Thursday, August 24, 2017

The Forsaken









Title: Forsaken Author: Connie Ann Michael Release Date: May 23, 2017 ISBN: 9780997727890


 Eighteen-year-old Oli cannot remember life outside the barrier, a life before the oil spill that poisoned human kind, killing half the population and infecting the other half until they deteriorated from the inside out, forced to walk the earth as Screamers. It’s a dangerous new world in which barely anyone makes it past the age of twenty, and Oli’s time is running out.   Studying the Bible, Oli searches for words to help restore faith in a lost world, and when she receives a message from God telling her to leave the barrier, she knows what she must do. There’s only one problem: Her best friend, Coi, doesn’t believe her, and he’s showing the first signs of infection. But before she can convince him to leave with her, the Governor quarantines Coi and orders his execution. Oli risks it all to rescue Coi, and they set out to find sanctuary away from the safety of the compound, not knowing who or what will get to them first: the Governor, the illness, or the Screamers. When they stumble upon a group of uninfected humans hidden among the rubble of an apartment building, they think they’ve found their salvation. But not everything is as it seems, and their enemies are closer than they thought.     







About the author:

A new resident of Montana, Connie Ann Michael grew up in a close family on the outskirts of Seattle. Drawn to the Lord she’s followed her calling of service and has taught for twenty-six years, currently the fifth grade teacher at Crow Agency Public School, on the Crow Reservation. Connie loves her family and is lucky enough to have two grown boys. Living with her husband and two dogs in Big Sky country, Connie enjoys any activity that takes her outside and is working hard to overcome her fear of being eaten by a bear to enjoy more hiking trips in the mountains. Website:http://connie-avidreader.blogspot.com/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/connieannmichael/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/connieamichael 

Read Below for an excerpt from Forsaken:
I’d worked in the garden all day, digging up dry, hard dirt in an attempt to thin out weeds that were indistinguishable from the edible plants. I sat back on my heels and looked around at the others digging with sticks and crude tools bent from scraps of metal. I thought back to a history book I’d found in the school across the street from where our tiny speck of civilization sat. The pictures of the cities were faded, but the grandeur couldn’t be dulled. The sun shone from the great heights of the buildings like stars guiding people through their lives. Lives that were full and held the hope of growth and diversity. Lives that were lost, and lives I would never know. I devoured news from the past. I’d read every book I could find until the day the Governor took over and sent the Guard in to gather them all and burn them in a huge bonfire to show us the past no longer mattered.   Only the future mattered now. The future he would make for us.   I’d hidden a few of my favorite books and then ripped out pictures that spoke to me of what could be once more. I had them in my pockets until the day one fell out and the Guard, a group of empowered teenagers doing the dirty work for the Governor, found them. My arms were bound to a table in the middle of the compound, and my hands were hit with a switch twenty times before I was left as an example. My transgression—hope—was the first of the rules scratched on to the wall of rules. Of course, it said act of defiance.   Defiance of what?   Defiance of a rule that took the past and left it there?   I kneeled at the table until dusk when my friends, Bliss and Coi, were allowed to release me. I was expected to continue my duties in the garden the next day as if my hands weren’t sore, swollen, and bloody; as if nothing had transpired.   Take your punishment and step back into the predictable path of your life.   I was much more careful after that and folded the photographs until they were small squares and hid them among my possessions, only giving myself the luxury of carrying one hidden deep in my pocket. After more than ten years behind these fences, we had little to show other than a belief system that was the backbone to salvation slowing being taken from us. Even though I didn’t agree with rules outlined and constantly being revised without question or input from those living under them, this was the only home I’d known since arriving when I was nine.   It was desolate and dying a little more every day, but it was a refuge for those of us who refused to give up a chance of survival. We paid for our residence through tedious chores that never seemed to get us closer to breaking the barrier between survival and living. Every day we woke to the monotonous tasks, doing what needed to be done to earn our place and not be forsaken into the abyss of death waiting outside our fences.   Most days, I found my refuge in the skeleton of a school just outside the safety zone of the chain link. A place once filled with knowledge and guidance but now a shell of a world left far behind.   Dusk had settled, along with a light drizzle. I’d left my tools in the shed after my chores and had spent the last hours of daylight in the school with History books and the Bible I had hidden deep in the bowels of a dilapidated classroom. I’d found loose pages in a pile of trash that listed the nine things needed before a world was considered a civilization; a written language, a belief system, a stable food supply, government, art, ways to improve life, a social structure, lasting settlements, and a trade or economics. If this list was accurate, we had a long way to go before we were considered anything more than a group of young people camping in the middle of what used to be a sports field. I began to cross over the make-shift bridge the Guard had strung between the school and the rickety guard tower they’d erected. I usually slipped through the gate to walk the short distance across the road and through the doors of the school, but I’d waited too long and the path back to the barrier was filled with the infected, the screeching noise of their breathing, earning them the name Screamers, floated up from the road below. I stopped, daring to look down at the small space between my feet and the dozens of clawing fingers reaching up in the small chance they could snag my pants or a shoelace and bring me to my death. I inched forward, hearing the deep rasp of a cough before I saw the figure waiting on the other side of the bridge. I glanced up at the clouds, darkening as they filled with the poisoned rain they would tease us with. A wetness that wouldn’t bring life but instead kill the small plants we nurtured and damage the health of the young who eagerly drank from the barrels before the water was purified.   The cough came again, and as I neared the other side, the tall figure of my best friend, Coi, emerged.   "Bliss missed her work duty for the day," his words came out quickly.   "I’ll find her." I didn’t wait for an explanation, there wasn’t time. I needed to find her before Bliss’s punishment became a new revision on the wall of rules.   Coi grabbed my arm, stopping me. "I was sent after her. She’s at the fence but won’t come back with me. I can’t stall the Guard long."   "I told you, I’ll get her." I stomped down the stairs and took off at a run.   It was her first absence in months, so the punishment would more than likely be a warning. I prayed it would be a warning and nothing more, but I needed to make sure if she was doing anything more than missing work that I got to her before anyone else did. I needed to know she was okay and keep her that way. It didn’t take long to find her. The barrier wasn’t that big.   "Missed you at the garden today," I said quietly, walking up behind her. Bliss was eleven, and I’d practically raised her even though I was a kid myself. She was sitting on the ground watching a small group of Screamers milling around a pile of… of something I didn’t want to know what it was. The barrier was surrounded by trees that, at one time, I was sure provided a cool shade from the sun. Now the needles were red with what looked to be the same fate as us. The school we’d settled in was away from a town I assumed lay out past the trees. I’d always thought it was why it was chosen in the early years… for its seclusion. No one alive today had ever gone farther than the school across the broken road. Very few buildings lay further, a long patch of runway from what use to be an airstrip, but legend had it the large metal buildings housed a mass of those who died from infection, and going that far from the barrier was listed on the wall of laws, so no one I knew ever ventured that way.   "There’s plenty of people to clean the gardens. You don’t need me," she muttered. Her fingers were laced into the metal links of the fence, her eyes glued to the slumped figures across a small dirt patch.   "It’s best we leave them to…"   "To what?" Bliss questioned. Her mood concerned me. Bliss was the happy one. The one whose real name I couldn’t even remember. We all called her Bliss because of her never ending cheer.   I looked at the ground, the water collecting in rounded mounds over the caked earth, not yet soaking into the tightly pressed dirt, and wondered the same thing. It was best we let them be. It was best we left them to do whatever it was they did without anyone watching. "I don’t know, Bliss, but you don’t want to watch them."   Bliss turned to me. "Our existence means nothing if we don’t honor the dead."   I tried not to flinch at her words. "Honor the dead?"   "They were just like us until their luck changed. I don’t think they mean to hurt us. They want to survive… so do we."   I looked at a woman who stood swaying slowly back and forth on the other side of the barrier. Her face was unrecognizable, but even with clothes in tattered strips and covered in mud, I knew who she was. This woman had been the last of what would be considered an adult in our small community of safety. I sighed again and understood what had kept Bliss from her work. The woman had been Bliss’s aunt.   I didn’t want to argue the fact that their need to survive was futile seeing as they were as good as dead, infected with a sickness that if there was a chance of a cure, we certainly didn’t have any way of finding it, but I also didn’t want to agree with her. The Governor had been in control for a few short years, and words used when discussing the methods he had for removing those who questioned him had to be chosen more carefully these days.   Bliss stared out into the growing darkness. "She didn’t do anything wrong."   "She questioned," I said quietly.   "And is that so wrong?"   I shook my head no, but in my heart I knew it was dangerous to question the Governor and his methods. I understood his need to control us. In the beginning, there was no organization and mistakes were made that we continue to pay for today.   "She told the guard she was too sick to work. She snuck out when they were watching the gate." She glanced up at me. "She was with child." Her big eyes blinked and a tear fell. "I would have had a cousin."   I opened my mouth to respond, but words had left me. I wasn’t sure where to start on the list of disturbing questions her words put in my head. The biggest being why she thought her aunt had had a choice in her exile. Finally, I said, "I’m sorry."   "It was her terms not theirs." Bliss let out a long breath, releasing her negativity. "Tell me something good." She wiped at her cheeks with one hand. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the fence tighter with the other. I placed my hand over hers. When darkness fell completely and the Screamers became frenzied for food, they would come for something as small as a finger. Even the smallest scratch from their infected nails could cause the infection to spread.   "You’re here for a reason. If you weren’t supposed to be here, you wouldn’t be," I said. The rasps of the Screamers were getting louder as the sky became fully dark and the rain began.   "Please, Bliss," I whispered. "Please. Come to dinner with me."   One of the Screamers came to us, head cocked to the left, jaws chomping at nothing. Bliss took a step back, finally letting go of the fence.   The vacant eyes of the walking corpses drew me in. Many called them lost souls, but they weren’t. These were empty shells of people. People who’d been loved. I’d spent many hours looking into the weeping, yellow eyes of the sick, trying to understand. But when there is nothing in them, there’s nothing to find.   "Please," I said again.   Bliss didn’t divert her eyes from where they stared. "You can go, Oli."   "No. Come with me."   She turned and met my stare. "I need her to know I’m here. I’ll survive for her, and I want her to get strength from that."   I pressed my lips to her temple. "I love you, Bliss. But you can’t be found here. Illness is the only excuse for absence. You can’t stay."   Reluctantly, she agreed and returned with me to the large building where dinner was waiting. The Screamers rarely returned to the barrier. Her aunt had slipped away in the morning. Escaped, we told ourselves. Trying to find others and then return with a great flourish to tell us the world had returned just a few miles down the road. It was best we kept those dreams alive. It was better than the alternative, the one where the Guard led her into the vacant world outside our walls without even a simple weapon. No one who left ever returned. The Guard made sure of that, and I highly doubted it was her aunt. This was just a woman wearing the same dress who happened upon us. I looked down at my own clothes and wondered if this was an outfit I wanted to wear while I walked the earth as a Screamer.
The Giveaway: Go here for an awesome giveaway! : https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d3e9359422/

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Summer Reads Swoon Celebration @chapterxchapter @swoonromance


Hello Readers!
Summer is almost over but there's still time to snuggle up with some romantic summer reads!
Celebrate the last drop of summer with these summer reads from Swoon Romance.
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!


Pretend to be from Spain? Act like she can barely speak English? Sure, why not? It wouldn’t be the first time Gabby Vega had agreed to a challenge from her best friend, Kenzie. Besides, it’s only for a week of vacation with Kenzie’s cousins. Gabby will prove to Kenzie she can keep up the fake identity for the whole trip—that she’s not a quitter.
There’s just one major surprise. Noah Jernigan is also staying with Kenzie’s cousins. Noah, the boy she fell in love with at drama camp last summer and the boy she had to dump when it was over. The boy who knows who she really is.
Noah can’t believe it when Gabby appears at the Bryson’s vacation home in the New Mexico mountains. He hasn’t seen her in a year. It practically took that long just to get over her. And now she’s Gabriela from Spain? All he wants is to get as far away as he can. Or maybe the exact opposite. Stick as close to her as possible and find out what the heck happened last summer. And definitely get some payback.
Now Gabby has to keep Noah at arm’s length as she pretends to be Gabriela. She doesn’t want to answer his questions or rehash last summer. Because one thing is clear—the more time she spends with Noah, the more she’s in danger of falling for him all over again.
About Last Summer by Patricia B. Tighe Publication Date: May 30, 2017 Publisher: Swoon Romance
Available for Purchase: Amazon

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
“This book is ADORABLE!”Brookie Cowles, Author “Cute story with engaging writing!”Shala, Goodreads
   
The mother of two grown sons, Patricia B. Tighe lives in West Texas with her husband and dog. She eats way too much pizza, drinks way too much coffee, and watches way too much NFL football. On the bright side, she also reads and writes teen fiction. She promises to include as much romance, angst, and adventure as possible in her books.
     

Seventeen-year-old Autumn Teslow arrives at her father’s job fair knowing she’ll never measure up to the perfect image of daddy’s little girl—her twin sister.
Wearing anger management issues like a second skin won’t help Autumn win her dad’s approval for the big trip she’s been planning—or meet his condition that she successfully complete a summer internship for college.
Autumn’s cool unravels when her sister lectures against disappointing the family again. And when a young, bearded guy steps through the crowd to settle the growing argument between siblings, Autumn lashes out, dubbing him a “Duck Dynasty wannabe.”
At Nineteen, Caden Behr is clueless as to why his man parts are threatened by the fearsome girl before him. He’d only come to find an intern for his recreational equipment company, not break up a girl-fight between two sisters.
Unfortunately, the only candidate left is the girl who just told him off. Without her, he’ll never prove to his CEO mother that he’s ready for more responsibility.
Autumn and Caden agree that if they can keep from killing one another, they can use one another to get what they want and then never have to see each other again. Which is what they want.
Until it isn’t.
Because despite her best efforts to scare him off, and his fading desire to push her into the lake, they’re beginning to enjoy the time they spend together. But pride is a hard habit to break. And if neither will admit their changing feelings, they could lose a whole lot more than one summer.
One Summer with Autumn by Julie Reece Publisher: October 18, 2016 Publisher: Swoon Romance
Available for Purchase: Amazon

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
“it’s a story of discovering a new you”Moriah, A Leisure Moment “light and fluffy”Hadassah, Haddie’s Haven    

As a child, Julie’s summers were about horseback riding and fishing, while winter brought sledding and ice-skating on frozen ponds. Most of life was magical, but not all. She struggled with multiple learning disabilities, and spent much of her time gazing out windows and daydreaming. In the fourth grade (with the help of one very nice teacher) she fought dyslexia for her right to read and won. Afterward, she invented stories where powerful heroines kicked bad-guy butt to win the hearts charismatic heroes. And then she wrote one down… Writing ever since, Julie weaves southern gothic, contemporary, fantasy, and young adult romances. She enjoys sweeping tales of mystery and epic adventure… which must include a really hot guy. Her writing is proof a dream and some hard work can overcome any obstacle.
     

School is out and Lucy is ready for the perfect summer: lazy days at the pool, invitations to the most exclusive parties, and romantic dates with her hot new boyfriend. That is, until she lands in trouble one too many times and her parents issue the ultimate punishment: a summer job. Suddenly, the summer can’t end fast enough.
To make matters worse, the job is painting houses with Justin, the most popular, egotistical guy in school. Spending all summer with Justin might be other girls’ dreams, but definitely not Lucy’s. After all, Justin is cocky, annoying, and a jerk. So what if he’s the most beautiful jerk Lucy’s ever seen? Or that his grin makes her forget she’s mad at the world? Or that maybe, just maybe, there’s more to Justin than Lucy realizes. Only one thing is certain: it won’t be the summer she wanted, but it might be exactly the one she needs.
Effortless With You (Effortless With You #1) by Lizzy Charles Publication Date: 2013 Publisher: Swoon Romance
Available for Purchase:

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
“I most definitely recommend checking out”Ellen, Always YA at Heart “It was refreshing and I adored it”Crystal, Bookiemoji      
Lizzy Charles writes young adult contemporary romance. She’s a tea fanatic, guacamole expert, and sushi lover. When she’s fixing lunches, dressing kids, or wiping pizza sauce off sticky hands, she escapes to La La Land and imagines all sorts of little love stories. Lizzy loves her daily dose of fitness and is also a RN so she can triage any symptom you send her way. Her best friend from high school is also her husband. Oh and she has a little pup named Professor Lupin who is pretty much the glue to the whole writing operation.

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

Monday, August 21, 2017

Scion of the Sun



 


Scion of the Sun by Nicola Marsh Genre: YA Paranormal Published July 7th, 2017  
  Sixteen-year-old Holly Burton’s unremarkable life is shaken to the core when a vision of the mother she never knew has her questioning everything she believes. Eager for answers, Holly enrolls at a boarding school for highly gifted students in Wolfebane, New Hampshire. When she accidentally transports to a parallel existence and discovers she has a whole other life waiting for her, confronting a dark and ancient evil seems the least of her problems. With the help of Joss, a sexy alpha warrior sworn to protect her, and her new BFF, the equally swoon-worthy Quinn, Holly faces her fears and an unlikely adversary in a showdown that is worse than anything she could’ve possibly imagined…   


 

About the author:

 USA TODAY bestselling & multi-award winning author Nicola Marsh writes flirty fiction with flair for adults and spooky, supernatural fiction for young adults. She has published 64 books with Harlequin, Amazon and indie, and sold over 7 million copies worldwide. She currently writes women’s fiction for Amazon’s Lake Union Publishing. SAVING SARA released August 1st 2016 and became a #1 romance bestseller in the UK & Australia! RESCUING ROSE, the sequel, released October 4th, 2016. She also writes steamy romance for the upcoming Harlequin Dare series, with SWEET THING releasing March 1st, 2018. Her first mainstream contemporary romance, BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD released to rave reviews, including a nomination for RWA’s RBY, Romantic Book of the Year 2012. Her first indie-pubbed contemporary romance CRAZY LOVE released September 2012, a Barnes & Noble bestseller, and was nominated for a 2012 ARRA award. Her young adult fantasy SCION OF THE SUN won the National Readers’ Choice Award for Best YA novel in the USA. She’s also a Waldenbooks, Bookscan and Barnes & Noble bestseller, a 2013 RBY and National Readers’ Choice Award winner, is a multiple finalist for awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, Booksellers’ Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and has won several CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Awards. A physiotherapist for 13 years, she now adores writing full time, raising her two young heroes, sharing fine food with family and friends, barracking loudly for her beloved North Melbourne Kangaroos footy team, and her favourite, curling up with a good book!  
Read below for an excerpt from the book:
I always thought cults were for crazies. Until I joined one. Let me clear up any misconceptions. I’m not crazy. A freak, but not crazy. Which is why I’m here. Freaks R Us. A boarding school for the intellectually gifted tucked away in the back streets of Wolfebane, New Hampshire. Intellectually gifted? Yeah, right. We have a pristine lake surrounded by majestic mountains. We have lush green fields that turn into fabulous groomed ski trails in the winter. We have upscale restaurants and thriving businesses and fancy homes—city pizzazz with small town coziness. We even have our very own homegrown C.U.L.T. The Clique of Unique Luminary Telepathies. When the average person searches this place on the Internet, the home page reads Co-Ed for Unified Learning and Teaching, a New Age school for the hippest of the hip. It appears to be a rambling English manor, sandstone and massive latticed windows and French doors, surrounded by a cottage garden gone wild. All very civilized for a place of learning, but what I’d learn would scare the crap out of me. “Going in sometime this century?” I glared at Colt, sitting smug in his beat-up Chevy, eager to get rid of me. I’d been thrust on his family, Nan’s only neighbors, when she got carted off to the hospital. I hated staying with his uptight family as much as they hated having me. “Nah, think I’ll hang with you a bit longer. It’s so much fun.” He pointed at the door. “Get out.” I didn’t budge. Colt didn’t scare me. C.U.L.T. did. “I had no choice staying with your folks. What’s your excuse?” His expression turned stubborn. “How old are you anyway? Nineteen? Twenty, tops?” “Twenty-one,” he gritted out. “Too old to be babysitting dorks like you.” “Dork? That’s mature for a guy tied so tight to mommy’s apron strings he’s still living at home.” His hands clenched on the steering wheel and I jiggled the door handle. The door opened on the third try. “If you were this smart-assed with your Nan I’m not surprised she had a stroke.” Low blow. That’s what it felt like, like he’d kicked me in the guts. His words inspired the same nauseating feeling I’d had when I’d told her what I’d seen. When she’d uttered five mysterious words—she took the wrong one—and keeled over. “And she’s in a long-term coma?” He drove the boot in harder. “She’d probably do anything to stay away from you.” I grabbed my backpack, slung my messenger bag over my shoulder, and slammed the door. I couldn’t get away from him fast enough. It wasn’t what he’d said as much as the possible truth behind it. He leaned across the bench seat and leered out the window. “Enjoy the lock-up. It’s a perfect place for psychos. You’ll fit right in.” “Screw you.” Colt gave me the finger, gunned the engine, and squealed away from the curb, leaving me standing in front of my prison. Wolfebane High had sucked, but boarding school? Fine for my favorite fictional characters who thrived on girl power. Me? I wasn’t the kickass heroine so much.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Love in the Friend Zone by Molly E. Lee @MollyELee @YaBkPile









LOVE IN THE FRIEND ZONE by Molly E. Lee Release Date 8/14 




Published by Entangled Teen Genre: YA Contemporary Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-in-the-friend-zone-molly-e-lee/1126839721?type=eBook Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Friend-Zone-Molly-Lee/dp/1973885522/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502666737&sr=8-1&keywords=love+in+the+friend+zone Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35683226-love-in-the-friend-zone?ac=1&from_search=true    






The only thing worse than not being able to tell your best friend you’re head over heels in love with him? Having to smile and nod when he enlists your help to ensnare the girl of his dreams. Braylen didn’t even want to go to Lennon Pryor’s epic graduation-night party, but when Fynn begs her to be his “wingwoman,” she can’t deny him. Talking up her BFF—how he’s magic behind a camera, with a killer sense of humor and eyelashes that frame the most gorgeous blue eyes in the history of forever—is easy. Supporting his efforts to woo someone so completely wrong for him? Not so much. Fynn knows that grad night is his last shot before leaving for college to find true love. And thanks to Bray, he gets his chance with the beautiful Katy Evans. But over the course of the coolest party of their high school careers, he starts to see that perhaps what he really wants has been in front of him all along. Bray’s been his best friend since kindergarten, though, and he’d rather have her in his life as a friend than not at all. Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains one epic party, complete with every high-schoolers-gone-bad shenanigan, and two best friends whose sexual chemistry is off the charts…if only they’d succumb to it. 






  

About the author:

  Molly E. Lee is an author best known for her debut novel EDGE OF CHAOS, and as a fourth year mentor at Pitch Wars – a program which connects promising writers to established authors in the community. Molly writes New Adult and Young Adult Contemporary featuring strong female heroines who are unafraid to challenge their male counterparts, yet still vulnerable enough to have love sneak up on them. In addition to being a military spouse and mother of two + one stubborn English Bulldog, Molly loves watching storms from her back porch at her Midwest home, and digging for treasures in antique stores. 

 Website:http://www.mollyelee.com 
 Twitter:@MollyE Lee 

  August 14th Wonder Struck – Review PBC – Spotlight Post Becky on Books – Author Interview folded corners & smudged screens – Review YaReads – Top Ten Post Just One More Chapter – Spotlight Post August 15th Book Magic – Under a spell with every page – Review RoloPoloBookBlog – Spotlight Post Cindy’s Love of Books – Review Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers – Spotlight Post Up ‘Til Dawn Book Blog – Spotlight Post Sleeps on Tables – Spotlight Post August 16th Childishly Passionate – Review Bookblogarama – Author Interview Book Flame – Author Interview Queen of All She Reads – Spotlight Post The Book Beacon – Spotlight Post Dana’s YA Book Pile – Spotlight Post August 17th Ramblings From this Chick – Guest Post Read-love-Blog – Review Rockin’ Book Reviews – Guest Post Mythical Books – Spotlight Post Musings of Madjy – Review Roxy’s Book Reviews – Spotlight Post August 18th Tangents and Tissues – Review A Dream Within A Dream – Spotlight Post Never Too Many To Read – Review Literary Chanteuse – Spotlight Post OMGReads – Spotlight Post Crossroad Reviews – Spotlight Post

The West Woods by Suzy Vadori @vadoris @YaBkpile @YABoundToursPR

Monday, August 14, 2017

Generation of the Last Hour








Title: Generation of the Last Hour Author: Rochele Rosa Release Date: May 23, 2017 ISBN: 978-0-9977278-7-6   Blurb: In an underground city devoid of adults, fifteen-year-old Raquelle Granger holds the position of Council Member, and thousands of lives within City Ten rest in her hands. Unfortunately, she only has two years left until she’s supposed to join the adults on the frontlines in a war that never seems to end. But when the enemy army rolls into the area with drills, intent on destroying the city and taking no prisoners, Raquelle, together with her little brother and childhood best friend, must make a choice—Fight, or die a martyr among the Christian youth.     


Book Links: Anaiah Press:http://anaiahpress.com/generation-of-the-last-hour Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Last-Hour-Rochele-Rosa-ebook Barnes and Noble:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/generation-of-the-last-hour-rochele-rosa Itunes:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/generation-of-the-last-hour Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/generation-of-the-last-hour Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34663453-generation-of-the-last-hour   



About the Author:


 


Author Links: Website:http://blessednotstressedbookworm.wordpress.com/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/rochele.rosa.3 Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/rosa_rochele   About Anaiah Press: Anaiah Press is a Christian publishing house dedicated to presenting quality, faith-based fiction and nonfiction books to the public. Sign up for our Anaiah Press Reader Newsletter and/or Blogger Blog Tour Signup Newsletter to be entered into our summer giveaway.  


  Read below for an excerpt from the book:
Nights like these make the war seem like a distant nightmare. The stars swirl in patterns I don’t understand as I stare at them from my perch atop the mountain of rusted and long forgotten machinery. The clashing rings of metal sound off all around as my team of scavengers scour for resources on the ground below. The sound is almost soothing, like a song. If only for a moment, peace washes over me. That is, until the stretch of blue on the horizon reminds me that our time here is limited.   Glancing out at the shadows tumbling around the Graveyard, which expands for miles around the true mountains, I set my shoulders back and stand tall. “Pack it up!”   The early morning sun illuminates the forest stretching across the snow-capped mountainside and the valley we’re in. I tighten the strap of my gun and scale to the ground before pacing behind the six-wheeled wagon. Only a few pieces lie in the back, and I shake my head with a heavy sigh. “We’re not going to make quota.”   “Yes, we are.” My best friend, Faith, smiles with a sense of innocent wisdom as she runs her fingers through her long, black hair. Faith’s blue Medic sash drapes over her shoulder. She shouldn’t be here.   “You have to have optimism.” Faith turns to one of my scavengers. “The engineers need a sprocket rocket spring. Do we have one yet?”   He straightens and salutes her. “No ma’am, but we’re searching.”   She nods dismissively, and he continues his duties.   “Raquelle!”   A boy runs toward me. He stumbles as he runs over uneven gravel, and I step away from the wagon to meet him halfway. I don’t have to see his eager eyes to know that he has found something interesting.   He catches his breath. “I found a couple of relics.”   If we were looters, the relics would be our treasure. We know very little of what the past was like, with the technology they had that was much more advanced than ours. So, I guess that’s why I like being the Head of the Scavenging Department. Occasionally, we find relics, and when someone does, he or she is rewarded with extra rations or precious baked goods, like cookies.   The entire yard freezes, watching the small twelve-year-old. Having only been assigned to the job a few months earlier, finding a relic so soon is unheard of, but he claims that he found two. “Here, ma’am.”   I carefully take the first one from the boy’s shaking hands and sit down on the open tailgate, with him right next to me. One relic is flat, smooth rectangular metal with an engraved apple in the middle. I flip it over, revealing cracked black glass. I dust it off and try to rack my mind with an answer to what it is. “It looks like a mirror.” I turn it back to the side with the apple.   “My grandpa once said that there was a company with that…uh…” The scavenger stumbles for the right word.   “Logo,” I say. Old writings explain of times where a good logo meant a lot to a business. It doesn’t make sense to me, how a picture could make you rich. There are faded words printed onto it. “iPad.” That’s a strange word.   I set it down at my feet, and he hands me the next item. It’s rectangular too, but chunky, and this one flips open horizontally. There is another black screen and buttons. I press them, but nothing happens. Of course, the relic wouldn’t have power after so long. The word “Nintendo” is pressed into the back side.   “So, what does this give me?” He wrings his hands together.   These are great finds. We don’t usually find technology relics. “Five desserts,” I say, getting out a piece of paper and scribbling the order down. “When you’re done here, go see Rosemary.”   His eyes light up. “Thank you.”   “Don’t tell anyone your reward.” I place the relics in my satchel.   He nods and hops down. The other workers wait patiently for the outcome. I kick my feet in the air. Huh, the drop is longer than I thought. Looking out at the faces in the moonlight, I say, “These are excellent additions to send to The Gathering Committee.”   The Elders in the Gathering Committee will know what the items are. They’ll label and store the items for future generations to enjoy when we have returned to peacetime.   The ever-changing sky tugs at the knot in my stomach. A cool breeze raises goose bumps on my arms. Crossing my arms, I swallow the tension. “Faith, the scouts patrol at dawn. We need to pack up.”   I take a deep breath and glance at my friend’s glassy eyes as she watches the morning light emerge. Not everyone gets to experience the surface. I reach into my leather jacket and take out a pocket watch my grandfather gave me before the elderly were drafted into the army. The relic was passed down to him from his grandfather, who served in a similar war. I wind it, making sure it keeps in perfect time.   The ground rumbles as a squeal of decompressing air echoes from within the trees. Someone calls out, “Spider Scout!” and everyone takes off into drill maneuvers. Some hold defensive positions while others unload our findings from the wagon into bags. I run across the clearing and grip a giant gear on the ground. With a heave, I lift it high enough for the youth to deposit the precious metal into a chute and then scurry down the ladder. Faith stands beside me, helping me hold up the gear.   A searchlight cuts through the dim light as an eight-legged mechanical beast walks the perimeter of the Graveyard. My heart squeezes.   “Raquelle!” Faith snaps me out of my daze. “They’re all safe. Let’s go.”   I shimmy onto the ladder and slide down, anticipating the impact that rattles my bones. Once on the floor of the tunnel, a lone lantern illuminates my twenty scavengers and their finds. Our heavy breaths echo, and they quietly fidget. Just as I open my mouth to say something, Faith lands beside me with a playful smirk.   “That was close,” she says.   Sometimes I wonder if she’s an adrenaline addict.   “Too close.” I take a breath. “Did we get everything the engineers and mechanics need?”   Harland’s the oldest of the bunch. “We’re missing a few gears and pistons, but we can get them tomorrow night.” He brushes the dust covering his jacket.   I close my eyes as heat grows in my face. “Need I remind you that these parts are to repair the boilers? I don’t want to be the one to tell Section Two they have to go another night without power.” Pebbles drop from the earthy ceiling. I’ll request the mechanics add more support beams for this tunnel.   Harland shrugs with an indifferent sneer. “Not my problem.”   I grit my teeth. Nothing is ever his problem.   Faith places a hand on my shoulder, a silent plea for me to calm down.   I sigh, releasing the bubbling anger. “Rest up, because we need to make quota tomorrow.”   Lamps in hand, they begin to walk through the outer labyrinth of what we call home. Our footsteps echo along the arched tunnel that was carved before our grandparents were born. Every few hundred feet, we pass metal beams embedded into the structure. As I watch them go, my stomach churns and my hands begin to shake. I cross my arms to hide them.   Faith puts a hand on my shoulder again. “I can make the announcement for you.”   I shake my head, fighting the nausea threatening to overtake me. “Thank you, but it’s my turn to deliver the war news.”
Giveaway: Go to this link to enter an awesome giveaway! https://www.rafflecopter.com/ra

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Omega by Jus Accardo @JusAccardo


Infinity (The Infinity Division, #1) by Jus Accardo
Published by Entangled Teen
Published on November 1st, 2016
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Jump dimensions. Find the bad guy. Don’t fall in love.
Nobody said being the daughter of an army general was easy. But when her dad sends a teenage subordinate to babysit her while he’s away? That’s taking it a step too far.
Cade, as beautiful as he is deadly, watches Kori with more than just interest. He looks at her like he knows her very soul. And when he saves her from a seemingly random attack, well, that’s when things get weird.
Turns out, Kori’s dad isn’t just an army general—he’s the head of a secret government project that has invented a way to travel between parallel dimensions. Dimensions where there are infinite Koris, infinite Cades…and apparently, on every other Earth, they’re madly in love.
Falling for a soldier is the last thing on Kori’s mind. Especially when she finds herself in a deadly crossfire, and someone from another Earth is hell-bent on revenge…
About Book #2:
Omega (The Infinity Division, #2) by Jus Accardo
Published by Entangled Teen
To be released on August 1st, 2017
One mistake can change everything. Ashlyn Calvert finds that out the hard way when a bad decision leads to the death of her best friend, Noah Anderson.
Only Noah isn’t really gone. Thanks to his parents’ company, the Infinity Division, there is a version of him skipping from one dimension to another, set on revenge for the death of his sister, Kori. When a chance encounter brings him face-to-face with Ash, he’s determined to resist the magnetic pull he’s felt for her time and time again. Because falling for Ash puts his mission—and their lives—in danger.
But there’s more going on in Ash’s alternate universe than either of them knows: a mysterious project called Omega. A conspiracy spanning multiple Earths and revolving around none other than Ash. Its creators would do anything to keep Omega secret…
Anything.
About the Author:
JUS ACCARDO spent her childhood reading and learning to cook. Determined to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps as a chef, she applied and was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America. But at the last minute, she realized her true path lay with fiction, not food. Jus is the bestselling author of the popular Denazen series from Entangled publishing, as well as the Darker Agency series, and the New Adult series, The Eternal Balance. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald.


The Excerpt:
“Maybe you used to be better at it?” I prodded. “I mean, you probably don’t get a lot of time to date while skipping all over creation, right? Maybe you’re just out of practice?”
“I’m not out of practice.” He seethed.
“It’s okay! It’s nothing to be ashamed of—”
For the second time since we’d met, he assaulted me. One second I was having the time of my life pushing his buttons—ridiculously easy to do—the next I was against the wall, Noah’s body covering mine. His lips moved furiously, scorchingly hot and with a level of passion I’d never felt before. His tongue slipped between my lips and despite having told other guys that I hated that, I melted, reveling in the millions of electrical tingles the action sent shooting through my body.
His hands gripped my head on either side. No roaming, no exploration. Somehow it made the whole thing hotter. Like he couldn’t bear to release me in fear that I’d move. That I’d get away and he’d have to stop.
And stop? No. That was a dirty word. A softly whispered sin in the darkest corners of the earth. Stopping this would be a crime of the highest caliber.
Except he did. Stop, that was.
He pulled away just far enough to look me in the eye, not yet letting go of my head. With an extremely satisfied tilt of his lip, he said, “Decent my ass.”
The Teasers:
See attached. Only 3 are included in the HTML. Feel free to edit in/out as you see fit!
The Giveaway
metal infinity charm bookmark (see attached picture.)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

I Stop Some-Where by T. E. Carter @chapterxchapter @tecarter7


Hello Readers!
We are so excited to introduce you to a new title coming February 2018 from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan! I Stop Somwhere by T.E. Carter is described as THE LOVELY BONES meets ALL THE RAGE. Got your attention yet?  
Here's what readers have to say:
  “an unputdownable mystery. Don't miss it.” - Hayley Chewins – Author “Visceral with both rage and tenderness and impossible to put down.” – Amelinda – Goodreads Reviewer “unapologetic and gorgeous and raw”Rachel Solomon – Author “powerful and profound and makes you think” – Amanda Searcy - Author  
Pre-order your copy today, and don't miss out on this upcoming title from Macmillan!

Feed your curiosity and check out the excerpt below. Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!


THE LOVELY BONES meets ALL THE RAGE in a searing, heartbreaking contemporary story of a lost teenager, and the town she leaves behind.
Ellie Frias disappeared long before she vanished.
Tormented throughout middle school, Ellie begins her freshman year with a new look: she doesn’t need to be popular; she just needs to blend in with the wallpaper.
But then the unthinkable happens and Ellie is trapped after a brutal assault. She wasn't the first victim and now she watches it happen again and again. She tries to hold on to her happier memories in order to get past the cold days, waiting for someone to find her.
The problem is, no one searches for a girl they never noticed in the first place.
TE Carter’s stirring and visceral debut not only discusses and dismantles rape culture but also makes you slow down and think about what it is to be human.
I Stop Somewhere by T.E. Carter Publication Date: February 27, 2017 Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Nobody noticed me as I cut through the room. I made my way outside, into the cold. Spring was playing games with us. Weeks earlier, it had snuck in overnight, erasing our memory of winter in a matter of hours. When we’d gone to bed, winter had lingered in the snowbanks and in the way the trees still hunched over from the weight of it. And then suddenly, spring. We woke to birds singing, birds who appeared to have been shipped overnight on a secret train, and we remembered music.
But now, winter was trying to force a comeback. Everyone outside stood looking at the pool, wondering what happened. I was shivering, wearing a skirt and thin shirt I’d borrowed from Kate when spring was still a promise.
I saw him from the periphery. From the in-between where the people inside faded into the background, but the people outside were only figures in the night. It made sense; I was a periphery girl.
“Hey,” I said to his back.
When he turned to look at me, I swear the light from the porch surrounded him. But I think I made that up. I think I want to remember him that way. I want to believe there was something that made him special. I want to believe that loneliness doesn’t just mess with our hearts.
“Ellie! You came,” Caleb said.
“I said I would.”
“I know. I wasn’t sure, though. I worried. You’re late.”
I’d walked to the party, after telling my dad I was going to a friend’s. He wouldn’t have stopped me from going to Gina Lynn’s. I didn’t have other friends, so it wouldn’t have made a difference if I’d said her name. But, for some reason, I lied. I lied and I don’t know why I did.
“Yeah, well, I was doing things.”
He laughed. “Mysterious things. Of course. I’d expect nothing less from my Elusive Ellie.”
My. I heard it. The claim he laid on me. I smiled at the word.
He moved closer and I stepped back. It was automatic. Since earlier in the week, by my locker, I hadn’t stopped thinking about the possibility. But now that he was close again, I was scared. I was afraid of the way I knew I’d hurt if he waited months to talk to me again. I didn’t want to fall for a guy just because he’d smiled at me and said my name a few times. I was afraid of what would happen if there was more to it than that, but I was also afraid of how I’d feel if there wasn’t.
“I don’t think I’m supposed to be here,” I said.
I’d always imagined being wanted. Of someone loving me. Choosing me. But here was this boy and if he kissed me, I knew I’d always worry about going back to not being wanted.


Guest Post:

In Defense of Darkness

In the interest of full disclosure, I should start with noting that I am biased. I write dark contemporary fiction, so I have an ulterior motive in defending it. However, I write it because I love reading it and that’s what I wanted to address.
Very few of my friends and family members understand my passion for dark contemporary fiction and film. They say they don’t get why I’d want to immerse myself in things that are “depressing,” and tell me I should seek out things that are lighter and happier.
I’m not going to pretend that there isn’t a time and place for easy entertainment. I love comedy and bad reality television and game shows and cheesy romance as much as the next person. However, I do tend to find myself especially drawn to the darker stories. All of my favorite novels and films are dark – and almost all are contemporary (or contemporary to their time, like The Great Gatsby).
I feel there are a number of reasons dark contemporary fiction has significant value. For starters, the world isn’t always a happy place. Being able to talk about it and process it in literature and film (and other arts) is critical for many people. We don’t live every experience, but books and movies can allow us to understand the perspectives of people who do. For example, nearly 7% of American adults experienced a major depressive episode in 2014, according to NIMH. It’s a small percentage, but it represents almost 16 million people. The 93% of people who aren’t reflected in that group gain a lot by seeing the world through the eyes of the 7%.
Secondly, as someone in that 7%, I may not seem like an ideal reader for books that deal with dark topics. Some people say, “the world is depressing enough. Why would you want to deal with that willingly?” The truth is, dark fiction doesn’t depress me. In fact, if often relieves the feelings of depression. In reading about dark subjects, one of two things happens. First, I see my own emotions normalized. This goes for both the good and bad coping strategies. Characters who handle their problems well help to make things seem achievable, while those who don’t make it feel less shameful when it’s not always that easy.
The other reason dark stories help with depression is that they give perspective. This is not to say they minimize one person’s experience by showcasing someone who has it worse. Instead, they show that humanity is full of gray areas. While it can sometimes seem like the rest of the world has it figured out, these stories can help express that, in fact, very few people really do. Even if the person’s experience is totally alien, it helps to recognize that the beautiful perfection of social media is usually just a façade. It’s the gentrification of the human experience. Pleasant to look at and to distract us from the internal structural damage we all carry.
By no means am I stating dark contemporary fiction is the best type of fiction. It’s just a personal favorite and it has its place. It doesn’t get showcased as often in either literature or film, because it’s hard to create a fandom about a story about death, depression, loss, or fear. Still, these human experiences are just as crucial to our lives as are the escape into the worlds of Hogwarts, Panem, and others.
Here’s a list of some of my favorite dark contemporary YA novels, as a jumping off point. Be prepared and have tissues at your side. This is no particular order.
1.      Shine – Lauren Myracle
2.      Hate List – Jennifer Brown
3.      The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
4.      Jumping Off Swings – Jo Knowles
5.      Someday This Pain will be Useful to You - Peter Cameron
6.      Some Girls Are/Cracked up to Be – Courtney Summers
7.      Love You Hate You Miss You - Elizabeth Scott
8.      13 Reasons Why – Jay Asher
9.      Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – Jesse Andrews
10.  Before I Fall – Lauren Oliver
11.  Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler
12.  Leverage – Joshua Cohen

TE Carter was born in New England and has lived in New England for pretty much her entire life. Throughout her career, she’s done a lot of things, although her passion has always been writing. When she’s not writing, she can generally be found reading classic literature, obsessing over Game of Thrones (she’s one hundred percent Team Lannister), playing Xbox, organizing her comic collection, or binge watching baking competitions. She continues to live in New England with her husband and their two cats.

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!