Promo Blitz: Second Chances by Jo Briggs (Giveaway)

Title: Second Chances 

Author: Jo Briggs
Publication Date: June 2013
Contemporary Romance

About the book: Layla Keyes is back in England.  Much has changed in the five years since she moved to New York to pursue a modeling career - On the outside she appears independent, self-assured and enjoying running her own successful fashion label.

On the inside she is determined to take back what she lost five years ago when misunderstandings allowed a jealous third party to manipulate and interfere in destroying her relationship with Evan Carter.

Evan Carter has spent all that time pretending to not be affected by the loss of Layla from his life.

A twist of fate brings the two back together as they are forced to share a few days alone.

Can their love be rekindled despite the secrets they still have to confess to each other?

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes and Noble | Apple US | Apple UK | Smashwords

EXCERPT

Once satisfied that all her belongings were safely in the boot of her car, Layla slammed the heavy, oak front door closed behind her, fully aware that she was also closing the lid on her relationship with Evan Carter.

She gulped down the rising sensation of guilt she felt at taking the coward’s way out by leaving when the man was still on a business trip. While sharing Evan’s sense of emptiness, Layla was unable to express it in words, but she did know that she could no longer deal with the look of pain on his face when he tried to talk about what happened. Whenever she attempted it, her throat seized up and no sound came out, only an endless stream of tears, which seemed to frustrate him even more.

Layla had not been especially close to her parents, but the abruptness of their death, followed by the traumatic horse-riding accident that resulted in the loss of her baby, had placed an irreparable strain on her two-year relationship with Evan.

Settling into the 4x4, she plugged her phone into the hands-free system and set off for Surrey, where her BFF, Keely lived. She was the only person who knew of Layla’s plan to leave Yorkshire and head to New York. Activating the voice-dial on her phone, which connected to her friend’s home number, she heard a familiar voice come over the speaker. “Hello?”


“Hey, it’s me,” said Layla, unable to conceal her subdued mood. It was becoming more than a regular occurrence and she was fed up of feeling that way. She just hoped a change of scenery would lift her out of her despair.

“Are you on your way?” Keely asked, her voice sounding tight and restrained. 

“Yes,” said Layla, suspecting her friend of holding back on what she truly wanted to say.


“Are you really sure you want to do this?” 

Layla sighed. Keely had been trying to persuade her to stay and work through her problems with Evan ever since she’d revealed her plans to leave. Layla recognised it was going to be hard, but she could see no other solution. The stabbing pain from the healing wound, caused by the accident, and the ache of her breaking heart had merged into one. 

About the author: As well as writing, Jo also enjoys reading; her favourite classics include Pride & Prejudice, Persuasion and Jane Eyre having studied English Literature before moving onto Art and Graphic Design. Current genre of choice on her iPad are dark, angsty steamy romances. Particular favourites at the moment are by S.C Stephens, Abbi Glines, R K Lilley, Sylvia Day and Jodi Ellen Malpas. Jo is also a regular visitor to eBook readers anonymous to keep her addiction under control.

Author Links

Website | Facebook | Twitter |

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: Wings of Memory by Anna Kyss

Wings of Memory

(The Underground Trilogy, Book 2)

by Anna Kyss

Cover designed by Renu Sharma

Publication Date: Sept 2013

Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Kiernan leaves his homeland, hoping to unlock the secrets that could save his people from extinction. But the path to answers is fraught with danger. He never imagines what lay hidden in the Costa Rican rainforest.

Shortly after arriving, Kiernan encounters the human girl that he spent months yearning for. Kiernan must decide between his love for Meghan and his budding loyalty to his brother, Avery. He tries to place his brother first, until faced with an impossible decision.

Kiernan must tap into magic to save his people. The only problem: unleashing his magic involves breaking his vow to his brother. What if the only way to help Avery is to choose Meghan?

Wings of Memory is a young adult, urban fantasy that weaves together supernatural lore, romance, magic, and an interesting take on Mesoamerican history. It is the second novel in The Underground Trilogy.

Book Showcase: Treasure Among the Shadows by Marie Romero Cash

Treasure Among the Shadows

by Marie Romero Cash

Publisher: Camel Press

Publication Date: June 2013

Mystery

A woman is strangled and shot. She was last seen alive at a casino near Santa Fe. Forensic Psychologist Jemimah Hodge is on the case, as is her new boyfriend, Sheriff Rick Romero. The trail has already grown cold when another woman is murdered under similar circumstances. The first dead woman left behind a disgruntled ex-spouse but no other obvious suspects. Gilda Humphreys, the second victim, is another story. First there is her househusband, then there are all her co-workers … It seems no one is shedding a tear for Gilda.

While going through Gilda's field notes, Jemimah discovers that the woman was experiencing a sexual renaissance. Could one of her lovers have killed her? Then there is Tim McCabe's treasure hunt. A wealthy gallery owner and collector, McCabe has buried a chest filled with valuable coins and jewelry and challenged the public to find it. When Gilda wasn't dressing down her co-workers or dallying with lovers, she was searching for McCabe's treasure.

Was it greed that killed Gilda? A scorned lover or vengeful co-worker? With so many suspects and so few clues, Rick and Jemimah face one of the most challenging cases of their careers.

Treasure Among the Shadows is the third book in Jemimah Hodge Murder Mystery series.

Read an excerpt:

It was a typical February Day. Locals referred to the month as Febrero Loco, crazy February, because the daily weather was as unpredictable as a roulette wheel. It was unseasonably warm and just to be on the safe side, the air conditioning at Buffalo Thunder Casino, north of Santa Fe, was cranked up.
The casino was gearing up for the upcoming Valentine’s Day, pulling out all the stops with promotions geared toward attracting patrons with the cherry red Toyota Camry give-away. Blackjack modules formed a large circle around the Craps and Texas Hold’em tables. The electromagnetic field and the thousand flashing lights could easily illuminate an entire city. Waitresses attired in short frilly skirts and low cut tank-tops stopped at each console to offer cold sodas, water and coffee, and friendly smiles to encourage tips.

She walked through the automatic doors, the strong odor of cigarette smoke assaulting her senses. Vanity precluded her from wearing sorely needed eyeglasses and she squinted her eyes in hopes of seeing a familiar face, preferably male and old enough to buy her a drink. She navigated her world in a blur, peering out of heavily made-up brown eyes and beneath thin, perfectly arched eyebrows. Dark red lipstick and a heart-shaped face framed by recently touched-up auburn hair completed the picture. She was dressed in black pants, a sparkly jacket and stiletto heels. The first was to hide the extra ten pounds she carried and the second was to give her four-eleven height a boost.

She found her favorite slot machine in a corner next to the lounge, where she could sometimes score a few drinks and maybe a place to stay for the night. Of late, she frequented the casinos on Highway 85staying until closing and hitching a ride back to Santa Fe, where she hung out in the laundry rooms of motels on Cerrillos Road. She was not a hooker. She was a forty-year-old woman down on her luck, having burned all the bridges behind her. She was desperate to win a jackpot to get her back on her feet.

She glanced through the corner of her eye at the man playing next to her. He was exactly her type—brown-skinned, tall, sleeveless t-shirt to show off bulging biceps, tattooed arms, long hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. Before the night was over, they were snuggled in a corner of the lounge, sipping rum and Cokes. If she played her cards right, she had a good idea where the evening was going to end up.

About the author: MARIE ROMERO CASH was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to a family that would eventually number seven children, and has lived there most of her life. After graduating from Santa Fe High School, she took a job as a legal secretary, a field that would provide a lifetime of employment. But then, in her mid-thirties, she discovered the traditional arts of northern New Mexico. After twenty years of creating award-winning art, she began to write about it, but decided she needed a higher education to do so. At fifty she enrolled in college and, five years later, graduated with a degree in Southwest Studies. In 1998, she received the prestigious Javits Fellowship to pursue her education. Since then Marie has written several books about the art and culture of the southwest, including a memoir about growing up in Santa Fe. Treasure among the Shadows is the third book in the Jemimah Hodge Mystery Series, which began with Shadows among the Ruins and Deadly Deception.

Author Links: 

Twitter / Facebook / Blog

Book Blast: DiSemblance by Shanae Branham (Giveaway)

DiSemblance

Jason Tanner’s life has always been different from the ordinary citizen’s. It started when he was an infant and his parents were only teenagers. A computer science prodigy, Lloyd attended MIT but left a pariah in the eyes of the school’s dean—but a computer physics genius in the eyes of his primary investor. Then his theories and ideas created a holographic machine and their world shrunk as contact with the outside world became less and less frequent. A computer prodigy now himself, Jason is about to learn that the world never waits for you if you have the ability to change it: it will come for you.

Detective Bruce Durante has been handed the case of the Comfort Killer, a serial killer so named because he appears to abduct terminally ill patients before returning their corpses to their families in refrigerated coffins. When he picks up the trail, it leads straight to the home of Lloyd Tanner.

Jason has been living life through the world of Lloyd’s invention and wishing he could carry on a relationship with Boston, the beautiful girl next door. When his father is murdered and framed as the Comfort Killer, he is brought back to reality in a hurry. He is forced to destroy all of the planted evidence—and finds he is being targeted as the killer’s new fall guy. But the secrets of his father’s invention run deep and Jason, his brother Isaac,Boston, the Comfort Killer, and Detective Durante hurtle towards one another on a deadly collision course that leaves everyone’s life hanging in the balance.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Author Shanae Branham

I am a professional writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and a minor in grammar. I have also attended several years of classes and workshops in screenplay writing at the Los Angeles Screenplay writer’s Expo.

I love suspense thrillers and am a master at plot and character development. I enjoy stories with happy endings. I promise all my readers that when they put one of my books down or walk away from one of my movies, they will be enthused with excitement and joy. This does not mean there will not be some sad parts, because you have to feel the bitter in order to understand the sweet. In fact, I have struggled with Dyslexia my whole life, so you can imagine how overjoyed I was when DiSemblance won a Silver metal in the fantasy/science fiction category at the eLit awards in 2012.

Author Links
 Website * Twitter * Facebook

Tour Schedule

BookBlast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 9/13/13

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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz: life, love, & lemons by Magan Vernon (giveaway)

life, love & lemons

by Magan Vernon

Publication Date: Aug 2013

YA Contemporary

When life hands you lemons, sometimes you have to say screw the lemons and bail.

Seventeen-year-old Bentley Evans had it all. Then her Dad got laid off. 

Now she has to move across town to a small apartment and leave her life of luxury for public school and a job at the local burger place. Just when her world seems like it's crumbling she finds solace in the unlikely punk boy next door, Kai Stone. But as their relationship blossoms, a jealous ex-girlfriend and a secret to tell that threatens to bring disaster back into Bentley’s life.

Purchase Link:

"You know I'm pretty sure that all that's involved in high school dancing is just dry humping and swaying back and forth," I said as Kai helped me move my parent's couch back.
"Well, I don't want to dry hump or just sway back and forth," he said with a big grin on his face before setting the couch down.
"We don't have to do this right now either. It's a Sunday morning and all." I walked over to the front of the couch, not taking my eyes off of him.
"Homecoming is Saturday, and the only dance I know is the Hokey Pokey." He shrugged. "Besides Mom and my sisters are at small group and your parents can sleep through anything, so why not now?"
"Okay." I let out a deep breath and opened my computer. "But you really didn't take any kind of dance classes? I had ballroom dancing freshman year in gym."
"Bentley, I've gone to public school all of my life. The only dance we ever learned was line dancing when I was in grade school up in Wisconsin, and I'm not doing that at Homecoming." He laughed.
I started up the song and set my laptop down and stepped in front of Kai, putting my right hand up toward him. “I definitely don’t think there will be line dancing at Homecoming,” I said, putting my hand in his.
“And you make fun of my music?” Kai asked as the song crooned through the speakers on my laptop. I put Kai’s right hand on my hip, and then placed my left hand on his upper arm.
“This is Sinatra, I really don’t think there is anything to be making fun of, and besides I don’t think we could really do ballroom dancing to punk rock.”
“I’m sure we could try." He smiled and kissed my forehead.
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, now that we have the arm position it’s time to move our feet, and if you step on my bare feet I am going to punch you.”
He playfully hovered his foot over mine, so I pinched his arm. “If you don’t behave then I’m switching the music to country.”
He let out a big sarcastic sigh. “Fine.”
“Okay, so left foot then right foot then together,” I said as we moved in unison.
“Then right foot goes back and then the left foot meets it.”
We moved together doing a few box steps. It felt kind of silly to be dancing in my pajamas in the living room.
“You know, I really don’t think that anyone is going to be doing the waltz at Homecoming,” I muttered
I looked up to see him mouthing ‘left, right, together’.
“Well what do people usually do then?" He looked down at me and stopped mouthing the words.
The Sinatra song ended and a slower punk rock song played, one that Kai had actually put on my computer.
“Usually…" I put both my arms around his neck. “It’s kind of more of a close, swaying motion.”
“Oh." He wrapped his long arms around my waist and pulled me as close as I think two people can get when one was over six foot and the other was barely over five foot three.
“Like this?" He swayed slowly back and forth.
“Usually it’s not some sort of a giant dancing with a midget.” I laughed.
“Fine then." He bent at his knees and picked me up off of the ground, so that my legs were dangling in the air while he continued to sway back and forth. “Is that better, shorty?”
I wrapped my bare legs around his waist. “Now it is."
I leaned in and ran my tongue along his bottom lip, tracing the lines of his lip ring.
“I don’t think that’s part of the waltz." He smiled and pressed his forehead to mine.
“It is now." I kissed him, pretty hard, since he fell back into the couch with me still in his arms.
Maybe I should have taken him up on the night alone instead of Homecoming. It felt so good to just be in his arms, and the kissing wasn’t so bad either. I could forget about the world every time that Kai kissed me. It was like his lip piercing had some kind of magical powers that just made all my problems disappear as long as we were kissing.

About the author: Magan Vernon is a Young Adult and New Adult writer who lives with her family in the insurance capital of the world. She is in a very serious, fake relationship with Adam Lambert and constantly asks her husband to wear guyliner. He still refuses. She also believes her husband is secretly an alien, disguised as a southern gentleman.

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz: Expected by Sarah England

Participating Sites

3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &; Sissy, Too!

Laurie’s Thought and Reviews

My Devotional Thoughts

Brooke Blogs

M.J. Schiller, Author

Deal Sharing Aunt

Books and Needlepoint

Every Free Chance Book Reviews

[Insert Clever Quip Here]

Margo Hoornstra

What Readers Want

Authors’ Cafe

Romance Me 

Expected

by Sarah England

Crooked Cat Publishing

Publication Date: June 2013

Red Alert.

Sam Sweet is terrified of giving birth.

Only, she doesn’t dare tell anyone. Especially her grandchild-obsessed mother, or her fiancé, Simon – top surgeon by day, mind-game expert by night.

Repressed by the expectations of others, Sam feels trapped. All she ever wanted was a career and a crack at independence, but as a catastrophically failed psychiatric nurse who now injects fillers into the crinkled faces of unhappy women, a career is proving tricky. There’s something wrong with the product and now clients are suing.

Nasty work colleagues stir up scandalous gossip, and soon Sam hits rock bottom, consoling herself with button-popping chocolate binges and terrifying spending sprees.

Sam is going to have to find her voice if she ever wants to be herself, fall in love, and follow her dreams.

Alas, the wedding date is set…

Excerpt from Expected: 

I have a needle stuck in Mrs. Devine’s face.
“Is it working, Sam?” she asks.
“Oh, um, definitely. Yes.”
Truthfully? Nothing is coming out of the syringe, and the harder I press the plunger the more my hand shakes and the needle bends. This is what is going to happen next—the needle snaps off before speeding along the venous highway like a tiny dart toward Mrs. Devine’s heart. Either that, or the whole thing suddenly gives way, and I rip a hole through her head. Sweat surfaces all over my body. I must have the flu or a nasty virus. Might even faint while still holding a syringe with a client attached to it.
Damn. Cellafiller is supposed to be the best thing since Collagen, but really, it’s nearly impossible to squeeze this stuff out, let alone artfully sculpt it beneath tissue-thin skin. I don’t remember it being so difficult during training, but now I’m on my own, well . . . let’s just say it isn’t a happy situation being in a back-street beauty salon with a bunch of women expecting great things.
Mrs. Devine, my model, and something big in local amateur dramatics, is lying on the clinic couch in full make-up, coral lips stretched into her performance smile as I try in vain to fill the ravine between her eyebrows. She doesn’t have a frown line through her glabella muscle so much as a grand canyon.
The small crowd of potential customers straining for a glimpse of this miraculous demonstration is visibly shrinking back. You can almost hear the hissing recoil. I don’t need to glance up to see the sharp downturn of glossed lips and the widening of black-rimmed eyes. Mrs. Devine’s grand canyon is oozing fresh blood. I’ve got the needle fully inserted now, retracting the syringe oh-so-slowly the way I’ve been taught, while my furiously vibrating thumb tries in vain to inject treacle-thick product. Should have taken minutes, and then ta-da! But the harder the plunger is depressed, the more blood oozes out, lying darkly now in a swelling puddle of glistening, ruby red.
Hot nausea tides over me. I feel terrible, by the way, just in case you’re wondering; this poor woman had a long, squiggly frown line, and now she’s got what looks like a botched lobotomy. All eyes focus on my trembling hands as I withdraw the syringe, mop up the debris, and declare the job done. I’ve seen less blood-soaked gauze following open-heart surgery.
“There we are,” I trill, as lightly as if I just served up a plate of lasagna. “And in a couple of days, the line will be gone.”
Ignoring the horrified faces, particularly mine in the mirror opposite—so white against my red hair I look like Elizabeth the First after a nasty shock—I snap off my latex gloves, and return to its box the still full syringe with its severely weakened, bent needle. I cannot look at Mrs. Devine as she hops off the couch with blood pouring from her head. To be honest, I could cry. Mrs. Devine owns the clinic and had it gone well, there would have been a list of new clients for our new product. Instead, it’s a major screw-up. Another one. In time, she will have a scar, and that will no doubt take her mind off the ravine. But long before that, there will be that call—the one about having spoken to her lawyer.
***
My name is Sam Sweet, and I’m in total control; just because every decision I have never made was made by someone else does not mean I am not in control of my life now. Of course I am. Oh, God. Look, I’m doing my best. What else could I have done back there? Oh, God.

Purchase Links: 

 

Crooked Cat Books

About the author: Sarah originally trained as a nurse in Sheffield (UK) and then went on to work as a medical representative for nearly 20 years, specialising in mental health.

She had always wanted to write fiction, but did not begin until around 8 years ago, prompted by a house move and relocation to the South coast. Since then she has had around 140 short stories published, mostly in national magazines and various anthologies; and most recently a 3 part detective serial in Woman’s Weekly.

3 am and Wide Awake was released in May 2013 by Alife Dog Fiction – a collection of 25 thrillers, many supernatural or medically based – two of her predominant themes.

Expected is Sarah’s first novel – a comedy launched by Crooked Cat Publishing on 28th June, 2013. She lives in Dorset with her husband, Don, and spaniel, Harry.

Author Links:

Website / Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

Cover Reveal: Death is But a Dream by Erin Hayes

Death is But a Dream

by Erin Hayes

Cover by Phatpuppy Art

Publication Date: Fall, 2013

Adult, Fantasy, Mythology

Caught between life and death, all Callie wants is to live again.

Homicide detective Callie Saunders knows that death isn’t all pearly gates and angels. After being hit by a bus, she finds that it's the ancient gods and goddesses of Greek mythology who are in charge of everything.

So when Hades offers her a deal, she accepts. If she wants to be brought back to life, she’ll have to figure out who is trying to kill his son. But if she fails, both her soul and the world will be destroyed.

With the odds mounting against her, it’ll take everything she has within her to wake up from death. But the rules are constantly changing. And someone wants her to stay dead.

About the author:  Erin Gulyas is an advertising copywriter. Erin Hayes is her alter ego that writes book in her spare time. This is the blog of Erin Hayes.

Author Links: 
Website / Goodreads / Twitter

Book Blast: Be Careful What You Wish For by R.K. Avery (with Giveaway)

Be Careful What You Wish For

by R.K. Avery

Bunting Valley, North Dakota—a scenic and picturesque town where nothing dreadful ever happens—is a place where people feel safe leaving their front doors unlocked and their cars running in the driveways. So when beautiful, blue-eyed, three-year-old Maggie Taylor mysteriously vanishes, the Bunting Valley Police Department begins a kidnapping investigation that uncovers unthinkable crimes spanning many years—not only in Bunting Valley, but also in surrounding states and jurisdictions.

 Bea Miller is a penniless widow, living a meager existence among the town’s residents with her four young, rambunctious boys. Her entire life she wished and dreamed of having a little girl of her own. When everything she did to have one of her own failed, Bea takes matters into her own hands and lives by the chilling words of her estranged father, “If you want something, take it.” 

She and the boys visit a local beach and find the little girl of her dreams. She snatches the girl and they disappear in seconds, only to leave the parents bewildered and devastated.

 Through the handwritten journals of Bea Miller, she takes you on a journey into the deranged mind of an individual who believes you can make your own wishes come true—at any expense; and sadly, also at the expense of others.

Purchase your copy:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author: As a recent graduate of the Institute of Children’s Literature, R. K. Avery has written numerous, unpublished, children’s picture books, but her true passion is writing adult fiction.

“Having the ability to make people laugh or cry, just by using the written language, is a gift so powerful and I hope, one day, my name will be among those who possess it” ~ R.K. Avery

Be Careful What You Wish For is a psychological thriller.  She calls it “works of fiction with truth sprinkled throughout” and is available for sale in both e-Book and paperback or wherever fine books are sold.  Having been kidnapped from a beach as a small child, she has pondered time and time again what her life may have been like if her story didn’t have a happy ending.  Now she wrote her own ending.

R. K. Avery lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, two kids, and four dogs.  She often jokes instead of a sign that says, "Don't let the dogs out,” she has a sign that says, "Don't let any more dogs in."

Visit her website at www.rkaverybooks.com.

Connect & Socialize with R.K.!

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE (Preview)

Books to Movies Giveaway Hop (Aug 27 - Sept 3 ) U.S. only

Courtesy of Grace Hill Media, I have one copy of Grace Unplugged by Melody Carlson to giveaway. 

Grace Trey is an eighteen-year-old singer as passionate about her Christian faith as she is her phenomenal, God-given musical talent. Both traits come from her father, one-hit wonder Johnny Tray who found Jesus after losing his chart success two decades ago.

When Grace encounters her own music break of a lifetime, the sudden dive into the "real world" puts her deeper beliefs to the test. Pop superstardom is just within reach but appears to require some spiritual compromise. Will Grace reject her faith, or will she own it?

Grace Unplugged is based on the motion picture of the same name starring AJ Michalka (Super 8) and Kevin Pollak (A Few Good Men). 

This book is set to be released Sept 1 with the film's scheduled release date being Oct 4.  Find out more about the movie and download a free song at the official website, or the films IMBD.

Don't forget to enter all the other giveaways below as well!

a Rafflecopter giveaway