Monday 19 August 2013

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Dark Halo (Angel Eyes Trilogy #3) - Shannon Dittemore / Book Review (251).



Welcome to my stop on the Dark Halo blog tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours.  Click HERE to see the full blog tour schedule!

Shannon Dittemore is having a Live Twitter Chat August 27th at 6pm (Pacific) where she will be giving away a Kindle Fire HD and other prizes!  Enter here:




by 
Release Date: August 20, 2013
320 pages

 ught sight to Brielle. Another offers sweet relief from what she sees.
Carrying straight on from the edge of your seat finale of the second book Broken Wings, this book was the perfect ending for this series, there is nothing that I would change.
So we say goodbye to Brielle, Jake and Canaan as we come to the final battle, Brielle comes face to face with the Prince Of Darkness, where she is given a dark halo (hence the title), which will stop her from seeing the celestial, tempted by the thought of living a normal life and being free of the constant nightmares, but is it worth it knowing that accepting the halo may come with a price?
Meanwhile a lot of truths come to light of all the hidden secrets various characters have been hiding.
Every character's storylines are tied up, and in the last chapter we even get a glimpse four years in the future which lets us see what has happened to our favourite characters, which was a great touch.
This is a really great series, I look forward to more books from Shannon in the future, I'll definitely be picking them up.
Highly recommended, give this series a go.


About the Author
Shannon Dittemore is the author of the Angel Eyes Trilogy. She has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a focus on youth and young adult ministry. When she isn’t writing, she spends her days with her husband, Matt, imagining things unseen and chasing their two children around their home in Northern California.
ANGEL EYES was Shannon’s debut novel and the launch of a young adult supernatural trilogy. It was published in the summer of 2012 by Thomas Nelson. The sequel BROKEN WINGS hit shelves in February, 2013 and the final novel in the trilogy, DARK HALO, will be available August 20, 2013.

Author Links:
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***GIVEAWAY*** 5-sets of the Angel Eyes Trilogy including Angel Eyes, Broken Wings and Dark Halo. US only. a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thursday 15 August 2013

Blog Tour: Shudder (Stitch Trilogy #2) - Samantha Durante/Guest Post & Book Review (250).


Welcome to my stop on the Shudder Blog Tour, I'm excited to take part.
The Guest Post is situated after the review.


Shudder (Stitch Trilogy #2)

Publication: 15th June 2013
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 348
Genre: Science-Fiction/Dystopian
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Buy It: Amazon  Barnes & Noble
It's only been three days, and already everything is different.

Paragon is behind her, but somehow Alessa's life may actually have gotten worse. In a wrenching twist of fate, she traded the safety and companionship of her sister for that of her true love, losing a vital partner she'd counted on for the ordeal ahead. Her comfortable university life is but a distant memory, as she faces the prospect of surviving a bleak winter on the meager remains of a ravaged world. And if she'd thought she'd tasted fear upon seeing a ghost, she was wrong; now she's discovering new depths of terror while being hunted by a deadly virus and a terrifying pack of superhuman creatures thirsting for blood.

And then there are the visions.

The memory-altering "stitch" unlocked something in Alessa's mind, and now she can't shake the constant flood of alien feelings ransacking her emotions. Haunting memories of an old flame are driving a deep and painful rift into her once-secure relationship. And a series of staggering revelations about the treacherous Engineers - and the bone-chilling deceit shrouding her world's sorry history - will soon leave Alessa reeling...

The second installment in the electrifying Stitch Trilogy, Shudder follows Samantha Durante's shocking and innovative debut with a heart-pounding, paranormal-dusted dystopian adventure sure to keep the pages turning.

My Thoughts.

Shudder is the second book in the Stitch Trilogy by Samantha Durante, I was a part of the blog tour for the first book Stitch (find my review here), which I absolutely loved, so when I was asked to take part in the blog tour for Shudder I jumped at the chance.

Set just three days after the finale of the first book and Alessa and Isaac are scouting for a new base for the Rebels to abide while they plan their attack on Paragon.

Along the way it's anything but a smooth journey, having to contend with creatures that are out to kill them, Alessa suffering from debilitating thoughts and feelings of people before they died, that render her at times immobile, and also the chance that they could both contract the deadly virus that killed the vast majority of the worldwide population.

Interspersed throughout we have a couple of separate storylines going on as well, a girl with amnesia given the name Phoenix in hospital visited by the members of the Ruling Class, explaining to her the history of how Paragon came to be, and their involvement and reasons for why they did the things the way they did, but do they have ulterior motives behind these visits?

We also follow the story of a teenage boy and girl who are being held prisoner in the Paragon prison and their interaction with each other whilst jailed there.

Of course just like the first book, Shudder has an ending that will have you desperate to get your hands on the next book Stuck.

I look forward to continuing on with this series, and to see what else is in store for us readers.

I give this 3.5/5 Stars.

Haven’t read the first book in the series? Check it out on Amazon and Goodreads.  Just $0.99!


Guest Post.
Guest Post: Celebrating the Stitch 1-Year Anniversary by Samantha Durante, author of the Stitch Trilogy

Wow.  Has it really been a year already??

One year ago today I kicked off the blog tour for my first ever book, Stitch (Stitch Trilogy, Book 1), and even 365 days later, it’s still kind of surreal.  I wrote a book?  And people read it??  So I’m really an author???

And now, almost 10 weeks into the Shudder Blog Tour, I still can’t quite believe that I’ve written two books, and even more people have read them, and said people are now asking me where the third one is (it’s coming, I promise!).

It’s been quite the year – that much is for sure.  Not only did I finally achieve a lifelong dream of publishing a book, but in the same 12 months, I also got married, bought a house, and, oh – got pregnant with my first child (due in Oct!).  So lots of change going on in my life, but all good things as well.  :-)

Looking at my life today, I have to say that I’m quite content.  If I can just manage to continue doing the things I’m doing today – writing, raising a family, loving my husband and family and friends, and just generally enjoying each day as it comes – I will be a very happy girl for many years to come.

But it wasn’t always an easy road to get here.  It required (like anything else) a little sacrifice, a lot of hard work, and healthy dash of blind faith that if I just follow my heart, everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.  So what have I learned in my journey?  Here are the top three lessons:

1. Do what you love.  I know, I know – people say this all the time.  Easier said than done.  It took me years (like 25 years!) to even realize *what* it is that I love to do (write).  So I know how difficult this sounds, and I’m not going to lie, it takes a lot of introspection, listening to the people around you, following your gut even when it’s scary, and just a bit of dumb luck to figure this out.

But I can also promise you this – if you manage to find a way to make your passions your life instead of just trying to squeeze them into your life, you will be infinitely happier.  Because suddenly, you’ll look forward to what you have to do every day, even when it’s stressful.  I still spend plenty of time agonizing over how much stuff I need to write, but when I sit down and actually do it, all that stress magically disappears.  I lose myself in the work, because I truly enjoy it.  And I can’t say that about any other job I’ve ever held.

2. Take risks.  Okay, this one is even scarier.  But the fact of the matter is, it HAS to be done.  You will never move forward in your life if you don’t just suck it up and go for what you want.  Once you’ve figured out what you love to do, you need to make those things a priority, and you can’t let yourself make excuses.

A few years ago, I knew three things: 1. I wanted to live closer to my family again, 2. I wanted to start my own family and have a flexible enough lifestyle to be able to stay home with my kids, and 3. I wanted to write again, something I hadn’t spent much time doing since I was a kid.  So what did I have to do to make that happen?  Drop my entire life and move across the country, which included leaving a secure six-figure career in software engineering and convincing my then-boyfriend (now husband) to leave his secure six-figure software engineering job, and then find us both new jobs, which in my case meant starting a business in a field I had absolutely no credentials in and did not know if I could succeed at.

I’m not going to lie – it was scary.  And it didn’t help that every person I told about my plans clearly thought I was crazy.  But I had to do it – I had to try, or I would have been stuck in a wonderful life that I could never truly enjoy because it wasn’t the life I wanted.  So I repeated to myself as a mantra, “What’s the worst that could happen?” and just went for it.

And you know what?  It was the best thing I ever did.  Did everything work out exactly as planned?  Definitely not – there were some serious hurdles along the way, and points at which I wasn’t sure it was going to work out at all.  But in the end, it was all okay.  Sure, I took a $50k+ pay cut.  But all of a sudden I had something much more valuable: time, to do with what I want – to write, to be with my family, to live – and I was happier, healthier, and for the first time in my life, content.  From there on, everything else just came together.  But only because one day I said, “Damn the consequences,” and decided to take a risk.

3. Reevaluate, and break the rules as needed.  Things change – life changes.  Don’t be afraid to stop and take a look at where you are and reassess whether your choices are still working for you.  The hardest part about doing this is managing other people’s expectations – you’ve laid out a plan, taken some risks to get there, and now you feel like you need to stick to it.  But don’t pigeonhole yourself into doing something that’s not right for you anymore.  Sometimes you need to evolve with the world around you.

In my case, I didn’t actually set out to become an author.  Writing books was more of a fantasy for me than anything – I didn’t really ever think I’d do it, but it was just something that I kept on the backburner, in case I “ever had time to try.”  When I started, I thought my writing career would be 50% technical/business writing (to pay the bills) and 50% fun journalistic magazine-type writing (to give me something creative that I would enjoy doing).

Turns out, I never did any magazine writing.  I didn’t care to badly enough to put in the time to get those types of jobs, and the business writing ended up being less technical, more fun, and more plentiful than I expected.  So I built a business doing that.  And then one day, I realized I actually did have time to try my hand at a novel, and I started writing Stitch.  But I wasn’t sure enough about it to invest the years needed to succeed in the traditional publishing path, so instead I broke a few rules and self-published, managing my writing career as my own agent/editor/publisher/publicist/etc.  Even though at the time that wasn’t the way things are *usually* done, it worked for me, so I did it.  (And now it’s becoming a lot more common for other people, too!)

After that experience, I realized that it wasn’t business writing or magazines that I was interested in – I actually wanted to write books for a living!  So now I’m running my business and simultaneously working on building a career as an author.  I’m hoping to someday be able to shift my “work” to 90% books and 10% business writing (just enough to keep my name out there so that if I ever needed to, I could quickly go back to work full-time).  But I’m not quite there yet.

And you know what?  That’s okay.  I’m evolving.  Things are changing.  And who knows, maybe once this baby shows up life is going to throw me a curveball.  And if it does, here’s what I’ll do: figure out what I want to do, take some risks and break some rules to make it happen, then reevaluate.  Because if there’s anything the past year has taught me, it’s that that works.


So here’s to Stitch’s One Year Anniversary, and to all the bumps and bruises along the way that made this day a reality.  I hope you find your “Stitch” too – and when you do, don’t let anything stand in your way.

About Samantha



As an avid lifelong reader of fiction of all sorts, there’s nothing I find more engrossing than an epic sci-fi/fantasy/romance series. I’ve whiled away countless weekends of my life immersed in richly-woven worlds that someone else was kind enough to put on paper, and I’ve always felt a debt of gratitude to these wonderful authors – J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, Suzanne Collins, Christopher Paolini, Sharon Shinn, C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen, and most recently Lauren Oliver and Veronica Roth, to name a few.
The Stitch Trilogy – my very debut series – is my humble attempt to return the favor. My dream is to bring the same enjoyment and delight to readers that these authors have brought to my life. If you find yourself staying up just a little too late to finish another chapter, or sneaking into the bathroom at work to read when things are slow, I will know I have done my job!
I currently live in Westchester County, New York with the two loves of my life – my husband, Sudeep, and my cat, Gio. In addition to penning novels, I am also a freelance business writer and communications consultant at my company, Medley Media Associates.
Prior to pursuing my passion for writing full time, I spent three years in software engineering at Microsoft and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, where I studied Systems Engineering, Management, Entrepreneurship, and Operations & Information Management at Penn Engineering and Wharton business school.  I was also valedictorian of Brewster High School in Brewster, NY, class of 2003.
I love to hear from readers! I do my best to answer each and every email I receive, so please don’t hesitate to send me comments, questions, or even suggestions for what you’d like to see in future books.  You can also find me on Facebook at my author and Stitch Trilogy fan pages, onGoodreads and Twitter, and on my Amazon Author page.
Are you a new author?  Check out the Writer Resources page for helpful advice and a recounting of my experience publishing my first book!
Learn more about Samantha in Author Interviews featured here!
Links.

Wednesday 14 August 2013

INTRODUCING: COSMO RED-HOT READS FROM HARLEQUIN & LINK TO A GIVEAWAY.

Harlequin + Cosmo=
the hot new hookup!

How did these two not get together sooner?!
Like peanut butter and chocolate, like Beyoncé and Jay-Z, like Friday and cocktails, Cosmo and
Harlequin just belong together.
The world’s largest women’s magazine pairing up with the publisher that’s synonymous with romance fiction?
Talk about a hot relationship!
Together, these international entertainment empires are launching a line of books, Cosmo Red-Hot Reads from Harlequin, that will get ladies around the world hot and bothered—because what two brands know women better?
“Cosmo readers love sexy fiction,” says Editor in Chief Joanna Coles. “Our Red-Hot Read in the magazine is one of the most popular features each month among our 18 million-plus readers.
This exciting partnership will satisfy their demand for modern erotic fiction by “Women look to Harlequin for the same qualities that Cosmopolitan provides— entertainment, enjoyment and inspiration—so it’s a natural fit.” —Harlequin publisher and CEO Donna Hayes Harlequin + Cosmo= the hot new hookup!
** Did you know Cosmo readers LOVE sexy romance fiction?
**1.8 million Cosmo readers bought at least 1 romance novel in the last 12 months
**“Cosmo’s Red-Hot Read” section is one of the magazines most popular features Cosmo reaches 1 in every 7 women who read romance novels offering two steamy new tales each month.” Harlequin wrote the book on series romance, offering readers an instantly recognizable brand that consistently delivers a satisfying consumer experience keeping readers coming back for more. Says Harlequin Publisher and CEO Donna Hayes: “Women look to Harlequin for the same qualities that Cosmopolitan provides—entertainment, enjoyment and inspiration— so it’s a natural fit.”

Mini Review Of afterburn Excerpt.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day, America’s premier author of provocative fiction, delivers the debut novel from Cosmo Red-Hot Reads from Harlequin.

The realization that Jax still affected me so strongly was a jagged pill to swallow. He’d only been part of my life for five short weeks two years ago. But now he was back. Walking into a deal I’d worked hard to close. And God, he was magnificent. His eyes were a brown so dark they were nearly black. Thickly lashed, they were relentless in their intensity. Had I really thought they were soft and warm? There was nothing soft about Jackson Rutledge. He was a hard and jaded man, cut from a ruthless cloth.

In that moment I understood how badly I wanted to unravel the mystery of Jax. Bad enough that I didn’t mind how much it was going to cost me...
........................................
What a very enticing and addictive start to what seems to be a fabulous story, written by the one and only Sylvia Day, ending at just 37 pages there is so much packed into this short excerpt that by the time you reach the end you're left wishing you had the whole entire book in your hand.
Gianna is a very interesting and intriguing heroine who is determined to become a protege to Lei Yeung a well-renowned restaurateur, as well as trying to get over Jackson Rutledge a businessman who suddenly appears back in her life.
I will definitely be picking this up so I can continue on with the story.




AmeMirica's premier

CMini Review Of Afterburn Excerpt.OMING AUGUST 2013! 
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!

 author of provocative fiction
delivers the debut novel from this red-hot new series
A sizzling new contemporary romance miniseries about unexpected reunions,
bittersweet revenge and the fight for redemption

afterburn

aftershock

afterburn | aftershock

Enter the competition here and to also read an excerpt of afterburn.

2013 eBook Schedule
Month Title Author
August Afterburn Sylvia Day
September Cake Lauren Dane
Making It Tawny Weber
October Everything You Need to Know HelenKay Dimon
Naked Sushi Jina Bacarr
November Aftershock Sylvia Day
December Ripped Sarah Morgan
Xmas story TBD
2013 Print Schedule
Month Title Author
November Afterburn/Aftershock Sylvia Day

(2-in-1 Trade)

Friday 9 August 2013

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: The League Of Skull & Bones - M.J Fletcher





Jess Grimm has the ability to travel to any dimension in the multiverse. There’s only one problem... it’s killing her.

Jess is a in a race against time to find a device that can slow the progression of the power inside her, but she isn’t alone. Others want her power, and they don’t care how they get, or if she is dead or alive when they do.

The only person willing to help her is the mysterious Ronan Sparrow a member of the League of Skull & Bones, one of the very groups that want her power. But what does Ronan want in return? Can Jess trust him or will she find herself alone with enemies on all sides?

The League of Skull & Bones, Book 1 of The Grimm Chronicles


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Prologue


I wasn’t alone in the dark.

Snarls and growls surrounded me, running my blood cold. I moved my head from side to side, scrunching my eyes, trying desperately to catch sight of the beasts before they reached me. My crimson swords weighed so heavily in my hands that I felt as if I’d been fighting for what seemed like eternity.

Claws and fangs suddenly slashed out from the darkness and I did my best to defend myself, though in my heart I knew it was a losing battle. The beasts were overpowering me and soon I wouldn’t be able to stop them. No one was coming to save me. I was alone.

Talons slashed across my back and warm blood trickled down as pain shot across my spine. I stumbled and the beasts—I was sure—tasted victory. They moved in at me in waves. I spun my blades trying to battle the never-ending tide, trying to survive.

It was hopeless. For every monster I took down, another two took its place. I wanted to live, I wanted to fight, but the agonizing pain of my flesh being torn and sliced was too great to bear. I couldn’t go on. The jaws of one of the beasts clamped on my wrist, and I lost my grip on one of my swords. It fell from my hand and clattered to the ground and with it went my last vestige of hope.

Blood drained from my body and my vision faded. I would soon black out, and then the beasts would feast on me. A scream bubbled in my throat and my mouth fell open, but no sounds came out. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see my own death and hoped that darkness would take me before the beasts did.

I bolted out of bed, my mouth still open in a silent scream, and my sheets tangled around me soaked with sweat. I stood at the foot of my bed, my breathing coming in ragged gasps. The nightmares came almost every night. I couldn’t escape them no matter how hard I tried. I yanked at the sheets, dragging them off me and tossing them back onto the bed. I’d worn only an old t-shirt to bed, though now I wished I had worn more. I didn’t want to see my scars, didn’t want to be reminded yet again, but I couldn’t stop my fingers from tracing over the ugly scars that marked my arms and upper torso.

I walked from the top floor of my loft, down the stainless steel steps to the kitchen area. I yanked open the fridge and grabbed the container of milk and took a gulp. I placed it back in the fridge and slammed the door closed. I slipped down onto the couch that faced the large windows dotting the walls of my loft and sighed at the breathtaking view of Paris. It always calmed me. My fingers mindlessly drifted over the scars on my arms. They were a reminder of the very real night I had been trapped in a nearly unwinnable fight. Monsters had surrounded me and had almost killed me. If it hadn’t been for my friends, I would have died.

But I hadn’t died, or had I? I was far from the girl I had once been. Once I was the prettiest girl in school, and the girl who had hit every club and had had a blast when she had moved to Paris. But after the vicious attack everything had changed, most of all me.

My fingers suddenly stopped, settling on the edges of identical tattoos on both my forearms. I glanced down at the image of a Skeleton Key. My scars refused to cross paths with the tattoos, as if they knew that they dared not go near them.

I slid my finger over the tattoo, and felt a buzz of power run through me. These unwanted tattoos were another reminder of something else entirely. But unlike my scars, I had chosen these.

The monsters may not have gotten me, but these tattoos were a different matter. They marked me for death.

I pulled my knees up into my chest and took a deep breath. Maybe I would wait here until dawn. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about any more nightmares or death that constantly stalked me.

I sat alone in the dark looking out on the City of Lights, awaiting the dawn and praying that I could keep death at bay and that I wouldn’t hear the sound of monsters. 


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Other books by M.J. Fletcher...




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Wednesday 31 July 2013

Book Blast & Giveaway: Made To Forget - Samantha LaFantasie




There’s something that lies within my memory. Hidden in the dark. Something that can kill me and those that I love. But I was in an accident, covered in mystery and deception. And my memory…was lost. There are those who want me to remember. I don’t trust them.  And those I do trust…are fighting for me to forget.

Elsabetha Ellery wants to get her memory back, even if it kills her.

After waking up in a hospital with no memory, Elsabetha quickly learns those who claim to be her friend are anything but. And those who are her true friends keep themselves unseen.

Stuck with piecing together her broken memories alone, Elsa struggles with having faith in those she trusts and heeding the warnings of the dangers in recovering her memory. Ignoring them, she faces heavy consequences. Ones she doesn’t see until it’s too late, and a life is lost.


Amazon | B&N | Kobo








A Kansas native, Samantha LaFantasie spends her free time with her husband and three kids. Writing has always been a passion of hers, forgoing all other desires to devote to this one obsession, even though she often finds herself arguing with her characters through much of the process. She’s primarily a fantasy writer but often feels pulled to genres such as sci-fi, romance, and others.
Among her writing credentials, she’s a board member of the Kansas Writer’s Association and has founded her own critique group, lovingly named, The Fighting Hamsters.
Samantha loves to take time to enjoy other activities such as photography and playing her favorite game of all time, Guild Wars 2.


  
Want more from Samantha? Keep up with her at any of her digital hangouts.





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