Cover Reveal ~*~ The Road to You by Marilyn Brant

The Road to You by Marilyn Brant
Publication date: October 3rd 2013
Genres: Mystery, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:
Sometimes the only road to the truth...is one you’ve never taken.

Until I found Gideon’s journal in the tool shed — locked in the cedar box where I’d once hidden my old diary — I’d been led to believe my brother was dead. But the contents of his journal changed all that.

The Road to Discovery...
Two years ago, Aurora Gray’s world turned upside down when her big brother Gideon and his best friend Jeremy disappeared. Now, during the summer of her 18th birthday, she unexpectedly finds her brother’s journal and sees that it’s been written in again. Recently. By him.

The Road to Danger...
There are secret messages coded within the journal’s pages. Aurora, who’s unusually perceptive and a natural puzzle solver, is hell bent on following where they lead, no matter what the cost. She confides in the only person she feels can help her interpret the clues: Donovan McCafferty, Jeremy’s older brother and a guy she’s always been drawn to — even against her better judgment.

The Road to You...
Reluctantly, Donovan agrees to go with her and, together, they set out on a road trip of discovery and danger, hoping to find their lost brothers and the answers to questions they’ve never dared to ask aloud.

In that expectant space between silence and melody, our trip began...

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18241997-the-road-to-you?ac=1

AUTHOR BIO

Marilyn Brant is a national bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary fiction, and she was recently named the 2013 Illinois Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English.

She wrote ACCORDING TO JANE, the story of a modern woman who receives dating advice from the spirit of Jane Austen (October 2009); FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE, a tale about three suburban moms, their marriages and what happens a decade or two after the "Happily Ever After" (a Doubleday Book Club and Book-of-the-Month Club pick in 2010); and A SUMMER IN EUROPE, a novel about a woman's journey of self discovery as she travels through Europe with her adventurous aunt's Sudoku & Mahjongg Club (a Literary Guild and BOMC2 featured alternate in 2011, and a Rhapsody Book Club Top 20 Bestseller in "Fiction & Literature" in 2012), all women's fiction releases from Kensington Books.

She's also a #1 Kindle Bestseller and has written a series of fun and flirty contemporary romantic comedies, available as original ebooks. Both ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAE and PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH were Top 100 Bestsellers on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. DOUBLE DIPPING was a 2012 International Digital Awards Finalist for Best Contemporary Novel and HOLIDAY MAN was a RONE Award Contestant. Her next novel, THE ROAD TO YOU, is a coming-of-age romantic mystery and will be out in October 2013.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.marilynbrant.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.brant
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marilynbrant
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2978367.Marilyn_Brant

Blitz & Giveaway ~*~ Out from Under You by Sophie Swift

Genre: New Adult Romance

Expected Publication: August 13, 2013

Series: Smart Girls Finish First #1

 Blurb ~*~

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

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

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

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

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

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

Excerpt ~*~

Grayson

My chest hitches when I see her, barely visible in the porch light, lumbering down the walkway to the beach, the blackness of the night swallowing her up with each step.

I eye the door to the hallway.

The door to everything that happens after this moment.

I suddenly feel like my entire life will be decided by which side of it I’m on.

This side—right here where I stand—is the side I’ve always known. The one I have all the answers to. This is the side on which I marry Alex and she bears my children and we buy a town house in Brooklyn together. This is the side I always thought I wanted to be on.

And that side, over there—through that doorway, down those stairs, onto that beach—that is the side I know nothing about. A foreign land. With no certainties and no answers. The side that terrifies me.

My gaze drills into the wooden door. My skin feels hot. My mouth is dry. My fingers twitch.

And then suddenly, there is no more choice.

My body moves without permission from my mind.

In three paces I’m in the hallway. In ten juddered heartbeats I’m down the stairs. In a dizzying montage of choppy, breathless still frames, my bare feet stagger down the walkway, sinking into the cool sand.

Lia stands motionless at the edge of the water, staring out into the darkened horizon, as though she might find answers there. As though the world beyond this shore might make more sense. The full moon casts a faint light on the side of her face, causing her skin to glow.

The sand hides the sound of my heavy footfalls as I stride toward her.

When my hand tightens around her arm, she is startled but doesn’t scream. When I pull her around to face me, she opens her mouth to protest. To continue the tirade she began in the parking lot of the bar. But when my lips crush decisively against hers, claiming her with a consuming, covetous kiss, everything falls silent.

Only the waves dare to breathe.

~*~ Buy Links ~*~

Amazon   ~   B&N   ~   Smashwords   ~   Amazon UK

About the Author:

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

Twitter: @bySophieSwift

Facebook: SophieSwiftBooks

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7155391.Sophie_Swift

~*~ Giveaway ~*~

Comment to win a Kindle copy of Out from under You from Sophie Swift!

Winner will be selected by random.org on August 28.

Prize will be sent the week of September 2nd.

Book Blitz & GIveaway ~*~ The Defiance by A.G. Henley

BOOK 1
The Scourge by A.G. Henley
(Brilliant Darkness #1)
Publication date: January 31st 2012
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Groundling, Fennel, is Sightless. She's never been able to see her lush forest home, but she knows its secrets. She knows how the shadows shift when she passes under a canopy of trees. She knows how to hide in the cool, damp caves when the Scourge comes. She knows how devious and arrogant the Groundlings' tree-dwelling neighbors, the Lofties, can be.

And she's always known this day would come—the day she faces the Scourge alone.

The Sightless, like Fenn, are mysteriously protected from the Scourge, the gruesome creatures roaming the forests, reeking of festering flesh and consuming anything—and anyone—living. A Sightless Groundling must brave the Scourge and bring fresh water to the people of the forest. Today, that task becomes Fenn's.

Fenn will have a Lofty Keeper, Peree, as her companion. Everyone knows the Lofties wouldn’t hesitate to shoot an arrow through the back of an unsuspecting Groundling like Fenn, but Peree seems different. A boy with warm, rough hands who smells like summer, he is surprisingly kind and thoughtful. Although Fenn knows his people are treacherous, she finds herself wanting to trust him.

As their forest community teeters on the brink of war, Fenn and Peree must learn to work together to survive the Scourge and ensure their people’s survival. But when Fenn uncovers a secret that shatters her truths, she’s forced to decide who and what to protect—her people, her growing love for Peree, or the elusive dream of lasting peace in the forest.


Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13450088-the-scourge

Purchase:
-Amazon  - B&N;

Praise for The Scourge:
“Lovable and relatable heroine? Check. Swoon-worthy, kick-butt hero? Check. Compelling romance that makes your heart melt and toes curl? Check. Captivating story and fascinating world? Check. Eagerly anticipating the next book? Check, check, check.”
-- Refracted Light Reviews, blog review


BOOK 2
The Defiance by A.G. Henley
(Brilliant Darkness #2)
Publication date: July 29th 2013
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Read The Defiance (Brilliant Darkness, #2), the highly anticipated sequel to The Scourge (Brilliant Darkness, #1), a 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist!


It hasn’t been long since Fennel, a Sightless Groundling, and Peree, her Lofty Keeper, fell in love and learned the truth: the Scourge, and their world, are not what they seem.

Fenn and Peree are determined to guide their people to the protected village of Koolkuna, but first they must convince them that everything they believe is a lie. An impossible task, especially when someone seems hell-bent on trying anything—even animal sacrifice and arson—to destroy the couple’s new bond and crush the frail truce between the Groundlings and the Lofties. Not everyone wants to uproot their lives in the forest, and those who stay behind will be left terribly vulnerable.

Fenn and Peree’s resolve to be together, and the constant threat of the Scourge’s return, push both groups to the breaking point. Unable to tell friend from foe, Fenn must again decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice to ensure the future of the people of the forest.

Only this time, the price of peace may be too high to bear.


Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18132908-the-defiance?ac=1

Purchase:
-Amazon

Praise for The Defiance:
"Fans of The Scourge, you will not be disappointed with this sequel. The Defiance was thrilling, romantic, and full of surprises. Loved this book!"
-- Imagine a World, blog review

"I had very high hopes for this follow-up novel, and Henley DEFINITELY delivers in her sophomore release!"
-- Booking It With Hayley G, blog review

"I absolutely LOVED The Defiance! No, I more than loved it! It was breathtaking, intense, romantic, suspenseful . . . the list could go on and on!"
-- ARC review

----

AUTHOR BIO:

A.G. Henley is the author of the BRILLIANT DARKNESS series. The first novel in the series, THE SCOURGE, was a finalist for the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award.

A.G. is also a clinical psychologist, which means people either tell her their life stories on airplanes, or avoid her at parties when they’ve had too much to drink. Neither of which she minds. When she’s not writing fiction or shrinking heads, she can be found herding her children and their scruffy dog, Guapo, to various activities while trying to remember whatever she’s inevitably forgotten to tell her husband. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Author links:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

~*~ Giveaway ~*~

Comment to win a Kindle copy of Defiance from A.G. Henley!  

Winner will be selected by random.org on August 28. 

 Prize will be sent the week of September 2nd.

Guest Post & Giveaway ~*~ Scorched Treachery by Rebecca L. Ethington

Top 10 Favorite Books and Why

1.  Angela’s Ashes – I found this book when I was in high school, I picked it up at a bookstore when on a church trip. I thought it looked good, but in some weird way, I saw my life mirrored in it. I have had a hard life growing up, and reading about another’s trials, and knowing that he made it through, and that I wasn’t alone was very big difference in my life.

2. Playing the Jack – Before e-readers I frequented a library about twice a week. I devoured books and I got to the point that I was just pulling books off of the shelf in the hopes that they were good. That was how I found this book. And I love it. It has been out of print for about twenty years, but I really believe that it deserves to see the light of day again. It was my first foray into historical fiction and probably put the idea of writing back into my mind.

3. Sideways Stories from Wayside School – This book was my first introduction into chapter books in second grade, at least the first book that I remember. I guess it made that much of an impact on me that it erased the memory of all previous chapter books. I love the humor and the craziness. I think this was the first time that I realized that I could get lost in a book. That feeling is so addicting.

4. MacBeth – I was in sixth grade and my school was putting on a Shakespearean festival, the play of choice was MacBeth – The Scottish Play – and I was determined to be cast as the lead. I memorized that monologue and climbed out a window to audition (I wasn’t allowed to audition) and snagged the lead. This may just seem like another bond with a show I had once performed; but it is so much more than that. This play was my first experience with Shakespeare. I think everyone remembers their first introduction to Shakespeare, be it good or bad. For me I remember how the words fell into my mind and stayed there, lingering to create worlds and images that I could only dream about. To me, Shakespeare was a magician.

5. Alice in Wonderland – When I was in third grade my teacher Ms. Flowers was in charge of the school play. And that year it was Alice in Wonderland. I was ecstatic. I devoured the book, twice, before auditions. Prepared a one line ‘monologue’ and was cast with the fifth graders as the Iris in the Flower garden. I read the book several times since then and when my first daughter was born I proudly named her Alice. I probably love Alice in Wonderland more for nostalgia sake. But I still love it.

7. Wizard of Oz – Everyone has a first book love, the book your parents read to you at night. This was mine.

8. Significance- Significance was my first introduction to indy publishing. My husband got me a Kindle for Christmas – he saved all year and so I was limited. If I remember the book was free or at .99 I bought it, and gobbled it up. I loved it, but what was more it put in the back of my head and when my sister dared me to publish Kiss of Fire, I knew what I was going to do.

9. The Sea of Tranquility – Not many recent reads are on this list – but this one definitely deserves to make it. It was so well written and well thought out. I think I read it twice, right in succession my desire to devour it was the high. I still recommend it to everyone.

10. I’m torn between something religious or a book that truly made my life better for number 10. I am not sure which one fits, so I will leave you with something I heard two nine year old discussing during a rehearsal in the late 90s. I’m not sure what book they were talking about but one small child said to the other “You should read it. That book changed my life.” I laughed at the time. But, even at ten books changed my life too.

Scorched Treachery by Rebecca L. Ethington
Series: Imdalind #3
Publication date: July 12th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Synopsis:

While Joclyn is trapped in the tormenting hell of Cail’s mind, the battle around her only continues to grow and spread.
*
Edmund has infiltrated the underground hallways of Prague, guiding the massacre that would end the lives of the last of the great magical race. In her attempts to stop him, Wynifred has been captured and her magic restrained. Chained up in the ancient dungeons of Prague, her fate is left in the hands of her father, who has tried to kill her before.
With Ryland’s screams and Sain’s fragmented sights as her only company, Wyn must rely on something that has been hidden deep inside of her for centuries to help them break free.
*
Ilyan’s whole life has been building up to one purpose. Protect the Silnỳ. He knows what he must do, and he has no doubt in his ability to do so. But when his father’s magic removes Joclyn’s mind from her body, he is left protecting the shell of the one person he loves. Desperate to find a way to break her free of her prison, he makes a choice. And that one choice changes everything.
Now, Ilyan finds himself bound to Joclyn in a way that he never knew to be possible.
They say that blood is thicker than water, but Black Water burns, and Ilyan’s heart may not be strong enough to keep it pumping through his veins and give the girl he loves back into his brother’s care.
Even if he can, it may not be safe to do so.

Scorched Treachery is the third book in The Imdalind Series

Clean Young-Adult Paranormal Romance
Language: Low
Violence: Moderate
Sexual Content: Low to None

Goodreads  

Buy Links ~*~
--Amazon   ~    B&N 

Author Bio ~*~

Rebecca Ethington has been telling stories since she was small. First, with writing crude scripts, and then on stage with years of theatrical performances. The Imdalind Series is her first stint into the world of literary writing. Rebecca is a mother to two, and wife to her best friend of 14 years. She was born and raised in the mountains of Salt Lake City, and hasn’t found the desire to leave yet. Her days are spent writing, running, and enjoying life with her amazing family.

Author links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

~*~ Giveaway ~*~

Comment to win your choice of eBook 1, 2 or 3 + a swag pack from Rebecca!  

Winner will be selected by random.org on August 23. 

 Prize will be sent the week of August 26th.

Giveaway & Excerpt ~*~ Debt Collector by Susan Kaye Quinn

Debt Collector by Susan Kaye Quinn
Series: Debt Collector, Serial 1-3
Publication date: 2013
Genre: NA Future-Noir

Synopsis ~*~

EPISODES 1-3 (Delirium, Agony, Ecstasy) of the Debt Collector serial. Contains mature content and themes. For young-adult-appropriate thrills, see Susan's bestselling Mindjack series.

What's your life worth on the open market? 
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debtcollector carries. He's just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja's sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane... until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn't what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone--a dark pit he's not sure he'll be able to climb out of again.

The first three episodes of the Debt Collector serial are collectively the length of a short novel, or 152 pages. These are the first three of nine episodes in the first season of The Debt Collector serial. This dark and gritty future-noir is about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going into debt risks a lot more than your credit rating. Episode 4, Broken, releases 4/17/13. For more about the Debt Collector serial, see DebtCollectorSeries.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/series/100549-debt-collector

Purchase ~*~

Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00C4Y3Y6W?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00C4Y3Y6W&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/debt-collector-susan-kaye-quinn/1114975603?ean=2940016484457

---

Excerpt from Delirium (Debt Collector 1) by Susan Kaye Quinn:

    My jackboots are new, the latest ultra-light material out of Hong Kong’s synthetics district, and they make a strange squeaking sound against the hospital floor. It’s the kind of sound that might gather snickers or a raised eyebrow, but no one looks at me, at least not on purpose. I stroll past the ICU desk, taking my time, breathing in the antiseptic smell that masks the odor of death held back by machines and drugs and round-the-clock care. The nurses duck their heads and study their charts, ignoring me. As if catching my eye might mean I’m coming to collect their debt, rather than Mr. Henry’s in Room 301.

     The floor is so highly polished that I see the reflection of my trenchcoat running ahead of me, black as a midnight grave, a spook that lives on the surface of the oft-scrubbed tiles. It reaches the door to 301 before me and disappears in the dim, flickering light coming from the room. The spook has gone back where he belongs, into the dark recesses of my soul, assuming I still have one. If I was a betting man, I would say the odds of having a soul keep getting longer with every transfer I do. The older debt collectors, the ones who are still alive, don’t have anything shining out of their dull-glass eyes, even when they’re hyped up on a transfer. There’s no telling what my eyes look like.

       I stopped looking in the mirror a long time ago.

      Mr. Henry’s hooked up in all the usual places—tubes in his arms and monitor patches hovering over his temples and the blue-veined skin of his chest. His knobbed knees and shriveled legs stick out the end of the blanket. I don’t know if he’s tossed the blanket aside or the nurses just forgot to cover him up again after his sponge bath or whatever they do to prepare patients for a debt transfer. Goosebumps raise the hair on what’s left of his legs into a small forest of gray fur. I tug the thin, white-weave blanket over his exposed legs, and Mr. Henry opens his eyes.

     They’re pale green and watery—washed out and used up like the rest of him.

     “You’ve come for me,” he says.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
AUTHOR BIO ~*~

Susan Kaye Quinn grew up in California, where she wrote snippets of stories and passed them to her friends during class. Her teachers pretended not to notice and only confiscated her stories a couple times.

Susan left writing behind to pursue a bunch of engineering degrees, but she was drawn back to writing by an irresistible urge to share her stories with her niece, her kids, and all the wonderful friends she’s met along the way.

She doesn’t have to sneak her notes anymore, which is too bad.

Susan writes from the Chicago suburbs with her three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as a much as she can handle.

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Giveaway & Blitz ~*~ Possession by S.K.Falls

Blurb ~*~

After I left for college, I thought I’d never see Eden again. But I found myself headed back four years later, destitute and unable to find a job anywhere else. Still, I was adamant nothing would keep me there for long.

Then I met the intoxicating Dax Allard. Copper-colored eyes, skin that emanated an exceptional heat, and a strange “dog” at his side… I was drunk on him.

But Dax’s past was darker than mine, teeming with ancient secrets. Falling for him could cost me my life.

I had two choices: walk away or deal with the perilous consequences.

It was no choice at all.

This is the first episode of a serial novel, and runs around 50 pages or 12,000 words.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17706425-possession?ac=1

Where Did the Idea for Possession Come From? 
      The idea for Possession came to me really atypically. Usually I think of a character—generally female—and know, instantly, a lot about her personality. But with Possession, I actually had this ravenous need to read about a male demon character. I’d never read a book about a character exactly like the one in my head, and I asked around to my other bibliophile friends to see if they had read anything like what I wanted. I got some great recommendations, but nothing quite fit the bill. 
      So then I began to wonder if I could write this male character. It was a pretty daunting challenge because (a) I’d never written a romance before and (b) I’d never written in the serial format. But when, after weeks, the idea wouldn’t let go, I knew I had to try. 
      So far it’s been a blast! I’ve been having so much fun getting to know the characters and listening as they unveil the story for me. 

Author Bio ~*~

   A huge fan of spooky stuff and shoes, S.K. Falls enjoys alternately hitting up the outlet malls and historic graveyards in Charleston, SC where she lives and imbibes coffee. Her husband and two small children seem not to mind when she hastily scribbles novel lines on stray limbs in the absence of notepads. 
    Since no writer’s biography is complete without mention of her menagerie of animals, you should know she has one dog that doubles as a footstool, a second that functions as a vacuum cleaner, and a cat that ensures she never forgets that her hands are, first and foremost, for pouring cat food. 

Links ~*~

Website  |   Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Buy Possession on Amazon  or B&N  

Giveaway ~*~

a Rafflecopter giveaway