Release Day Blitz: Descent by Sloane Murphy

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Six hundred years after The Outbreak, the human population stand side by side with the Fae & the Vampyrs to stop the Demon King from starting a second Dark War. 

Seventeen year old Adelaide Tate is in her last year of the Academy, with her eyes set on becoming part of the Red Guard. 

Who cares that no female has ever joined? 

When a dark force develops an unhealthy liking for her, Adelaide needs to fight for her life and figure out what makes her so different from the others. 

Betrayal. Fear. Anger. 

She must overcome it all in order to turn her world the right way around again. 

Adelaide has one choice. Accept the help offered to her by Xander Bane, or face the Demon Hoard alone. 

One thing is for sure. The descent will be bloody.

By day, Sloane Murphy works full time as an account manager and by night writes escapism in the form of Paranormal Romance, all while looking after her fur baby & Mr M. She was born and raised in England along with 2 sisters, 2 brothers and a plethora of cousins, and comes from a REALLY big family!

Sloane is currently working on the Immortal Chronicle series, alongside some other Top Secret projects too. She likes to be busy – unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life.

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Happy reading, 

Review: The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

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A startling, seductive, deliciously dark debut that will shatter your definition of YA fantasy.

Sixteen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she’s engaged to the prince, no one speaks to her. No one even looks at her. Because Twylla isn’t a member of the court. She’s the executioner. As the goddess-embodied, Twylla kills with a single touch. So each week, she’s taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason.

No one will ever love her.

Who could care for a girl with murder in her veins?

Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to her touch, avoids her.But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose playful smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he’s able to look past Twylla’s executioner robes and see the girl, not the goddess. Yet a treasonous romance is the least of Twylla’s problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies-a plan that requires an unthinkable sacrifice.

Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom?

Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

3.5/5 Stars

The Sin Eater’s Daughter is a dark and deadly fairy tale. Full of twists, temptation, and manipulation, The Sin Eater’s Daughter is spellbinding and different in the best way.

This cover is sinfully beautiful. 

The world building. I want to live in this twisted, dusty place full of magic and lore. I want to learn their customs, and breathe in their past. It’s like Brothers Grimm meets Sarah J. Maas. The curses, the actual act of eating people’s sins so that they can move on to the afterlife and not become a restless spirit. Absolute genius and so dark. It is reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. 

Twylla is resigned to her fate. She’s consumed with guilt and riddled with grief at her past. She knows that as a chosen symbol, she must make sacrifices for the good of the people, even if she’s forfeiting her heart and soul. Twylla is complex. She wades through her feelings and slaps herself in the face with hard truths. What I LOVED was that Twylla was hard on herself. When she realized her mistakes, she accepted her complacency, her fault in everything, and that in itself was empowering.

The story got lost in the complex love triangle. It became more about the romance than the original story. I wanted more of the sin eating, the death and judgment. As an executioner, there were surprisingly few deaths. It faded away too fast. This part of the story arch needed more development before it transitioned into a full-scale romance. 

That plot twist. There’s a teeny, tiny clue, but wow, it was a heartbreaking, scathing shocker. 

Characters are brutal and manipulative. Everyone has an agenda, whether it’s pure or evil. No one is what they seem. They’re layered and wear many masks. You have to decide what to take as truth.

While the Sleeping Prince was mentioned briefly as almost an afterthought, the later importance feels like a throw in at the last minute rather than a planned plot decision. That magical transition turns the story on its head and brings it back to the smoky, fairy tale that was lost in the romance. 

Twylla falls extremely fast. While there’s build up, it wasn’t enough to offset her encounters with the Prince.

If you like any of the following, you’ll enjoy this:

Magical reading, 

 

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Twisted by Christa Simpson

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Can a man and woman be “just friends?”

After graduating from law school with honours, Edwin Santora, Abigail’s occasional ex and handsome housemate, could get a job anywhere he wants. Of all the places to land, why does he take a position with her small firm? As if sharing a house with her irresistible ex isn’t bad enough, it quickly becomes the least of her concerns. When Edwin’s macho arrogance begins to seriously affect her dating life, Abigail starts to reconsider their friendship; not that Edwin believes a man and woman can be “just friends” anyway.

With Edwin’s swoon-worthy stunts and fierce persistence, Abigail finds herself catching feelings. When Edwin makes a friendly proposal, no-strings-attached, Abigail can’t resist.

After some sexy role playing, she finds herself dangerously in love and wrapped back up in Edwin’s powerful grip. When Abigail risks everything, revealing a treacherous little secret, will their friendship pass the test? Or will they give in to the mysterious forces trying to drive them apart?

Edwin Santora’s eyes were on me the second our solid wood door clunked shut.  After kicking off my shoes and giving a silent wave to my brooding, shirtless roommate, I rushed directly upstairs taking two steps at a time.

Within seconds, Edwin was flying up the stairs behind me, all brawn and pride.  He stalked me down the hall, his large agile physique a shadow of stealth.

No matter how smooth Edwin thought he was, I could always sense when he was lurking around.

I disappeared into the bathroom, ignoring his approach, heart still racing, cheeks flushed with a healthy glow.  It had been way too long and it was time for me to move on with my life.  The days of Edwin and I were over and I had finally faced that fact.  For that reason, I trusted my matchmaking to an eager co-worker.  What else could I do?  I didn’t seem to have any luck finding myself a man.

Edwin filled the doorframe with his imposing shoulders.  “Where are you going all dolled up like that?”

I should have slammed the door shut behind me while I had the chance.  The last thing I needed now was Edwin giving me a hard time.  It had been months since my last date and let’s just say that it’s not possible for this one to go any worse than that one had.

After carefully touching up my mascara in the mirror, I twirled around to face him, my glossy, brown hair fanning out behind me.  “I got a date!”  I smiled from honest excitement, but I really didn’t have time to chat about it.

“Who is he?” Edwin pried.

“You don’t know him.”

Edwin’s chest flexed under my warm gaze, his abs held tight, sculpted from stone.  Oh, I love watching him sweat.  He narrowed his aqua eyes in response to my devious smile.  Then, as if on cue, the doorbell rang.

I made my way to the bathroom door, but Edwin boxed me out with his hip and took off ahead of me.  He hurried down the hall with swift, powerful strides, every muscle in his body twitching with adrenaline.  There was no point in trying to fight him for the front door.  He had me beat.

“Do you think you could put on a shirt, Eddie?  Please?”

Edwin shuffled down the stairs and ignored my request.  “I’ll get it,” he hollered.  He was all too eager to answer the door and his mischievous grin gave away his greedy intentions.

“Edwin, be good!” I warned, stopping at the top of the open staircase.

“What?  I’m always good.”  He flashed me a sly smile and raised his dark arched eyebrows.

I knew it meant trouble, as the butterflies danced nervously in my tummy.  Edwin had better not blow this one too.  He had a tendency of scaring away my dates.  It was getting old.  I clung to the wooden post, hoping the poor guy would pass the test.

Edwin opened the front door ever so slightly and started in on his usual act, deliberately blocking my view.  Bastard.  Then he cracked the door open a little farther, teasing, his generous back still in the way.

He folded his bulging arms over his impressive chest and stared down at my date with eyes dark and voice low.  “Can I help you?” he asked firmly, acting all macho.

I nearly burst out laughing and had to hide the smile on my face to show that I was not amused.  Even if I was.

“Is this the home of Abigail Jenkins?” the poor guy asked, hesitantly.

“Yes,” Edwin answered, but he didn’t invite him in.

“Edwin!” I warned, scowling at his back.  I’d had enough.  As I started down the stairs to intervene, I struggled to interpret their mumbling.  It was time that I took things into my own hands.

Christa Simpson is a small town Canadian girl who enjoys beaches, dancing and dirt track car races. She lives in Tilbury, Ontario, with her husband and two beautiful daughters. On an ideal day you’ll find her relaxing on the beach, reading by the poolside or getting into trouble with her girls. You’re more likely to find her procrastinating with her bestie, working her butt off or chauffeuring her active family around.

Christa delivers in modern day fantasies with the most captivating alpha men and her breezy, entertaining writing style. She’s an all or nothing kind of girl whose mission in life is to prove that women do it better. Her romance novels are loaded with passion, suspense and sarcasm, much like her life. Pick up the first books in her Twisted and Destiny Series for free—no strings attached!

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1 e-copy of The Twisted Trilogy (3 books direct to kindle)
3 e-copies of Twisted Desire (direct to kindle)

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Cover Reveal: Ripped by Lisa Edward

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Release Date: August 16, 2016

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of dance [da:ns] is “to move rhythmically to music, typically following a set sequence of steps.” Technically, that’s true, but dance is so much more. What the dictionary doesn’t mention is that the movement comes from within you, from the very depths of your soul, that place that holds all your hopes and fears, all your loves and losses. Dance is a form of expression, of all the emotions that make us who we are.

Jasmine Wilkinson

I’ve finally made it … only six years later than expected.

New York promises to be the experience of a lifetime, and if I’m lucky enough, a chance to dance on Broadway and fulfil a lifelong desire.

After graduating from Boston Conservatory, I’d intended to meet the love of my life, Baxter Sampson, in the city that never sleeps, and share the rest of my life with him. But sometimes dreams don’t go as planned, and we have to make new ones. I know Bax would have made it big; he was such a phenomenal dancer. I wish I could have been there to see it happen, but I can’t wait to catch a Broadway show and see his name in lights.

Maybe he’ll still remember me.

Baxter Sampson

Eight years in New York have all but stolen my dreams from me.

After years of auditioning for every contemporary ballet production in New York, I had to admit defeat. I wasn’t good enough to make it on Broadway. I wasn’t good enough for Jasmine, the only girl I’ve ever loved, to keep her promise and meet me here after she graduated six years ago. So my plans changed—they had to. But when there’s an inexplicable force driving you to perform, you have to catch the spotlight wherever you can, even if it’s in the last place you expected to find it. My life had always revolved around Jaz and dance, my two true passions. I’ve already lost one—I can’t lose the other.

 

Lisa Edward is the author of The Songbird trilogy, the novella Duty of Care and a contributor to the collation of short stories in Hook & Ladder 69. While Lisa has called Melbourne Australia home for her entire life, she has lived and worked in England, and travelled through most parts of Europe and the United States. She loves nothing more than spending time with her beautiful daughter, or curling up into the early hours of the morning with a great novel. By day, Lisa works in the analytical IT field, so relishes the opportunity to foster her creative side through writing. Her deep appreciation for literature was nurtured from a young age, being taught to respect books and get lost in their stories. She enjoys reading honest and realistic novels that are relatable, thought provoking and leave a lasting impression. She can’t write without music playing, using the emotions from different songs to invoke those of her characters. Lisa takes inspiration from her own life experiences, the people around her and those she has met in her travels.

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Pleasant reading, 

 

ARC Review: How It Ends by Catherine Lo

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There are two sides to every story.

It’s friends-at-first-sight for Jessie and Annie, proving the old adage that opposites attract. Shy, anxious Jessie would give anything to have Annie’s beauty and confidence. And Annie thinks Jessie has the perfect life, with her close-knit family and killer grades. They’re BFFs…until suddenly they’re not.

Told through alternating points of view, How It Ends is a wildly fast but deeply moving read about a friendship in crisis. Set against a tumultuous sophomore year of bullying, boys and backstabbing, the novel shows what can happen when friends choose assumptions and fear over each other.

3/5 Stars

***I received this eARC as a gift in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley & HMH Books for Young Readers

+++Triggers for some adult situations and choices that may make some uncomfortable

How It Ends is a brutally honest look at the many ways that friendships can fall apart. Growing up, growing into your own skin, and learning who you want to be can sometimes sever even the oldest and best friendships. Annie and Jess learn the harsh realities of high school, keeping secrets, and the sacrifices made to fit in. 

PROS:

• Annie and Jess are opposites and yet startlingly the same. They both have insecurities and issues. Not everything is what it appears on the surface. Annie cannot see her own beauty, she doubts her worth, and Jess feels the same after years of bullying and shaming from people she once considered her friends. This parallel is spot on. It is the epitome of opposite attract. They make each other better, when they’re focused on their friendship, it’s when things expand that everything starts to fall apart. This is a story of friendship, how hard you have to fight when you’re being pulled in 100 different directions, and what losing a friend can do to you both emotionally and psychologically. It hurts to share a best friend. Especially if they make up your whole world. It can feel like a loss, crippling and painful, How It Ends explores those feelings. 
• The alternating POVs are eye-opening. You get to see how each girl views their friendship, the events that happen, and their position in the high school food chain. Each girl has a strong voice. They hold their own and will have you either rooting for them or wanting to shake some sense into them. 
• This story deals with relevant teen issues like sex, drinking, partying, bullying, and anxiety. For some, every single time they step into that cafeteria, they feel like an outsider, they shrink away inside themselves and pray that they will remain invisible. That’s no way to live and no one should feel that way. How It Ends does an amazing job getting to the heart of those fears. Every deep breath, every cringe, the hyperventilating, the terror, the way words are phrased to avoid confrontation, it’s like the act of existing is a test. That is spot on throughout. 

CONS:

• Annie is hard to sympathize with or like. From the first pages it only takes a chapter or two in her POV for her to do a total 180. It’s like she only sees what she wants to and conveniently forgets everything else. She doesn’t give in, she’s stubborn in the worst way, and it takes something really terrible to get her to wake up and face reality. 
• Some things didn’t make sense. It felt like things were thrown in at the last minute. 
• The mean girls were typical. The high school scenes were a little cliché. There wasn’t a great balance in terms of their friendship. It made one look more guilty than the other and like a terrible friend, though they both made harsh judgments, assumptions, and mistakes. 

If you like any of the following, you’ll enjoy this:

Keep reading, 

 

ARC Review: Riverkeep by Martin Stewart

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The Danék is a wild, treacherous river, and the Fobisher family has tended it for generations—clearing it of ice and weed, making sure boats can get through, and fishing corpses from its bleak depths. Wulliam’s father, the current Riverkeep, is proud of this work. Wull dreads it. And in one week, when he comes of age, he will have to take over.

Then the unthinkable happens. While recovering a drowned man, Wull’s father is pulled under—and when he emerges, he is no longer himself. A dark spirit possesses him, devouring him from the inside. In an instant, Wull is Riverkeep. And he must care for his father, too.

When he hears that a cure for his father lurks in the belly of a great sea-dwelling beast known as the mormorach, he embarks on an epic journey down the river that his family has so long protected—but never explored. Along the way, he faces death in any number of ways, meets people and creatures touched by magic and madness and alchemy, and finds courage he never knew he possessed.

3.5/5 Stars

***I received this eARC as a gift via Penguin’s First to Read 

Riverkeep is a dark and gritty surprise.

Intense, it drags you down into its dark depths and introduces you to unlikely monsters that can be found within ourselves and our surroundings. Full of lore, an unconventional protagonist, and sweeping imagery, it will hold you captive until the last page.

A little slow to start, it takes a bit to get into the story, but once you do, it’s a continuous adventure.

Wull in bumbling, uncertain, and makes mistakes. Despite his intriguing and slightly disturbing profession, he’s surprisingly normal and easy to relate to. Everyone can recognize that primal need to impress their parents and the fierce love you have for them despite their flaws (though in Wull’s case, it’s way more intense and complicated than that). No matter how hard he tries, it seems like he’s destined for failure and can’t live up to his father’s image. It’s funny and a little heartbreaking, but Wull finds his own strengths and takes risks when he needs to.

The self-discovery is poignant.

The Scottish lore creatures. Wow. Crazy violent and oh so interesting. At first, it’s hard to know what they are and what exactly is being referred to. The preludes to each chapter introduce the creatures but initially you’re grasping for straws to figure out just what these beasts are and where they came from.

The atmosphere and mood are immense and consuming. The world building intricate and extensive. The story is a coming of age in a way that honors epic tales like Gilgamesh and Beowulf without the politics.

If you like any of the following, you’ll enjoy this:

Epic Reading, 

Release Day Blitz: Someone I Used to Know by Tessa Marie

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Charlotte was not looking forward to Spring Break. No technology and a boy she can’t stand. But when she realizes the boy is actually a hot guy now, and wants to hang out with her (!) she cant help but think this break may turn into something pretty awesome. But, is he harboring a secret that will challenge their budding relationship?

Tessa Marie aka Theresa Paolo lives in the same town she grew up in on Long Island, NY with her long time boyfriend and their fish. Her debut novel (NEVER) AGAIN, a NA romance, released in Fall 2013 with Berkley (Penguin). (ONCE) AGAIN will release this summer. She is also the coauthor of the Amazon bestseller KING SIZED BEDS AND HAPPY TRAILS and BEACH SIDE BEDS AND SANDY PATHS, a YA contemporary series. She has a hard time accepting the fact she’s nearing thirty, and uses her characters to relive the best and worst years of her life. She put her love of writing on hold while she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Dowling College. When she’s not writing, she’s behind a camera, reading, or can be found on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

Romantic reading, 

Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, & Giveaway: The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey

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Everything in Echo’s life changed in a blinding flash when she learned the startling truth: she is the firebird, the creature of light that is said to bring peace.

The firebird has come into the world, but it has not come alone. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and Echo can feel a great and terrible darkness rising in the distance. Cosmic forces threaten to tear the world apart.

Echo has already lost her home, her family, and her boyfriend. Now, as the firebird, her path is filled with even greater dangers than the ones she’s already overcome.

She knows the Dragon Prince will not fall without a fight.

Echo must decide: can she wield the power of her true nature–or will it prove too strong for her, and burn what’s left of her world to the ground?

Welcome to the shadow hour. 

Chapter One Excerpt

Who are you?

The question soared across the scorched sky, spoken by a chorus of voices that seeped through the cracks in the rocks that glowed like coals, that oozed from the pulsing hot brightness of the magma inching down, down, down to swallow all life in its path.

Lava ran over Echo’s boots. She looked at her feet, dispassionate, divorced from the sight of the rubber and leather bubbling and melting. Her shoelaces caught fire, but she did not feel them burn. Soot coated her skin, clung to her hair, her eyelashes, her clothes. The blue had been burned out of the sky by the eruption, and darkness descended, called forth by a veil of ash.

Who are you?

“This isn’t real,” Echo said.

And that isn’t an answer.

This was a dream. And in this dream, she was burning. Her skin blistered in the heat. Magma rushed around her ankles. It didn’t scare her, though it had the first time she’d had this dream. And the second. And the third. But by now, she’d lived through this scenario so many times, it was beginning to feel routine. “All she had to do was endure it. Soon enough, she would wake up. She could do that. If there was anything at which Echo excelled, it was surviving.

She ignored the question—she’d yet to answer it in any of her dreams—and looked toward the gaping maw of the volcano. She stood at its base, watching it belch fire and smoke and ash into the heavens. Screams rose from the village below. That was the worst part. She could ignore her burning body, but she could never tune out the screams. Every night, without fail, from the first night. The night she had opened a door into the world and let the firebird enter. She could feel it now, its wings fluttering inside her as if testing the limits of its mortal cage.

Every night, the same question was posed to her, asked by a speaker with a thousand voices ringing as one: Who are you?

I am Echo, she thought. She didn’t speak the words aloud. She knew the answer wasn’t correct. Or perhaps the answer was simply not complete.

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Melissa Grey was born and raised in New York City. She wrote her first short story at the age of twelve and hasn’t stopped writing since. After earning a degree in fine arts at Yale University, she traveled the world, then returned to New York City where she currently works as a freelance journalist. To learn more about Melissa, visit melissa-grey.com and follow @meligrey on Twitter.

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CHECK OUT THE OTHER STOPS ON THE TOUR

7/25/2016- The Eater of Books- Review

7/26/2016- YA Book Madness- Excerpt

7/27/2016- Ex Libris- Review      

7/28/2016- BookHounds YA- Interview

7/29/2016- The Cover Contessa- Review

Magical reading,

Cover Reveal: Cloverfield Collections Werewolves-Jez & Cole by L.C. Miller

Release Date: August 25, 2016 

Seventeen-year-old Jez Parker knows what Hell is like. She spends ten months a year in it in the form of a life with her abusive mother and stepfather. Two months out of the year, she lives with her werewolf dad and twin brother.

Abused and beaten she’s ordered by her mother and stepfather to find information on her dad’s werewolf pack – The Small Town Pack.  Vowing to protect her dad, brother, and newly bonded mate, Jez asks for help from the Cloverfields, a supernatural clan that helps those in need.

Cole Patrick thought his life ended when he was told Jez had died in a house fire. Now that she’s alive and back in his life, he believes he can keep his feelings for her a secret from his best friend, who happens to be her twin, as well as from her dad. He soon realizes something weird is happening within his pack and that Jez is being targeted. He knows she’s hiding something and he vowed to protect her.

But when secrets are revealed and lives are betrayed, will they have a future together?   

I have loved reading since I was old enough to do it. I started writing in my down time in 2006 and have been doing it ever since.

Reading, writing, and hanging out with my family are some of my favorite things – along with hot chocolate and pizza (not together, of course).

With a bachelors in Accounting, writing has been a great way to unwind and let my imagination fly.

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Epic reading, 

Cover Reveal: Rescue by S.F. Benson

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Genre: New Adult Dystopian

Cover Designer: Regina Wamba, Mae I Design

Expected Release Date: August 8, 2016

It all comes down to choice. Choose to live. Choose to die. Choose to love. Zared’s choice is to rescue the love of his life, Tru Shepard, despite the warrant for his own death. She’s a prisoner at a remote military compound. Tru’s choices are limited. Marry a man she despises or face death.Sometimes life dictates what’s important. Is love enough to risk it all? Will Zared’s ultimate mission prevail?

SF Benson, a native of Michigan, resides in Georgia with her husband, a human daughter, and a couple of miniature fur kids (two female short-haired guinea pigs). At one time she wrangled a household which included three Samoyeds, saltwater fish, a hamster, and three guinea pigs. When she’s not busy playing Doctor Doolittle, she enjoys answering the question “what if” by writing mostly Dystopian/science fiction and paranormal stories for young adults and new adults. And if a spare moment happens, she morphs into a bookworm and devours a few books simultaneously.

 

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