Friday, February 28, 2014

BLOG TOUR - Too Consumed (Consumed #2) by Skyla Madi

Too Consumed

He wants to be with me forever… I love Seth and I can’t really picture my life without him, and he loves me too, God knows he says it enough, but I didn’t know he’s actually thinking about forever…is he even capable of forever?


Cover- Too Consumed
"Too Consumed" is book #2 of the Consumed Series.
"Consumed" is book #1 of the Consumed Series.

**Mature Content Warning** Recommended for ages 17+ due to language and sexual content. 

Olivia did the impossible... She tamed the over-confident Casanova, Seth Marc, turning him into a one woman Romeo. With Seth's first professional fight coming up, she does her best to keep him focused and driven...even if that means withholding sex from him. As sexual tensions rise, so do past discrepancies the couple thought buried, putting extra stress on both their romantic and professional lives. Stuck in the center of the action, Olivia and Seth fight for air as they collide face first with the tough world of professional MMA.

Buy Now on Amazon

Also Available, Consumed (Book #1)...
Consumed_cover

Coming Soon… Forever Consumed
Screen Shot 2014-01-28 at 1.18.58 PM

Skyla Madi
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Please check back over the next few days for my review of Too Consumed.

COVER REVEAL: Catch (Broken #1.5) by Michelle Congdon


Catch
Broken # 1.5
By- Michelle Congdon
Genre- New Adult Contemporary

***Recommended for ages 18+ due to mature situations, sexual content and language***

Even the best fall down sometimes…

Ryan Fox thought he had it all: money, women, fast cars, and a stellar baseball career. He also thought he could hide the memories of his dark past behind the witty charm and the devilish smile. Truth is, he had almost everyone, including himself, fooled. But the past cannot be ignored forever and eventually it finds a way of catching up.

When it all came crashing down, one girl was there to mend the broken pieces. Evangeline Montgomery. Not only did the troubled heiress turn Ryan’s world upside down but she helped him to see what’s most important: It’s not the past that defines you.

In Slide, we heard from Evangeline. It’s now Ryan’s turn to share his story about the girl who stole his heart and changed his life forever.

COVER REVEAL: The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years #1) by Sarina Bowen


She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.

Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.

Also, he’s taken.

Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.

They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.

But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.

Warm, funny, and often heartbreaking, The Year We Fell Down is New Adult contemporary romance. Contains: hot hockey players, too many pairs of crutches, gallows humor, Princess Bride references, and a slightly outrageous vibrator scene. (Sexual situations make the book suitable for ages 18+.)

The expected publication date is Monday, March 17th, 2014, on all of your favorite e-book websites.


Sarina Bowen writes contemporary romance and new adult fiction from the Green Mountains of Vermont. She lives with her husband, two children, eight chickens and an unwieldy pile of ski and hockey equipment.

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

Thursday, February 27, 2014

BLOG TOUR - GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: Getting A Life, Even If You're Dead (No Going Back #1) by Beth Watson


If you died, could you live with your regrets?

When Kendra’s mother drags her to a creepy Paris cemetery for work, the last person Kendra expects to see is Amber, her best friend who moved away three years earlier. Amber helped Kendra through a dark time, and Amber’s departure was just one more loss for Kendra. Amber was Kendra’s confidante but it turns out Amber failed to share her biggest secret: she was dead.

Amber never planned to disclose her true identity to Kendra, but a boy’s life is at stake. Amber is suddenly unable to connect with troubled kids and she needs Kendra to console Pierrot, a despondent boy who holds the answers to the suspicious death of his brother, Loic. Although Loic needs closure to cross over, the truth about his death might impact everyone’s future, including Kendra’s, since she has fallen for Pierrot, the mysterious boy and murder suspect.

But dead or alive, there is no going back…

Getting a Life, Even If You’re Dead is on sale for only $0.99 until March 1!


Author Bio:
When Beth isn’t traveling for her job as an event planner, or tracing her ancestry roots through Ireland, she’s at home in Wisconsin working on her next novel. She enjoys bouncing ideas off her husband Mark, and her cats Quigley, Frankie, and Sammy.

Connect with Beth:
Website l Twitter l Goodreads l Facebook



My Cameo Appearances in Getting a Life, Even If You’re Dead

When I first started writing I was often given the advice to write what I know. I rarely followed that advice because one of my favorite aspects about writing is conducting research and learning about new places and things. And seriously, how many ghosts do I know that I could base a character on? Yet, my personality and quirks often sneak into a book. The following are several cameo appearances I make in Getting a Life, Even If You’re Dead.

Pierrot’s grandma is Irish. He has a Celtic tattoo and his Celtic cross necklace plays a role in the story. I’ve been tracing my Irish ancestry for several years and have traveled to Ireland three times with my mother to meet our rellies. I recently fulfilled my dream of owning a vacation cottage in Ireland. The sequel to Getting a Life, Even If You’re Dead is set, big surprise, in Ireland.

I love art. The subjects of art forgery and theft appear in several of my books. If I went back to college, it would be for art history, which Kendra plans to study in college. Same as me, Kendra views the cemeteries as some of Paris’s best art museums, filled with intriguing statues and sculptures. Chagall painted the dome of the the Palais Garnier, which is my favorite building in Paris and makes a cameo appearance in my book.

Kendra encounters Madame PeePee in a restaurant’s bathroom. When I visited the Eiffel Tower with my French friend, Richard, he told me that bathroom attendants are nicknamed Madame PeePee. The attendant overheard our conversation and she came barreling out of the bathroom, shaking a fist in Richard’s face, reprimanding him for using the nickname. Richard apologized, insisting it was merely a harmless nickname.  

While spending a college semester at the Sorbonne University, I survived on a student’s budget with a diet of pain au chocolat, chocolate crepes, and hot dogs. These continue to be my favorite foods in Paris, and make an appearance in my book. Although I can now afford to dine in restaurants, one of my favorite dining spots is still a hot dog vendor’s stand. The bun is half of a baguette, hollowed out with ketchup and spicy mustard shot inside it. Yum.

I’m so obsessed with Paris cemeteries, I wrote an entire blog post about them. In college, I spent many quiet afternoons studying at Montmartre cemetery. I find the cemeteries breathtaking, inspirational, and even romantic. A few years ago, early one morning, it was just me and the garbage collectors in a cemetery. I was walking down a remote path when I swore I heard someone following me but nobody was there. This went on for several minutes. I finally worked up the courage to peak behind a row of tombs to find nothing. This experience inspired my book’s opening scene.

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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

BLOG TOUR - EXCERPT: Emblazed (The Division Chronicles #2) by Connie L. Smith


After all the preparations, Nicholai’s warriors stand on the threshold of warfare, the demons entering the realm in battalions and the world unknowingly depending on the army’s success to continue intact. But the battle is only the beginning of deadly struggles, and the soldiers will soon realize how little they know, how many things are at stake, and how much they have to lose.

Love, hate, hope, despair, anguish, joy… The journey is a gauntlet of emotion and combat, threatening their resolve as much as their lives.

Will their training and ties be enough, or will the complications and the forthcoming evil forever cripple the world’s last hope of survival?



Excerpt
AJ sensed him there, standing wordlessly some feet in the distance, just like she always recognized his presence when he lingered near. She absorbed the comfort and happiness he brought her – not that she’d admit that out loud – before sighing and speaking. “It’s called making a bed, Julius. It’s pretty commonplace.”
He didn’t push away from the doorframe, instead leaning further against it while he continued to observe her. “Sweetheart, nothing’s commonplace when you do it.”
Hearing the grin and affection in his voice, she smiled, peeking at him over her shoulder. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”
He gazed upward to stare at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression, then returned his attention to her, his shrug carefree. “Both.”
She smirked. “Sweet talker.”
“Odd ball.” He finally moved from the threshold, unhurriedly advancing toward her. “You know, most people make their beds in the morning. Not ten o’clock at night.”
She snorted. “Yeah. I’m gonna make my bed as soon as I roll out of it at six AM. I wouldn’t be making it now if I didn’t have to wrestle the sheet back on four times a night.” Finally setting her pillow in its position, she turned to him with an unashamed grin.
He chuckled, his adoration plain, and brushed a lock of hair from her face. “You’re one of a kind, you know that?”
“Compliment or insult?” she teased again.
“Compliment.” He smiled, cupping her cheek. “Definitely a compliment.”
“Sweet talker,” she repeated, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. Wrapping her arms around his neck, his circling her waist, she dove into the moment, reveling in the wonderful sensations only Julius incited. Safety. Warmth. Passion. So many more she couldn’t quite put a name to, the combination too heady and consuming to adequately decipher. It was simply a Julius effect, and its wonder had no equal in her life. Gradually breaking away, she knowingly lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t come here just to make fun of me over my bed-making habits.”
“Maybe I came up here just to kiss you.”
“If that were the case, dear Julius, you wouldn’t have waited until I kissed you.”
Narrowing his eyes, he barely restrained his smirk at her forwardness and how well she’d grown to understand him in their time together. “You have a point.” He stepped back from her embrace, grasping her hand in his. “Come on. We have a mission.”
“A mission?” Her brow furrowed, though she made no move to retrieve her palm from his, following him in confusion as he neared the hallway. “At ten o’clock at night?”
“I believe we already covered the time in this conversation, AJ.” He made a clucking noise with his tongue, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “You really need to keep up with matters a bit more.”
She glared at the back of his head, lips thinning despite her vexing boyfriend’s inability to see her from his location. Realizing the futility of her frustrated efforts, she clenched the fingers he clutched, smiling in accomplishment at his grunt of discomfort. “Yeah, we covered it, but in household chore way. Not in a mission way. What could we possibly have to do this late at night?”
He sent her an amused glance – one she deemed condescending, particularly after the physical hint of her annoyance  – while tugging her through the doorway. “You do realize it isn’t ten o’clock everywhere, right?”
“Of course I realize that! I’m not a moron!”
“I never said you were…”
She growled, steeling her feet against the floor and prying her hand from his. “You didn’t have to. Your little grin said it all for you.”
His stare revealed sincere bewilderment – maybe a speck of frustration as well – and his arm dropped to his side. “So let me get this straight. You’re angry at me… because I smiled at you?”
Her eyes widened in fury, one finger raising to point at his chest while her left fist braced against her hip. “Don’t try to turn this around like I’m crazy!”
He scrunched his forehead, gaze traveling up and down her form while he held his hands out, as if silently offering his evidence.
She groaned, unhappy, turning away from him to rein in her irritation. For several seconds, she simply scanned her room, livid exhale after livid exhale falling from her lips, but the attempts did little to calm her turmoil, Julius actually flinching when her focus again landed on him. “It’s the grin you used. It’s the same one that was on your face when you drove into New Mexico, and I was surprised the facility was stationed here. Like I’m the dumbest person in the world and your number one source of entertainment.”
Instantly, his expression softened. “You can’t possibly think that I think that way?”
She just glared at him.
“Look, I’m not gonna lie.” He approached her, smiling tenderly. “You do amuse me, but not because I think you’re stupid. You’re… animated. And quirky. But not stupid. And I get it’s late, and no matter what time zone we’re entering, it’s ten o’clock here and we’re handing over sleeping hours, but Nicholai insists we need to go now.”
She kept pinched eyes on him, but her posture loosened a bit.
He laughed, reaching for her hand once more. “See? Animated. I can pretty much watch the wheels in your head turn.”
“Does that make you my mental stalker, too?”
Processing the playful edge of her words, he kissed her knuckles and led her into the hall. “Trust me, sweetheart. I have no desire to wander through your mind. I can’t imagine all the weird things I’d encounter.”
She tilted her head to the side, smiling. “Compliment or insult?”
Smirking over his shoulder, he caught her eyes with his. “Insult.”


Essenced (The Division Chronicles #1)


Years ago, demons were forced out of the earth’s realm by a band of supernatural fighters, banished from the place and its people in the aftermath of a horrific war. It should’ve ended there – would’ve – if not for the final demon’s claw snagging on the open portal. What felt like victory became only a reprieve, the winning warriors understanding that the tear would spread, and the demons eventually would escape exile. It was only a matter of time, and a need for future defense – a question of genetics and essences, magic and power.

Now, centuries later, a new army must bind together – one of teenagers with inhuman potentials and abilities…

AJ went to bed Sunday night an average teenage girl, clumsy and athletically lacking. So when she wakes up Monday morning with super-strength, she does what any rational person would do: She goes into denial. When a smoking hot guy in a suit shows up, rambling about the end of the war and demons spilling through some kind of rift, she refuses to listen, telling herself he’s insane. Except weird things just won’t quit happening, and the guy keeps popping up in her life, trying to explain the changes suddenly happening within her. Is she crazy, or is this guy… not so crazy after all?


Available for Free download at the Amazon link below.



Author Bio: 
Connie L. Smith spends far too much time with her mind wandering in fictional places. She reads too much, likes to bake, and will be forever sad that she doesn’t have fairy wings. And that she can’t swing dance. When she isn’t reading or writing, there’s a good chance she’s goofing off with her amazing, wonderful, incredible, fabulous nieces and nephew, or listening to music that is severely outdated. She has her BA from Northern Kentucky University in Speech Communication and History (she doesn’t totally get the connection either) and likes to snap photos. Oh, and she likes apples a whole big bunch.

Author Links: Website l Twitter l Facebook l Pinterest l Goodreads

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