike.

About you as writer:

When did you begin writing?

I started writing the summer between sixth and seventh grade. I kept all of my teenage angst in a journal and experimented with poetry as well. I think that helped me start finding my writing voice.

When did you first think, wow I have made it as a writer?

My senior year of high school I won a state newspaper award for a piece of hard hitting journalism in the school paper. It was an article on how a teacher in a local junior high had gotten in trouble for showing an R-rated movie in the classroom. The day I received my award, I knew that writing was part of my life’s journey.

Do you have any special rituals you do when you sit down to write? 

I usually have an idea of how many words or chapters that I want to get written that particular writing session. It helps to have a goal because I am easily distracted.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers out there?

Take an active interest in reading about what’s going on in the publishing industry today so that you can make informed decisions about your writing destiny. The landscape of publishing is changing faster than anyone could have imagined, and it affects all of us.

Silly questions:

Favorite color? I am digging orange right now. I have an orange purse, loads of orange tops, and even my toenails are orange at the moment.

Salty or Sweet? I am 50/50 on that. My favorite snack right now is a handful almonds mixed with a handful of dark chocolate chips.

Favorite author?  Stephen King. I can’t think of another author out there who has influenced me and my writing as much as he has, and I have enjoyed almost every single book he’s written.

Favorite book? I still remember discovering Intensity by Dean Koontz. It seriously blew my mind and scared me to death (which I love in a good book btw.) 

Thursday, July 25, 2013

BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY: Speak Easy by Melanie Harlow


Book Info
 Speak Easy
by Melanie Harlow
Publication Date: July 22nd, 2013





July, 1923. The ‘20s are roaring, and twenty-year-old Tiny O’Mara is desperate for a little anything-goes excitement. But when her father is kidnapped by a mobster in Detroit's exploding organized crime scene, she’s shocked to find herself caught up in the bootlegging wars of Prohibition—and torn between two gorgeous gangsters on opposite sides.To save her father’s life, she’ll have to choose between them. But deciding whom to trust isn’t easy in a world where everyone wants something—be it booze, money, power, or sex—and no one cares what it takes to get it.Temptation is everywhere.




Excerpt
The seventeen cases barely fit into the boat, which sat frighteningly low in the water. “Come on, hurry,” Joey said. “The rain’s starting again.” He was veering out to the lake before I could even sit down. Halfway across, he stiffened and sat up tall.
“What?” My pulse quickened.
“Come here,” he said quietly, slowing the boat and shutting off the engine.
“Joey, it’s raining! Turn the motor back on and get us back!”
“Just come here,” he said, more insistent this time. He thumped the space next to him on the bench. As we drifted on the swells, I carefully stepped between the sacks to sit beside him. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. “Kiss me.”
My stomach cartwheeled. “Are you nuts?”
“Kiss me,” he said again, but he didn’t wait for me to do it. He squeezed my upper arms and pressed his mouth to mine. His fingers dug into my skin as my heart careened out of control. What the hell is going on? He picks thismoment to get romantic? He took his lips off mine and buried his face in my hair by my ear. “Inspectors,” he whispered. “Now act like you love me.”
My eyes darted around the lake, and sure enough, what looked like a Prohibition Navy boat was passing us about ten yards off. I saw men in rain slickers lining the deck, guns at their sides. With my pulse roaring in my ears, I threw my arms around Joey and kissed him as if we were just a couple out for a romantic boat ride in the rain. But fear had me frozen stiff; it must have been like kissing a statue. “Relax,” murmured Joey against my closed lips. “I’ve got you.” His low voice loosened my limbs and my inhibitions, and when he pulled me onto his lap, I went willingly. His mouth was hot, and his soft lips teased mine open. The rock and sway of the boat lulled us into a rhythm, and I melted into it, into him. One of his hands began kneading my hip, and the other inched up the side of my ribcage, his thumb nearly grazing my breast. My nipples tightened, and I wanted his hands on them.
Oh my God, I’m kissing JoeyAnd I like it.
The inspectors had to be past us by now, but I didn’t want to stop. Raindrops splashed our faces and mingled with our kiss, but they did nothing to cool me down. Without thinking, I slipped my tongue between Joey’s lips, and he sucked it gently before stroking it with his own. Picturing his familiar lush mouth, I held his head in my hands and plucked softly at his top lip, then his bottom lip, and then I pulled away slightly to rub my lips back and forth against his. His breath was hot on my mouth, and coming faster. A pleasant ache began between my legs and I arched my back, moving my hips a little. For a moment his arm tightened and I felt his flesh stirring beneath me—but in the next second he pulled away.
“They’re gone.” He set me beside him and turned on the motor.
I sat still, breathing heavily and trying to recover my senses. My whole body shook.
“You OK?” Joey asked. I was irritated to see a smile on his lips.
“No.” I stumbled over the whisky back to the other bench seat. “I can’t believe you did that.” I can’t believe how much I liked it. Had he been pretending the whole time?

Giveaway




Tuesday, July 23, 2013

BLOG TOUR: Breaking Josephine by Marie Stewart


Book Info
 Breaking Josephine
by Marie Stewart
Publication Date: May 29nd, 2013


At 22, Josephine Sinclair thought she’d finally closed the door on her past and was moving on with her life. With a stable job as a waitress, a small apartment in town, and scenic Cannon Beach a two-mile jog to the west, she was getting by.In a mansion on the beach, Dex Hartley felt just the opposite. After years of living the fast life in New York and L.A., he’d come home to bury himself in the ghosts of his past and his grief.When an old obsession comes back to life, Josephine finds herself face-to-face with Dex, turning her ordinary world upside down and igniting a burning desire in them both they can’t deny. As Jo opens herself up to Dex, his passion, and his body, she unearths a lifetime of lies and deception that threaten to destroy the normal life she’s managed to start. As her hard-earned life collapses around her, will the truth break her or set her free?

Excerpt 
When his eyes found mine I saw an instant of recognition and joy, lighting his face and eyes with an unmatched splendor. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by hot, searing anger. He strode across the house, ignoring hellos, offers of champagne, and curious glances. Every step he took closer to me sent a new wave of simmering rage in my direction, his eyes never leaving my face. He came through the open french doors and out onto the balcony as I instinctively backed up, teetering in Macy’s too-tall heels, my back crushing into the railing. He stopped inches from my face, his eyes alive with a burning intensity of passion and naked hostility. He grabbed my arms and held them in his powerful grip.
“Who are you?” he snarled, inches from my face. I was still shorter than Dex, and although I felt tall and ungainly before, now the urge to cower and disappear under his intense stare was stifling. But I refused to let him know my feelings, putting my hands on his chest and shoving him back.
“Let go of me. You know who I am,” I said, with as much defiance and resistance as I could offer.
“I want to hear you say it,” he said, still gripping me with ferocious intensity and staring at me with a pained and pleading look. I saw the confusion and fear in his eyes and wanted to do anything to take it away. He might have been scaring me at the moment, but the look on his face made my heart ache for him, and for any pain I’d somehow caused him.
 “Jo Sinclair,” I answered. “I’m the woman who dropped her groceries all over the sidewalk, the woman you kissed in the forest …” I paused, lowering my voice to a barely audible whisper, “and the woman who broke into your mansion and broke her promise. That’s who I am.” I let out a trapped breath and forced air into my lungs. My heart pounded in my chest and my lungs heaved as if they would burst. We continued to stare at each other for what felt like ages, him scanning my face for some sign, and me imploring him to accept my answer and let me go.
As if in answer to my silent request, his hands fell away from me, leaving searing heat where his fingers had been. Before I could blink, he’d turned on his heels and walked back through the house, out the door, and away from me into the night. I stood there, dumbfounded and staring after him, unable to move, unable to react.

Monday, July 22, 2013

BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: Charmed by Cambria Hebert


Book Info

Charmed 
by Cambria Hebert
Publication Date: July 22nd, 2013

***This is a New Adult book. Due to sexual content and some graphic language this book is recommended for young adults. Mature readers only. 18+ recommended.***
Life or Death? Not many people would choose death. But what if death chooses you? What if death doesn’t mean the end of your life, but the beginning? 
For a Death Escort, death is life. Death is your paycheck. Death is your job.
And Charming is the best Escort the Grim Reaper has ever had.
But when you piss off the Reaper, being the best doesn’t matter. So Charming is assigned a Target who is practically impossible to kill. He knows the Reaper hopes he fails—that he’s counting on it. So Charming vows to prove him wrong. He vows to make the kill.
But someone else vows to get in his way. Someone with a big mouth, a sugar habit, and blond hair. Someone who makes his heart start beating again. 
And so Charming is left holding more than one person’s fate in the palm of his hand. He thought the choice would be easy, that there really wasn’t a question at all. 
He was wrong.
Life or Death?

Book Trailer 



Giveaway

Sunday, July 21, 2013

BLOG TOUR: Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton


Book Info
 Some Quiet Place
by Kelsey Sutton
Publication Date: July 8th, 2013


I can’t weep. I can’t fear. I’ve grown talented at pretending.
Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them. Longing, Shame, and Courage materialize around her classmates. Fury and Resentment appear in her dysfunctional home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one—Fear. He’s intrigued by her, as desperate to understand the accident that changed Elizabeth’s life as she is herself.
Elizabeth and Fear both sense that the key to her past is hidden in the dream paintings she hides in the family barn. But a shadowy menace has begun to stalk her, and try as she might, Elizabeth can barely avoid the brutality of her life long enough to uncover the truth about herself. When it matters most, will she be able to rely on Fear to save her?

Worry


Name: Worry

A Typical Summons: Friday morning Joshua is back in class. He looks normal but tired. Worry touches his shoulder. Sophia’s sister and my penchant for bruises aren’t the only subjects Edson High has to talk about. There’s been some speculation about the Hayes farm, about how their crops have been failing the past few years. Is that why he missed school yesterday? To help his dad?

Physical Traits: Worry appears next to the table, a twitching, distracted Emotion with frizzy curls and stick-thin legs.



Giveaway


Friday, July 19, 2013

BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: Ephiphany by Christina Jean Michaels


Book Info

Epiphany 
by Christina Jean Michaels
Publication Date: July 2013

“I had my first psychic dream when I was nine. Psychic implied power, and powerful wasn’t a word I’d use to describe myself. I couldn’t foretell the future or conjure visions at will, but I couldn’t think of a more fitting word to describe what I sometimes saw in my dreams.” 
For 23-year-old Mackenzie Hill, tossing her life down the garbage disposal is easy after a painful incident shatters her life. Her heart is bleeding, and moving to Watcher’s Point is a chance to start anew, only she isn’t prepared for the guy who walks out of her dreams and into the flesh. Literally . . . because she’s been dreaming about this sexy stranger for years. 
Mackenzie is even less prepared to face the dark nature of her dreams. They’ve turned disturbingly gruesome, full of blood and murder, and when they begin to coincide with the media’s headlines, she and Aidan realize her visions might be the key to stopping a madman from killing again.
Only Aidan has painful secrets of his own, and perhaps the biggest danger of all is falling for him.

Excerpt 
 Something inside me cracked right along with Aidan’s expression. Everything he’d been hiding spilled from his eyes.

“Aidan . . .”
“I need a drink.” He strode away, leaving me glued to the spot where he’d trapped me. A crash resounded from the kitchen, followed by splintering glass. I willed my feet to move, ignoring the little voice of reason pointing out that maybe I should leave him be for now.
He was sweeping broken glass into a dustpan when I walked in. “Are you okay?” Instantly, I wished I could cast a net and pull back the stupid, inconsiderate question. Of course he wasn’t okay. “I’m sorry. I know you’re not . . . okay.”
“Don’t worry about it. I know what you meant.” He emptied the dustpan into the trashcan and then opened a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, all the while refusing to meet my eyes.
“Mind sharing?” I asked. If there was ever a time for drinking, it was now.
“I thought you were beyond corruptible.”
I recalled how he’d said something similar on Halloween. “You remember more about that night than you let on, don’t you?”
He pulled two tumblers from a dark cherry wood cabinet. “I remember you.” Amber liquid sloshed into both glasses as he poured, and a moment later he closed the distance between us. “Straight up?” The question sounded like a challenge.
“Sure.” I gulped down the whiskey and ignored the burn as it slid down my throat. Heat ignited low in my belly, though whether from the alcohol or Aidan’s scrutiny, I wasn’t sure.
He leaned against the kitchen sink and finished off his own drink before pouring another. “I’m sorry I blew up on you. I didn’t come here to make friends . . . to complicate things.”
“I’m a complication?”
His laughter was empty, cold as a morgue. “You’re about as complicated as they come.”
I stared at the bottom of my glass. “Why’s that?”
“You look at me as if you see right through me. It’s unsettling.”
“I don’t mean to unsettle you.”
“Consider me unsettled. Problem is, I think you’re using more than eyesight.”

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