COVER REVEAL: Darkness Watching (Darkworld, #1) by Emma L. Adams

Darkness Watching by Emma L. Adams 
(Darkworld #1) 

Publication date: September 30th 2013 

Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn is one interview away from her future when she first sees the demons. She thinks she’s losing her mind, but the truth is far more frightening: she can see into the Darkworld, the home of spirits– and the darkness is staring back.

Desperate to escape the demons, Ash accepts a place at a university in the small town of Blackstone, in the middle of nowhere – little knowing that it isn’t coincidence that led her there but the pull of the Venantium, the sorcerers who maintain the barrier keeping demons from crossing from the Darkworld into our own world.

All-night parties, new friendships and a life without rules or limits are all part of the package of student life – but demons still stalk Ash, and their interest in her has attracted the attention of every sorcerer in the area. Ash is soon caught between her new life and a group of other students with a connection to the Darkworld, who could offer the answers she’s looking for. The demons want something from her,  and someone is determined to kill her before she can find out what it is.

In a world where darkness lurks beneath the surface, not everyone is what they appear to be..

Author Bio:

Emma spent her childhood creating imaginary worlds to compensate for a disappointingly average reality, so it was probably inevitable that she ended up writing fantasy and paranormal for young adults. She was born in Birmingham, UK, which she fled at the first opportunity to study English Literature at Lancaster University. In her three years at Lancaster, she hiked up mountains, skydived in Australia, and endured a traumatic episode involving a swarm of bees in the Costa Rican jungle. She also wrote various novels and short stories. These included her first publication, a rather bleak dystopian piece, and a disturbing story about a homicidal duck (which she hopes will never see the light of day).

Now a reluctant graduate, she can usually be found in front of her writing desk, creating weird and wonderful alternative worlds. Her debut novel The Puppet Spell, published in 2013 by Rowanvale Books, is a fantasy tale for young adults and the young at heart, inspired by her lifelong love of the fantastical, mythology, and video games. Emma also writes supernatural fantasy novels for older teens and adults. Her next book,Darkness Watching, is the first in the upper-YA/New Adult Darkworld series, and will be published in September 2013 by Curiosity Quills Press.

Author Links: Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

BLOG TOUR - REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Addicted to You by Colina Brennan

Addicted to You by Colina Brennan
Publication date: June 25th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult

Synopsis:

When twenty-one-year-old Leah Carter’s latest one night stand burglarizes her apartment, her roommate forces her to attend therapy for sex addicts. Leah insists she isn’t a sex addict; she just doesn’t do relationships. After all, sooner or later, everyone lets you down.

At first, the group sessions are little more than an education on how to be promiscuous. Until she meets the newest addict—blue eyes, killer body, and a smile that tempts relapse.

Psychology student Will McLean is posing as a fellow addict while researching a case study on unusual addictions. But the more he learns about Leah, the more certain he is that his desire to break through her walls and unearth her secrets has nothing to do with his assignment.

As the uncertainties spike alongside the sexual tension, the only thing Leah knows for sure is that falling in love would be disastrous. Too bad love might be one addiction she can’t kick.

My Thoughts:

Who decides sex was an addiction anyway? Or that someone should need therapy to "fix" it? Sex was good for you. It was a de-stresser. If it wasn't, then you were doing it wrong.

This was something completely new in the New Adult spectrum. Sex addiction. Yeah, I've only read about that in very adult books. And while Addicted To You is about sex, it wasn't the main topic of the book. Yes, it was there in very subtle tones throughout the pages, but it wasn't a story just based on two characters getting hot and heavy every chance they got.

Leah Carter's roommate puts her foot down when Leah's latest one night stand robs them of almost everything while they are sleeping. She sends Leah off for twenty sessions of therapy for sex addicts. Nearing the end of her twenty session stint, a new addict joins the group. Will McLean is immediately taken with the standoffish Leah and vows to break through her barriers and get to know her better.

I've read quite a few books now that have the Scottish male lead and I have to say that I'm a sucker for an accent. Can't help it. Get's me every time. So I was in love with Will almost immediately. I say almost because when we first meet Will he's at a sex therapy session and is asked to describe himself, and he describes himself as quite the man whore, and I couldn't possibly imagine how the author was going to make me love this character. Had I have reread the book description before I started reading, I would have saved myself all that worry!! Because like all good stories there is a twist to Will's.

Some people might find Leah a bit harder to like. She is stand offish and abrasive at times. She doesn't put a lot of herself out there for the reader to grab onto. But slowly we get little glimpses into her life and I found myself warming to her more and more. Her relationship with her brother Elijah was beautiful and I think that was where she started to reel me in. She's not had a great home life with her parents being so emotionally and physically detached. She has no friends outside of her roommate and that's all thanks to the wall she's built around herself.

Will's best friend Finn was incredibly perfect. I absolutely loved him and was super excited to see that book two in this series will be his story. He was funny and supportive and arty and witty. Yeah, loved him!! Can't wait to read the next book!!

The heat factor between Leah and Will was... Well, it was hot!!! But that wasn't the basis of their relationship. It went much deeper than the physical and I loved being along for the ride as their feelings grew.

Knowing part of her past was great, but now he wanted to know her present. He wanted her to stop being a question so he could start working on how to be her answer.

Addicted To You was really well written. A quick and easy read, with characters that were incredibly likeable and despite the basis of the story they were really relatable. Give this one a read. I'm sure you'll love it!!

4/5 Stars.

Author Bio:
I’m a new adult author with a love for the fantastical and the romantic. My new adult contemporary novel ADDICTED TO YOU will be available June 25.

Author Links: 

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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BOOK BLITZ - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: The Woodlands by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

Title: The Woodlands

Author: Lauren Nicolle Taylor

Published: Clean Teen Publishing, August 30th, 2013

Word Count:  approx. 92,000

Genre:  YA Mature Dystopian Romance

Content Warning:  Non-graphic Violence

Recommend Age:  14+

Synopsis: Rosa never thought she’d make it to sixteen...

When being unique puts you in danger and speaking your mind can be punishable by death,  you might find yourself fighting to survive. Sixteen-year-old Rosa lives in one of the eight enclosed cities of The Woodlands. Where the lone survivors of a devastating race war have settled in the Russian wilderness because it’s the only scrap of land left habitable on the planet. In these circular cities, everyone must abide by the law or face harsh punishment. Rosa's inability to conform and obey the rules brands her a leper and no one wants to be within two feet of her, until she meets Joseph. He's blonde, fair-skinned, green-eyed, and the laid-back complete opposite of Rosa. She's never met anyone quite like him, and she knows that spells danger.

But differences weren't always a bad thing. People used to think being unique was one of the most treasured of traits to have. Now, the Superiors, who ruthlessly control the concrete cities with an iron fist, are obsessed with creating a 'raceless' race. They are convinced this is the only way to avoid another war. Any anomalies must be destroyed.

The Superiors are unstoppable and can do anything they want. After all, they are considered superheroes by the general public. But not everyone sees them this way. When they continue to abuse their power by collecting young girls for use in their secret, high-tech breeding program, they have no idea that one of those girls has somehow managed to make friends even she didn't know she had. And one man will stop at nothing to save her.

The Woodlands by Lauren Nicolle Taylor Excerpt:

WASH AWAY

I don’t know how long I stayed there. I heard muffled voices—people moving around me, sharp rocks clunking dully together.

Strong arms tried to pull me up from where I squatted, head between my knees, clinging to the rail. A baby cried. Someone punched the wall. I stayed there still.

The light was touching my hands, bare-knuckle white. My body tensed. Someone was talking to me, but it was like I was underwater. His voice warbled and I couldn’t make sense of it.

I was teetering on the edge of a precipice, wind in my hair, staring down into blackness. With all my courage, all my energy, I made the choice. I let go and I let myself fall, endlessly falling, cold air pulling my hair up over my head.

One finger at a time, detached. Tick, tick, tick. Heavy cloth shrouded me.

He picked me up in a blanket and walked outside. Silent. It was bright. I closed my eyes and focused on his footfalls on the solid earth. Thump, thump, thump. I felt us descending. I opened my eyes and it was cooler, darker.

He lay me down gently, kissing me on the forehead. I felt numb with no senses, like there was a barrier between me and the outside world. He rolled my shirt up and pulled it over my head. The cotton stuck to my skin. Carefully, he used his hands to peel it away from my stomach and chest, push, pry, rip. A faint copper scent stung my nose. He stood me up, removed my boots and trousers, dunking everything in the shallow pond he had brought us to. I sat there. Blank. Cold. Watching the water change from clear to pink and then clear again as it washed away. Washed her away.

He soaked a cloth in water, and begun carefully wiping the rust-colored blood from my body. I didn’t care anymore. I let him touch me, lifting my arms, turning my head, pulling my hair back and cleaning my neck. He did it all slowly and deliberately. There was no charge in his touch. This was a kindness to one who was broken.

When he was done, he wrapped me in the blanket and propped me up against a tree trunk like a wooden puppet. I watched, disconnected, as he soaked my clothes and rinsed them until the water ran clear.

He gathered me up, in only my underclothes and a blanket, and slung my wet uniform over his shoulder, taking me back into the sunlight.

About the Author: 

Lauren Nicolle Taylor is a 33-year-old mother living in the tiny, lush town of Bridgewater on the other side of the world in Australia. She married her high school sweetheart and has three very boisterous and individual children. She earned a Bachelors degree in Health Sciences with Honours in Obstetrics and Gynecology and majored in Psychology while minoring in Contemporary Australian Writing.

After a disastrous attempt to build her dream house that left her family homeless, She found herself inexplicably drawn to the computer. She started writing, not really knowing where it may lead but ended up, eight weeks later, with the rough draft of The Woodlands.

In 2013, Lauren Nicolle Taylor accepted a publishing contract with Clean Teen Publishing. Her first published novel, The Woodlands, was released on August 30, 2013. Currently, Lauren has finished her manuscript for the second book in the series titled: The Wall, as well as partially completed the third book in the series which at this time is unnamed.

Author Links:

Facebook / Twitter / Website / Blog / Goodreads

Clean Teen Publishing Links:

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter

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