Book Blitz: Radiant by Christina Daley (Excerpt and Giveaway)

Radiant by Christina Daley  
Publication date: February 12th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Mary is part Vietnamese. Carter is a complete jerk. Normally, they don't talk much.

But when Mary's in an accident on the way to school one morning, Carter nearly dies saving her life. The doctors say his chances of living are slim, and Mary's feeling the full weight of survivor's guilt.

However, Carter's back at school in a matter of days, as if nothing had happened. Although, he is a little "glitchy," and he's developed a sudden and intense interest in Mary. She thinks he's suffering from major brain trauma from the accident. Or that he's been possessed.

As it so happens, Carter really is possessed. And the thing controlling him is having the time of its life learning to be human.

Featuring a diverse cast of characters, RADIANT is a funny "paranormal-lite" story about being human, being in love, and being healed.

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Purchase Links

~Amazon~

A voice called to her. It seemed close, and it was getting louder as the pain got sharper. "Hey? Hey! Are you all right?" it asked.

Mary blinked several times before she could finally see again. She was in the middle of the street. The cars had stopped and people on the sidewalk were staring.

"Are you all right?" the voice asked again. It was coming from a man wearing some type of uniform.

"What…?" Mary tried to say more, but her voice suddenly stopped working.

"Careful," he said as he helped her up. "Looks like you can move all right. Here, let's get you out of the street."

He helped her over to the sidewalk. "Stay here. Someone's calling the paramedics." And then he was gone.

Mary sat there, still in a daze. She started noticing familiar stuff all over the ground—an open book bag, books, folders, unused tampons, a shoe, and an apple with one bite mark. Her eyes followed the trail of debris to a brilliant red sports car, half of which was smashed in by a city bus.

What had happened? Mary studied the whole scene, trying to puzzle together the pieces. Then it dawned on her. The car had hit her. Not intentionally. She had run in front of the bus without knowing it. It was about to hit her, but the car had gotten in the way first. It had saved her life.

Mary thought about looking in the car. Then her feet sorta moved without her meaning them to, and she made her way to the passenger door. She recognized the person inside. Carter. She knew his last name, but she couldn't think of what it was. He was slumped over the seat with blood oozing all over his face. His eyes were shut.

Mary knocked on the window. The tears in her hand stung.

No response.

She beat the window with her fist.

Still nothing.

Mary stared. She couldn't believe it. On any other day, she wouldn't exchange two words with this guy. Just yesterday, he nearly mowed down an elderly couple while driving out of the school lot. Mary had secretly wished he'd be taught a lesson. But she didn't mean this.

She tried the door handle, but it was still locked. Suddenly, Carter's eyes flickered opened. He looked straight at her.

Mary gasped and pressed her face against the window.

Carter's eyes closed.

She stared at him, waiting for him to open them again. Waiting for any sign of life. But he was still like he was before.

Hands suddenly took hold of Mary, pulling her away from the car. Her feet moved on their own again. Someone was yelling "Miss" a lot. Parts of her brain found other noises too, like sirens, voices, beeping, and other things. The hands directed her to sit on something hard and cold.

"Miss? Can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?"

Mary didn't answer. She still hadn't found her voice, and her mind was fuzzy, too.

"Is that her bag there? Does she have a driver's license?"

A different person spoke. "No license, but I found a student ID. Her name's Mary Phan. She's seventeen and a junior here at Lewis Prep."

Mary heard a third voice. "I just talked with some of the kids on the sidewalk. One of them said her mom's a nurse at the memorial hospital."

"Find out how to contact the mom. Anyone see what happened?"

"Cops are questioning witnesses right now. Looks like she ran in front of the bus. It would've nailed her if that sportster hadn't gotten in the way."

"Anything on the bus or the driver of the car?"

"Everyone on the bus looks fine. The car belongs to a kid named Carter Maxwell. Also a junior." A sigh. "I wouldn't hold my breath. He looks really bad in there."

Mary tuned out everything else. All sights. All sounds. The only thing she could see in her mind was Carter staring at her.

About the author: Christina Daley made her first book with neighborhood friends when she was four years old. They "wrote" out some semblance of lettering with crayons, cut up a cardboard box for the cover, and bound it all together with clear adhesive tape. It was brilliant.

Quite a few years later, Christina is trying her hand at writing "real" books. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with a pet plant named Herb.

Author Links:

Website 

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

The author is sponsoring a tourwide giveaway for in which five winners will each receive a paperback copy of Radiant and a bookmark. (US/Can)

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Virtual Book Tour: Relentless by Molly M. Hall (Reviews)

Title: Relentless (Dark Prophecy, Book 2)
Author: Molly M. Hall
Genre: YA Paranormal

About the book: "Out of the darkness and into the fire. The truth changes everything."

The discovery of who and what she is changed Kat Matheson's life forever, revealing a world she never knew existed. A world filled with ominous spirits, mystical beings and dark magic. And a powerful ruler who will stop at nothing to achieve his ultimate goal: her death. Now, in her fight to stay alive, and to protect those she loves, Kat begins the battle to take back what's hers.

Teaming with the enigmatic Lovell, Kat searches for the clues that hold the secret to her destiny. Clues that take her to places she never imagined, exposing her life—and her heart—to dangers she never saw coming…

Purchase Links

~Amazon~     ~Barnes and Noble~

My thoughts: This is the second book in the Dark Prophecy series and I would recommend reading them in order.  I read Reckoning yesterday(review is below) and was so happy that I had Relentless to start right afterwards.  It was a seamless transition between the two books.  

I really like Kat and Lovell.  You know there is some history there somewhere - a past life or something.  Lovell seems to be aware of a deeper relationship between them and while Kat feels the chemistry, she doesn't understand it.  She is in a relationship with Rick and so tries to keep her distance from Lovell.  He makes a great trainer for her though and she has learned a lot both physically and about her powers from him. 

This book deals a lot with Kat's training and the search for some magical items that were hidden by her great-grandmother (or was it great-great grandmother?) Katriona, who is also her namesake.  Along with the magical items, there are glowing orbs, portals, and visits from sylphs!  

I don't know when the next book is due out, but I really can't wait to read what happens!

~I received complimentary eCopies of Reckoning and Relentless from Reading Addicted Blog Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Excerpt from Relentless:

Using a poker, Lovell shifts the remnants of blackened logs, adding two fresh ones to the top. Stepping back, he lowers his head and stares into the firebox. Two small flames appear, slowly working their way up from the bottom of the pile. Growing larger, they sweep up and around the logs, the wood popping and snapping as it ignites.
I look at him in astonishment. "How did you do that?"
"I'm a man of many talents," he says, pouring water into a mug. He takes a sip. "You can do it, too."
"What?" I shake my head. "There's no way…"
"Yes, you can."
I cross my arms, one hip thrusting out. "How?"
"Come here." Lovell gestures me forward, positioning me in front of the hearth. He sweeps his hand through the air and the fire goes out.
I look at him, a comment on the tip of my tongue. He returns the look, one eyebrow raised. I swallow the comment and exhale through my nose. Standing behind me, he places his hands on the side of my head.
"Clear your mind and concentrate," he says. "Don't think about anything but the fire. Picture the flame where you want it to appear."
I take a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Closing my eyes, I try to empty my mind. But it's impossible. Too many thoughts, too many images flash in a Technicolor stream.
"Concentrate, Kat," Lovell whispers. "Nothing but the flame."
I can't help but wonder if he can actually read my thoughts. I hope not because the feel of him behind me is conjuring images I don't want to think about. Or him to know.
"Just the flame," he repeats.
I force myself to think of nothing but a blank wall. Black and empty. When I've succeeded, I picture a flame, small and hot, working it's way through the wood.
"Keep focusing, Kat. Don't let it go."
I picture it building and building, growing larger as it consumes the logs. I hear Rick gasp behind me. But I keep the image in my head, holding onto the flame until the logs are ablaze with fire. The logs begin to shift, morphing into twisted, fiery shapes. They pop and sizzle as sap bleeds out of them. And, then, they aren't logs anymore. They've melted and burned, realigning themselves into a shape that becomes slowly human. A head and shoulders and torso emerge. It grows taller and taller. The flames part to reveal a face.
Aratus.
He smiles, his silver-blue eyes challenging me. I will the flames higher and hotter and he throws his head back and laughs. I can feel the heat washing over me, the sweat accumulating on my forehead, my neck. I push my energy forward again, and the flames engulf him, igniting his hair, his flesh. His face begins to melt and I feel a surge of power, so energizing, so invigorating, it's intoxicating. I revel in it, thrilling to the force pouring through my blood.
"Kat!" Lovell's voice is far away, a distant echo on the wind. "Kat!" It comes again, louder this time. "Stop!" He pulls me away from the fireplace, swiping his hand through the air.
I gasp and stare at the hearth. At the logs, now no more than ashes. At the black scorch marks, reaching towards the mantle. Rick is looking at me with a mixture of shock and awe. "What happened?" I stammer.
"You almost turned this place into an inferno," Rick says.
I look at Lovell.
"That is not what I expected," he says. "At this stage in your training, you should not be able to do that."

About the author: I’ve spent most of my life in Colorado and currently live just outside of Denver. I write my books on a laptop perched atop a rather creaky desk, surrounded by two crazy and loving cats. I love to travel and have visited 27 of the 50 states, as well as Canada, Ireland and England. And there are still a lot of places I want to go.

I spent entirely too many years in the gray dullness of the corporate world, imagining something more exciting as I punched numbers on a keyboard. During that time, I worked on a degree in English Literature, but never quite managed to complete it. Mostly because I was too busy reading and creating fantasy worlds in my head. It’s actually my love of reading and imagining that led me to take up writing full time. I thought I should finally give all the characters in my head a voice.

Music is a huge part of my life and plays a big role in the creation of my books. Although I listen to everything from Johann Sebastian Bach and Dvorak, to Glen Miller and Bobby Darin, to Rihanna and Nox Arcana, as well as movie and video game soundtracks, there are two bands whose music is practically my lifeblood: Daughtry and Linkin Park. I will listen to or see them live anytime, anywhere.

I’m a fan of British television, Doctor Who (favorite doctor? David Tennant. Let the debate begin!), The Vampire Diaries, Japanese animé, Ghost Hunters, MI-5 and Eureka. And anything featuring James McAvoy. And I probably would never be able to unwind without That 70′s Show.

When I’m not reading and writing, you'll probably find me listening to music, practicing yoga, working on my very inadequate French, playing piano, enjoying a lovely glass of red wine or champagne, or looking for inspiring landscapes to photograph.

Author Links:

~Website~     ~Twitter~     ~Facebook~

Don't forget to check out Book 1 - Reckoning

"They say the truth can set you free. I found out it can kill you."

Seventeen-year-old Kat Matheson has never revealed the dark secret that sets her apart from everyone else: She can see and hear the dead. Until now, she has been able to ignore the strange apparitions and whispering voices. But it may not be that simple anymore. Haunted by eerie visions and increasingly frightening nightmares, Kat begins to fear she may be the target of a dark and ominous force from beyond the grave. Complicating matters is the arrival of her new neighbor, a young man she instinctively distrusts but is inexplicably drawn to. Gorgeous and mysterious, he seems to hold a disturbing knowledge of her long-held secrets.

As she desperately tries to maintain control, events take an unexpected and violent turn. Discovering that nothing is what it seems and that her psychic abilities may involve far more than just communing with the dead, Kat may be forced to confront her worst fears and the powerful curse that controls her destiny.

My thoughts: This book starts the Dark Prophecy series off with a bang.  You are introduced to Kat, her best friend Rachel, her "hot" neighbor Lovell, and her "crush" Rick.   Kat hasn't had a lot of friends through school as she has been busy trying to "not" see the visions that distract her. She is able to keep them away for long stretches of time, but lately they are becoming more persistent.  She doesn't think she can share them with Rachel and certainly not with Rick, as he has finally asked her out on a date!

Her new neighbor, Lovell, moves in and he seems to know more about Kat than he should.  He slowly starts dropping hints as to her powers and that there is more to the world than meets the eye.

There is a hint of mystery and romance along with the paranormal aspects of this book.  It was a quick read and ended with the perfect transition for book 2.

Cover Reveal: Melted Tears by Annabelle Blume

Melted Tears

Outlier Chronicles Book 2

by Annabelle Blume

Publisher: Inkspell Publishing

Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Release Date: August 2013

Two lovers face off against a government determined to keep them apart. It’s only brave if it’s hard.    

After a decade of being alone in the wilderness, Cressenda is still adjusting to life with the man of her dreams. When Beckett hatches a plan to break her parents out of The Affinity prison work camps, Cressenda must make the biggest sacrifice of her life; trading her freedom for her parents’. Cressenda’s fortitude is tested at every turn, from surviving the conditions of West Fallen work camp to believing in Beckett’s dedication to their plan and their love, even when it looks like all hope is lost. With the help of a unlikely ally, Cressenda learns to stop fighting against her fears and embrace the power of fighting for her dreams.

Will trusting Beckett to take down The Affinity be the ultimate show of faith or a fatal mistake? 

About the author: Annabelle is a Science Fiction and Urban Fantasy Romance author, that is, when she's not checking homework or begrudgingly cooking dinner.  Wife, mother, and creator of alternate worlds, Annabelle has a penchant for that which is outside the norm.

Her Sociology degree has given her the ability to construct worlds that exist only in her head and translate them passionately to the page.  The time spent studying individuals, interpersonal relationships, and particularly, women, within the constraints of our society led to Annabelle's unabashed ability to talk about sex as it fits into our modern lives. 

She's also the author/personality of The Bombshell Mommy at Vitacost.com, where she expounds her knowledge of being a vixen clad in sweatpants.

A serial book monogamist, Annabelle is deeply devoted to the literary love of her life until the next amazing book falls into her clutches and she obsesses anew. 

You can read Annabelle at her official author page, Twitter and stay up-to-date via her author Facebook page.

Don’t forget to check out the first book

A decade surviving on her own. 
Three days with the enemy. 
Can love conquer all?

Cressenda knows how to survive. With her sled dogs as her only companions, she’s spent the past ten years hiding in the snow covered wilderness from the oppressive regime of the Affinity. When a routine trip to civilization takes a turn for the worst, Cressenda is forced to take refuge with the enemy or lose her life to the frozen countryside.

But Beckett, a Guard of the Affinity, is more than a man in uniform. His desperate need to help Cressenda escape both- the blizzard and the Affinity- makes her feelings for him all the more troubling. Will Beckett be true to his word and set Cressenda free? Will her heart let her leave after all they’ve shared?

Cover Reveal: Love Among Pigeons by Abria Mattina (Giveaway)

Love Among Pigeons

by Abria Mattina

Publication Date: Aug 23, 2013

Genre: YA Contemporary

In this companion novella to Wake, Frank invites the Kirk family home to Smiths Falls for Thanksgiving weekend. Holidays are always a trial for the family that lost their daughter and sister, but Frank is hopeful that this Thanksgiving will be the exception. He has some happy news to share. If only he wasn’t so reluctant to talk about it.

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About the author: Abria Mattina works in marketing and book production. She holds a Certificate in Publishing from the New York University Summer Publishing Institute and a degree in English Literature and Psychology from the University of Ottawa. When she isn’t writing she enjoys travelling, eclectic books, blogging, and baking. She lives with her fiance, Daniel.

Her debut novel, WAKE, is about the struggle to redefine life after experiencing cancer and caring for an ill loved one.

Author links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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Book Blitz: Nomad by JL Bryan (Giveaway)

Nomad

by JL Bryan

Publication: July 26, 2013

Genre: NA Time Travel Dystopian Novel

A new dystopian novel from the author of Jenny Pox - coming July 26.

They took everything: her family, her home, her childhood.

By the age of nineteen, Raven has spent most of her life in the sprawling slums of America, fighting as a rebel against the dictatorship. When the rebellion steals an experimental time-travel device, she travels back five decades to the year 2013. Her plan: assassinate the future dictator when he is still young and vulnerable, long before he comes to power. She must move fast to reshape history, because agents from her own time are on her trail, ready to execute her on sight.

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An excerpt from the first chapter of Nomad by J.L. Bryan

Her hands were red with blood, but the cold rain washed it away.  Whose blood?  She couldn’t remember.

She became aware of pain throughout her body.  Freezing water and tiny hailstones lashed her face as she stumbled through a storm.  Dying thunder echoed in her ears, and crackles of lightning faded in the night around her.

A pair of lights rushed toward her through the darkness, but her brain couldn’t interpret what her eyes saw.  A long screech ripped through her ears, followed by shrill bleats.

Car horns, she realized as the lights loomed closer.  Through her thick, fuzzy brain, it dawned on her that she was staggering along a multi-lane road, seconds away from getting splattered across the oncoming grill of an eighteen-wheeled truck.

She discerned a dark space off to her left and moved into it, stepping from hard pavement into squishy wet earth.  The truck that had nearly killed her squealed past as the driver braked, dousing her with a wave of cold mud.  Horns blew at the stopped truck blocking up the left lane.

She rubbed her eyes and tried to grasp her surroundings—a grass median dividing an interstate highway, up to her ankles in frigid mud.

She couldn’t remember where she was, or how she’d come to be there.  After a moment’s reflection, she realized she wasn’t entirely sure who she was, either.

Raven, she remembered.  She clung to that word like a lifeline. My name is Raven.  It is now, anyway.  She’d once had a different name, but that original, scribbled-on-the-birth-certificate name no longer mattered.

She wore black boots and a long black jacket.  A backpack weighed down her shoulders, but she didn’t know what it contained.  She trudged on weak, trembling legs toward an overpass bridge ahead.  Once she was out of the downpour, she could gather her brains and figure things out.  She didn’t seem to be bleeding, so the blood on her hands must not have been her own.

“Hey!  Hey there, girl!  You all right?” shouted the truck driver who had almost flattened her.  More cars honked and swerved to avoid crashing into the back of his trailer, which was decorated with puffy pink sheep.

Raven squinted up at him.  The man was in his forties, severely overweight, with a handlebar mustache and scratchy, graying beard stubble.  His blue and white cap read: MoonPie: The Original Marshmallow Sandwich!

“I’m fine!” she shouted through the downpour. “Keep going!”

“You got a car?” he asked.

“No,” she told him. “I don’t think so.”

“Where you headed?”

“I don’t know.”

“The troopers gonna lock you up if they see you!  You drunk or what?”

“I don’t think so.” She raised a hand to her mouth to check her breath.  Not drunk.

The trucker eyed her up and down, a soaking wet girl stumbling along the interstate alone at night, and then he swung open the passenger door.

“Best climb on up in here with me,” he said. “Gonna freeze your pants off out there.”

Raven looked at the gruff, obese man and the warm, sheltered transport he was offering, and then at the overpass bridge in the distance.  Her legs were rubbery.  She might not make it to the overpass before she collapsed.

“Lady, I got to get moving,” he said. “You want a ride to the exit or what?”

“Yeah,” Raven said.  She had no reason to trust him, but he seemed soft-bodied and slow.  If he tried to get rough, she would break his wrists.   Even in her current state, she knew she could take him if he pushed her to it.

Raven stumbled around to the passenger side and struggled to climb with her weakened limbs until he took her arms and pulled her up.

“Thanks,” she whispered, still shivering.  She was almost too weak to pull the door closed.

“Just glad you ain’t tore in half.” He settled back into the driver’s seat, and it groaned under his weight. “You musta been one, two, three, four inches from me.  Or less.  Just popped up outta nowhere when that lightning hit.” He drove cautiously through the storm. “Didn’t seem like no normal lightning, you ask me.  What was you doing out there?   That big flash hit the road, then you come stumbling out....Did the lightning get you?”

“I don’t know,” she said.  The interior of the cab smelled like cigarette smoke and old hamburgers.  A collage of small objects was glued to the dashboard—action figures, an old watch face, postcards, salt and pepper shakers.  Hail clattered on the cab’s roof.

“You don’t know?” he asked.

“Sorry.” Raven shrugged off her backpack and set it on the floor between her wet boots.  She wanted to see what was inside it, but not while he was watching.

“It’s Jebbie, by the way.” He offered his calloused hand, and she hesitated a moment before taking it. “Jebbie Walters.  From Yazoo City, Mississippi.  You got a name, darling?”

“Angela.  That’s my name,” Raven said.  She knew not to trust a stranger with data about herself.  He might be the enemy, and she felt informants and spies were everywhere, looking to report those who resisted.

“Huh.  Where you from, Angela?”

She tried to remember, but finally shrugged.

“You ain’t gotta tell me,” he said. “You going north?  Cause that’s where I’m going, way up north of here.  You might want to hop out quick if that ain’t your plan.”

“I’m not sure.”

“You ain’t sure about much of nothing, are you?”

“Not right now,” Raven said.

“I guess I ought to drop you up at the exit.”

“You can.” Raven shrugged. “I think I’m lost.”

He looked her over again. “Tell you what.  About three, four, five miles from here’s a good spot, the Big Porcupine Travel Plaza.  Got showers, motel rooms, an all-night-you-can-eat place.  We could stop there, get you a place to sleep.  Maybe in the morning you’ll start to remembering things.  I figure you just need to sleep it off.  You’re on drugs or something, ain’t you?”

“Maybe,” Raven said.

He laughed. “It’s okay by me.  I don’t do drugs, myself.  Just pills and booze.  Well, you think about what you want to do.”

He turned up the radio, where a woman sang a slow, gentle song that Raven gradually recognized.  Someone—her mother?—had once played it on the piano.  It was an old song called “The Rose.”

“Uh, sorry.” Jebbie blushed pink and spun the radio knob. “I, uh, usually find a good honky-tonk or country gold station.  Don’t know how my radio ended up on that soft-rock junk, or whatever that was.  Yeah, here we go.” He found a song with a steel guitar and a man singing about his wife leaving him for his boss.

Raven looked at herself in the rain-streaked side mirror.  She was about twenty years old, maybe nineteen.  That felt right.  Her black hair was pulled into a short ponytail with a rubber band.  She wore all black: boots, fatigues, blouse, backpack, jacket.  The knee-length jacket was made of a stretchy artificial material with a texture like a crocodile’s back.  She felt a web of metallic fibers between the layers of leathery fabric. That’s armor, she realized, and she wondered why she might need armor.  Her only jewelry was on her left wrist, a thin silver bracelet with a large moonstone.

She tried to reach back in time with her mind.  She’d been stumbling along the highway.  The moment before that: what?  It was a solid blank slate, as though a giant magnet had wiped her brain clean.  Perhaps the trucker was right, and she’d been struck by lightning.

Raven, she reminded herself. I know my name.

About the author: J.L. Bryan studied English literature at the University of Georgia and at Oxford, with a focus on English Renaissance and Romantic literature. He also studied screenwriting at UCLA. He lives in the metro Atlanta sprawl with his wife Christina, where he spends most of his day servings the toddler and animal community inside his house. He is the author of the Paranormals series and the Songs of Magic series.

His novel Jenny Pox is currently free on Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, Sony, Kobo, and Nook!    

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

The author is allowing me to giveaway one eCopy of Nomad to one of my readers.  This giveaway is open internationally and will end on July 31.  Just enter through the rafflecopter below.

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A Wicked Kind of Dark by Jonathan K. Benton - Giveaway!

Author Jonathan K. Benton



Jonathan Benton always wanted to write books, having won first place in a short story competition when he was ten. Inspired by writes such as Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, Jonathan first discovered the crossover genre of literary/fantasy while reading Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Jonathan grew up in New Zealand, dreaming of travelling to London and finally making the pilgrimage in his mid-twenties. Returning from England, he settled in Australia, the country he now calls home, and decided to take his writing seriously.

Website * Twitter * Facebook

A Wicked Kind of Dark

Robert Duncan no longer believes in magic. A mysterious call about a blood moon, however, leads him back to the magical world of his childhood and to Luthien, the beautiful girl with flame-coloured hair, who he loved and lost.



As Robert unravels the secrets of his childhood, darkness enters his life and an ancient evil awakens. To have any chance of defeating the dark forces that would destroy two worlds, Robert must find Luthien before the rise of the blood moon. He must, once more, believe in magic …



A Wicked Kind of Dark mixes vast and spectacular fantasy landscapes with gritty urban reality. A must-read for people of all ages who believe in the power of imagination, and the importance of never losing touch with your inner child.

Giveaway Details

$10 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Open Internationally

Ends 8/15/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

*An additional $10 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash is available to anyone who shares this giveaway on their blog.  See link in the rafflecopter form.

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15 Minutes by Jill Cooper - Book Review

Title: 15 Minutes
Author: Jill Cooper

About the Book: I have 15 minutes to save my mother’s life….

15 minutes is all the Rewind Agency gives you in the past, but for Lara Crane it’s enough time to race through the city, find her mother, and stop her from being killed in a mugging that happened over ten years ago.

But that’s not how it happened. The story she’s been told all her life is a lie and when Lara takes a bullet meant for her mother, her future changes forever.

The love of her life acts like a stranger. Her simple life is replaced with a giant house, glamorous clothes and a new boyfriend.

Except someone knows her secret. And he will try to stop her at every turn as she races against the clock to unravel a dangerous conspiracy.

15 Minutes is an edgy high octane YA thriller that can be described as Back to the Future meets Inception where the people Lara trusts change in an instant. She is in a timeline she doesn't understand, and is about to make one fatal mistake as she faces an enemy so familiar, he’s family.

Purchase Links:

~Amazon~     ~Barnes and Noble~     ~Kobo Books~     

My thoughts: Talk about trying to wrap your mind around the complexities of time travel and what ifs!   Lara has been told that when she jumps back into time, it is like she will be a hologram.  People will be able to see her, but they will not be able to interact with her.  This truth does not hold true in her case though.  On her first jump she runs into a waitress and knocks her tray out of her hands.  This knowledge sets off a chain of events that quickly escalate out of Lara's hands.  

As the past changes, so does the present and Lara has a new family and a new boyfriend and doesn't know who she can trust.  It is not the present that she wanted when she jumped into the past and now she knows she must jump again.

As you can see from the excerpts below - this book contains both action and romance.  I think Ms. Cooper did a good job of letting you know which reality you were in as it could have gotten very confusing.  It was also interesting to see how Lara's feelings and memories change after she comes back from the past.  How hard would it be to be living one way of life and then 15 minutes later to have a totally new reality and new memories flooding your brain - but still have the old memories as well?  

I look forward to reading more by Jill Cooper.

~I received a complimentary eCopy of 15 Minutes from the author in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Action

Locker 63.

My eyes sweep aisle after aisle until I find the one I’m looking for. It’s blue and unassuming, but it could unlock the secret to everything. I lick my lips as I insert the key, close my eyes, and with a prayer, twist.

Click.

The door opens, and inside I find more than documents. There’s also a pink hoodie, a duffle bag, and a fresh change of clothes.

What was I preparing for? What was I doing? I open the manila envelope on the bottom and flip through the documents—a lot of reports, surveillance photos, old newspaper clippings. I don’t have time to go through all of it now, so I stash them in my duffle bag and throw on some new clothes.

A tight-fitting t-shirt, pink hoodie, and comfortable blue jeans are my new outfit. It’s a weird choice for trendy, sophisticated Lara, but she was up to something big. Real big.

I lift the hidden duffle bag out of the locker, surprised at how hefty it is. I unzip it and find money inside. A lot of money. I touch it. Must be thousands of dollars bound together in neat little stacks.

My heart quickens as I wonder where it came from and what I was planning to do with it. If ever there was a moment for a flashback, it's now. A shining blue cell phone at the bottom of the duffle bag catches my attention. I pull it out and see a note stuck to it. In my handwriting.

Hide in the shower. Move fast.

Wide eyed and with a pounding heart, I slam the locker, grab everything, and run down the hall. I turn into the showers and duck into a stall, the vinyl shower curtain flapping against me. I still it with trembling fingers as I hear heavy steps enter the locker room.

Romance

I cover my head as a set of tires squeal. Donovan’s sports car pulls up on the curb to cover me. I dive into the passenger seat, my head down low and scream, “Go!”

Donovan peels away from the curb in a 180 and drives back the way he came. His eyes stay on the road, but his hand squeezes mine. “You all right?”

I nod and clutch the duffle bag to my chest. “Keep driving.”

“Where?” His eyes flash from the road to me.

“Police station. I need you to drop all this stuff off in case I don’t return.”

Anxiety creeps into his voice. “Return? Return from where?”

“The past.”

“Lara, you’re not making any sense.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” I bite my lip. “There’s no time to explain. I need to fix all of this so my dad was never framed and Molly was never kidnapped, and there’s only one way to do that. I need to go back to the beginning.”

Donovan drives under an old abandoned bridge. He cuts the engine and turns to me. His eyes study me, and I study him because I’m afraid the next time I see him, he won’t love me at all.

“How do we do that? Do we need to get into Rewind?”

I shake my head and stroke his cheek. “Not anymore.”

The features of his face are drawn together. “You never make things dull, you know that?”

I laugh and lean over. In the background, sirens wail and I hear a rush of footsteps. “Remember me when I’m gone.”

“Don’t talk like this. I could never forget you, Lara.”

When our lips meet, the moment is magical. I feel warm everywhere in the blanket of his love, understanding, and compassion. My mind opens up, and suddenly I remember everything.

Everything.

I wish to stay with him forever. I grip his jacket, and his arms squeeze me tight.

But in my mind, I see an alley. 

About the author: I could write this in the third person. I could tell you what I like, where I was born, and what my favorite things are.

But instead, I'll say I don't want to write like everyone else. I don't want to craft stories you've read a thousand times before. I want my novels to be a cinematic experience, blending themes, genres, and situations unlike any you've ever read.

I want to break the rules. I want you to break out in a cold sweat as you read my books out of fear, love, and excitement. I want my books to be an experience. When you finish, I want you to feel something. Good or bad. If you do, then I'll have succeeded. If not, I'll keep trying.

Author Links:  Jill Cooper, Twitter, Facebook

Cover Reveal: Out From Under You by Sophie Swift (Giveaway)

Out from Under You by Sophie Swift 

Series: Smart Girls Finish First #1 

Publication Date:  August 2013 

Genre: New Adult Romance

“Love is an earthquake. It comes when you least expect it. It rips the ground clear away. Right out from under you.” 

The day Lia Smart met Grayson Walker, eight years ago, was the day she fell helplessly in love with him. Coincidentally, it was the same day Grayson fell in love with someone else: Lia’s smarter, sexier, superior-in-every-way older sister, Alex. 

Now, nearly a decade later, Alex and Grayson are long over and twenty-two-year-old Lia has finally managed to forget all those lonely nights she spent pining after her sister’s boyfriend. But when Grayson unexpectedly arrives back in town with Alex for Labor Day weekend and the two announce that they’re not only back together but engaged, all the feelings that Lia buried suddenly come bubbling back to the surface. 

But Lia is no longer the awkward, gangly tomboy she was at fourteen. Far from it. And Grayson is conflicted by the lustful thoughts he’s now having for her. He knows he could never act on those thoughts, however. Grayson has always prided himself on being one of the “good guys.” But as the weekend wears on, he’s finding this new grown-up version of Lia more and more impossible to resist... 

Heartbreaking and sexy with a dash of humor, Sophie Swift crafts a passionate, unforgettable tale about desire, growing up, and the kind of love that shakes us to the core. 

*Contains adult situations and explicit content. Recommended for ages 17+.

About the author: Sophie Swift is an east coast girl who recently transplanted to Southern California. She writes about sexy boys by day, and dates them by night. Her sizzling, new adult romance, OUT FROM UNDER YOU, the first in a new contemporary series, will be released in August of 2013. She loves books that quicken her pace, music sung by adolescent boys, and cupcakes with too much frosting.

Author links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter  

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