BOOK BLITZ - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: Truths and Dares (Truths and Dares #1) by Amity Hope

Truths and Dares (Truths and Dares #1) by Amity Hope

Genre: YA Romance

Published: December 2nd, 2013

Publisher: Self Published

Somewhere in between playing in the sandbox and starting high school, Harper Monroe fell in love with her best friend. Seth Ryerson was the boy who lived next door. He was the boy who dared to give her her first kiss. He was the boy she cried over when her mother decided to uproot her from her hometown. He’s also the boy with a secret. 

When Seth finds out that Harper is coming back to town halfway through their senior year, he hates that he can’t be happy about it. Because Harper is the one person who knows the truth. And as far as Seth is concerned, the truth really doesn’t set you free.

Excerpt:

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are we up here?” I wondered as I glanced around the tree house.

“This is where we were the first time I realized I wanted to kiss you,” he said. “You were sitting right over there. I think we were twelve, maybe thirteen. It was one of the last times we came up here. Your hair was down. Usually, back then, you always wore it in a ponytail. But it was down and you were drinking a bottle of lemonade. You’d just gotten done shopping with Gabby at the mall. You were telling me about all of the different flavors of lip gloss you bought. I’d never cared about your lip gloss before. But that day,” he said with a low laugh, “that was all I could think about. In fact, that’s all I thought about for days. Maybe even years. I wanted to taste every damn one of those flavors.”

“Really?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise.

He nodded. “Did you think you were the only one that wanted that dare?”

I scrunched up my face as I made my admission. “About that…The dare wasn’t really Gabby’s idea.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, feigning surprise.

“Yeah. It was probably pretty obvious, huh?”

He shrugged but he was smiling. “That night, I just kept wishing that I’d kissed you sooner. Because I knew in the morning you were leaving. I was sure I’d never get the chance to kiss you again. But here you are.”

“Here I am,” I echoed.

Author Bio:

Amity lives in beautiful northern Minnesota with her two sons, two cats and their Rottweiler. She has a degree in elementary education and worked in that field for ten years before deciding to self-publish. Her first self-published novel, Twisted, was listed by Amazon as a Top 100 Kids & Teens Kindle Book of 2012.

Author Links: Facebook l Website

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COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY: Lost in Us by Layla Hagen

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release date: 17th February 
Title: Lost in Us
Author: Layla Hagen

Serena has learned to live with her past, locking her secrets and nightmares deep inside her. But when her boyfriend of six years abruptly leaves her, she’s catapulted back into pain, nursing a broken heart. When indulging in mountains of chocolate doesn’t work, Serena decides the best way to deal with her shattered heart is to indulge in something else. A rebound . . .
 
The night she swaps her usual Sprite for tequila, she meets James. The encounter is breathtaking.
Electrifying.
And best not repeated.
 
James is a successful entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. A man who has amassed a fortune by taking risks. A man who has shunned commitment completely, and still does. He’s the exact opposite of Serena. But sometimes opposites attract. Sometimes they give in to burning passion. Sometimes opposites are perfect for each other.  
 
James is everything her damaged soul could want. His kisses are intoxicating, his touch out of this world. He makes her forget. He grants her peace from her pain. But as they grow closer, Serena discovers she isn’t the only one with a past. James carries the scars of a past much darker than hers. One that has left him damaged, hurt, and wary of love. A past that gives him the power to shatter her.
 
Now James and Serena must find a way to mend one another. Or risk losing each other forever.

Author Bio:

Welcome! My name is Layla Hagen and I am a New Adult Contemporary Romance author. 
I fell in love with books when I was nine years old, and my love affair with stories continues even now, many years later.

I write romantic stories and can’t wait to share them with the world.

And I drink coffee. Lots of it, in case the photo didn’t make it obvious enough ;)

Author Links: Goodreads l Twitter l Facebook

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BLOG TOUR - REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Vision of Shadows (Vision #1) by Vincent Morrone

Today is my stop during the blog tour for Vision of Shadows by Vincent Morrone. Vision of Shadows is published by Entranced Publishing. This blog tour runs from 30 December till 19 January, you can view the whole tour schedule on Vincent Morrone his website.

Vision of Shadows (Vision #1)
by Vincent Morrone
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance
Release Date: December 30, 2013

Blurb:
Is Bristol Blackburn about to meet the love of her life...or her killer?

After the death of her parents, Bristol Blackburn's life is thrown into chaos and she's forced to move to Spirit, a small town where shadows are stirring. As she learns to navigate her new school and figures out how to keep her psychic abilities secret from her family, Bristol comes face to face with the boy who makes a regular appearance in her dreams: the gorgeous, possibly deadly, Payne McKnight. Soon sheíll find out if Payne will be the love of her life, or the end of it ó and she has no idea which possibility scares her more.
And that's not even the worst of it. Strange shadows are haunting her dreams, and they're up to something that could put Bristol and the lives of everyone she loves in jeopardy.

You can add Vision of Shadows to your to-read list on Goodreads

You can purchase Vision of Shadows via Amazon

You can find more about Vision of Shadows on the Entranced Publishing website.

Want to chat with Bristol, the main character of this series? Well she has her own twitter account.

My thoughts:

So any day now, I'm about to meet the boy of my dreams--literally. Then I get to see if he's going to be the love of my life or the end of it.

Funny thing is, I'm not sure which idea scares the crap out of me more.

One of the greatest joys and pleasures that I have in running my blog is discovering gems of books like Vision of Shadows. This book may have eventually come to my attention, but then it may have not, and I may have missed out on getting to know these characters and discovering Vincent Marrone's fantastic writing. And that would have been a tragedy. 

Bristol Blackburn is a loner. That comes from spending all your time talking to ghosts. Her parents are distant at best, but when they are killed in a terrible accident, Bristol moves to the town of Spirit, to live with an uncle and cousins she has never met. It's here that Bristol will meet the boy of her dreams. Literally. Bristol has been dreaming of Payne for as long as she can remember. The only problem is, she's not sure if Payne will fall in love with her, or kill her. And how is she supposed to keep it a secret that she can talk to ghosts where she is being haunted by shadows?

Vision of Shadows is told from the point of view of Bristol. Sometimes a male writing in a females voice can fail to capture their essence, and the character can end up coming across as a bit flat. But that wasn't the case here. The author did an amazing job with Bristol and she was just so spot on as a character. Her emotions, her actions... Perfect!! She was strong and tough, caring and loving, compassionate and witty.

Payne McKnight huh?" I said, trying to sound unimpressed. "Not bad."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Please. I saw the way you were looking at him."

I blinked at her, trying to keep a straight face. "And how was I looking at him?"

Maggie smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at me. "Like he was the man of your dreams."

I nearly choked.

Payne McKnight. I'm note even sure I can describe how much I loved him. He was so protective of Bristol. The lengths that he would go to to protect her were mind blowing. He was affectionate and loving and stood up for what he believed. The romance developed so perfectly, but didn't at anytime overpower the story. 

Vincent Marrone writes with such humour and wit, and there were so many times that I found myself having a little laugh over something that one of the characters said. The banter between them was just brilliant, and I especially loved Grandpa and Bristols relationship. If I'm being honest each and every character was awesome. They all added something special to the story and the dynamics of Bristols family was a joy to read.

The pacing of this was just great. It built exactly as it was meant to in all the right places. Never dull and always something going on to keep you turning the pages.

If ghosts, action, paranormal and romance are your thing, then you just can't go wrong by grabbing yourself a copy of Vision of Shadows. If Vincent Marrone continues to write stories just like this, then I can see him quickly becoming a very firm favourite of mine.

5/5 Fantastic Stars

Vision of Secrets (Vision #0.5) 

by Vincent Morrone

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance

Release Date: December 2, 2013

Blurb:

Bristol understands secrets. She's got plenty of her own, ranging from the annoying ghost that keeps showing up and attempting to sing Copacabana, (badly) to the visions of a terrifying future that is getting closer each day.

Bristol knows secrets can kill. She's getting flashes of a boy racked with guilt over his secret. And a girl who's prank might lead to someone's death.

Vision of Secrets is a free prequel introduces you to Bristol Blackburn before the explosive events in Vision of Shadows and let's you see how a young girl deals with her Visions of Secrets!

You can add Vision of Shadows to your to-read list on Goodreads

You can download Vision of Secrets for free from smashwords

About the Author:
Born and raised in Brooklyn NY, Vincent Morrone now resides in Upstate NY with his wife. (Although he can still speak fluent Brooklynese.) His twin daughters remain not only his biggest fans, but usually are the first to read all of his work. Their home is run and operated for the comfort and convenience of their dogs.

Vincent has been writing fiction, poetry and song lyrics for as long as he can remember, most of which involve magical misfits, paranormal prodigies and even on occasion superheroes and their sidekicks.

As they say in Brooklyn: Yo, you got something to say to Vincent?

You can find and contact Vincent Morrone here:

- Website

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Goodreads

Vincent also participates in a group blog called YA Rush which consist of YA and NA Entranced authors. You can find YA Rush here:

- Website

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Pinterest

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Vision of Shadows.

Here is what you can win:

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen

- 1 Vision of Shadows Calender

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen & calender

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen and calender in a Vision of Shadows canvas bag

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen, calender in Vision of Shadows canvas bag and an e-copy Vision of Shadows

Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win:

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COVER REVEAL: Night & Day (The 19th Year, #3.5) by Emi Gayle

Back ‘o the Book

Something is wrong with Suze. His memory, his magic, even his muscles have all gone mental. If he's not careful, the underworld's version of the loony bin may be his next stop.

Not ready to give up the goat yet—if he had one he didn’t eat that is—Suze sets out to stop the mystical mayhem. Unfortunately, this isn't a fairy tale, and Suze isn't Snow White felled by an apple waiting for a kiss. Nor is he Prince Charming.

Nope, he's just Suze. A destroyer demon stuck without the one person who probably kept him sane for the last eighteen years. Mackenzie Thorne. Or, maybe, just maybe, Mac made him insane, and what was once wrong is now right.

The only thing Suze is sure of—maybe—is that he needs to find the cure. However, with boy wonder memory-less and Mac in California, he’s not even sure where to start.

Of course, once he does figure it out, everything will fall into place like a well designed set of dominoes. Where the path leads, though, is a place Suze never would have expected. 

• This is a novella (<30k words).

• This will be available in print and ebook.

• Release date is February 10, 2014 - just in time for Valentine’s Day 

• The price will be $.99! 

BLOG TOUR - REVIEW: Tragic Love (Sulfur Heights #2) by M.S. Brannon

“From the moment I locked eyes with hers, we've had this undeniable connection that was and will always be wicked. A love that would literally kill me if it didn't survive, but lately, could kill me if it did.” ~Drake Evans.

For Drake and Presley, life has handed them more challenges than any one person should ever face in a lifetime. Together, they've survived Presley’s captivity from her deranged uncle, but now they must learn how to live with the events that surrounded her time spent with him, while keeping the details of her rescue a secret. 

For Presley Quinn, living the last two years has been practically unbearable, constantly drowning in nightmares put there by a man responsible for the violent images continually playing in her mind. She keeps moving forward, but is barely clinging onto the edge when she’s faced with another obstacle from her past that is so unavoidable, so tragic, it threatens to break her apart—herself.

Drake will do anything to protect Presley from ever feeling pain again. His love is irrefutable. He walks side by side with her, vowing he will never let anyone harm her again. However, when an unexpected event turns Presley against everyone she’s ever loved, Drake is faced with trying to save the only woman he’s ever loved or severing the only lifeline she’s ever had—himself.

**Mature Content Warning** 17 years and older for language and sexual content.

My Thoughts:

Love. It's a powerful emotion and can bring the strongest person to their knees, completely overtaken by it. The moment I met you, I collapsed at your feet, willing to do everything and be anything you've ever wanted.

Wow!! And I thought book one in this series was dark. But Tragic Love takes that darkness to a whole new level. How absolutely fitting is that title, because this book is filled with tragic moments. From start to finish, this story will have you wondering when these characters will possibly catch a break and have some good shine on their lives. 

Drake and Presley were connected from the moment that they met. They both knew that for them, this was it. They were each others future. They were the happily ever after that everyone hopes to find. But life for Presley turned cruel and twisted and she has a darkness living inside her. Two years on and the memories of her horrible past are all very real and very raw. She tries her hardest to overcome it all, but she keeps all her feelings bottled up and hidden. Slowly it's eating away at Presley and that girl that Drake fell in love with is disappearing before his eyes.

You are my love, my life. I've often said to myself you're the very reason I breathe, every gasp of air that fills my lungs is put there because of you.

I can't say that I was a huge Presley fan for most of this book. Her pain was so completely evident and I felt so much sympathy and heartache for her, but, I love Drake. And he suffers so much throughout this book. His suffering is very different to Presley's, but it's no less real. He carries around all the burdens for what Presley is dealing with. He always seemed to take the blame for things. If only he didn't do that, or if he did this, if he listened more, if he didn't get angry... But I felt that his reactions to things for the most part were pretty spot on. You cannot save someone unless they want to be saved.

When I read that ending I was devastated that the author could end it that way. That wasn't at all how I pictured things going. That wasn't the way that I envisioned things in my head. But then the author included an alternate ending. A different way that she considered ending things. And that was even worse. Thank god for not ending things that way. I really don't think I could have continued with the series if it went that way. And so here I sit, with my head spinning in so many directions trying to take it all in.

One of the things that I love about this author is that she's not afraid to take things to a dark place. Sometimes, much darker than my heart can handle, but things are definitely never dull and boring during this series, that's for sure.

And while I've spoken about all the tragedy, there are moments of light peppered throughout, but I would say, grab onto those moments and enjoy them because all too quickly they are over with.

On the downside, there are a few grammatical errors such as wrong words used, words running together and spelling mistakes. But not so many as to distract from the story. But this is just one of things I seem to pick up on really easily when reading, so it did stand out a bit to me.

I found myself with a deeper connection with the characters this time around. Coupled with the authors ability to capture and hold me with her gripping and heartbreaking story, I will continue to take the journey with these characters as they hopefully all work towards their happily ever afters.

4/5 Love for Drake Stars

Author Bio:

M.S. Brannon was born and raised in the Midwest. She still resides there today with her wonderful husband and son. When she is not writing or reading, M.S. Brannon spends time with her family, watching movies, and discovering new music. She writes romance because she believes love and heartache is the rawest emotion one can experience.

Author Links:

 Facebook l Blog l Twitter l Goodreads

Email: MBrannon16@gmail.com

REVIEW: Scarred Love (Sulfur Heights #1) by M.S. Brannon

"I am certain, without any doubt, she was meant to be in my life. We belong to each other. I spent too much of my time consumed with what everyone else thinks of my feelings for Darcie, but the truth is, it was always supposed to be this way." ~Reggie Evans

Darcie Claiborne spent several years of her young life living with a monster, always fearing what he would do next. Clasping onto her last ounce of hope, Darcie releases a scream. It’s her final attempt to live; to survive the villain of her reality. Sweeping her up in his arms, Darcie’s knight in shining armor rescues her from the hell she’s been living; from the stepfather she's feared for all those years.

Reggie Evans has been forced to grow up before he’s ready when his mother dies of an overdose, leaving him responsible to raise his younger brothers. One fateful night, Reggie jogs by an old, run down house and discovers a young girl clinging to life as she screams for help.

Three years later, Darcie is healing and always protected by the man who saved her, but now she's fighting with something she isn't prepared to face. The growing love for the man who saved her life three years ago, the same man who’s nine years older. All the while, Reggie fights to protect Darcie from the demons of her past and new ones of her present.

**Mature Content Warning** 17+ for language and sexual content**

My Thoughts:

Monsters tend to harbor the same cold look in their eyes. Located just behind the colored irises, lies a creature of pure evil and hate. They lurk in the shadows of their intentions, waiting for the right time to strike and then, they take the soul of their prey.

Darcie Claiborne has had a life filled with so many horrible events that it's any wonder she is able to move past it and have any sort of normal life. Terror and darkness were a part of her everyday life. But one day she is rescued by Reggie Evans. Her knight in shining armour. And she vows she will never be a victim again. She will never let anyone get the better of her. She will be a fighter.

Scarred Love is a book that has me torn. I had so many things floating around in my head as I was reading it. I was instantly drawn in by the books synopsis. I love dark, gritty books and this one seemed to tick all those boxes. Let me start by saying that the writing was great. I have no issues with that whatsoever. But I do have a few concerns with the characters. They are a group of very angry people. Yes I understand that they have all had really crappy lives, and have witnessed and experienced some horrific things. But they seemed to go from calm to crazy in a matter of seconds and everything was sorted with their fists. The amount of fighting and violence in this book was crazy and I felt that the characters didn't grow a whole lot beyond that throughout the story.

Normally, age difference between characters doesn't really bother me and for the most part it didn't this time around. I tended to forget that the age difference between Darcie and Reggie was almost ten years. Occasionally I would ask myself why a grown man would be interested in a seventeen year old girl, but these two have been through a lot together and I suppose that all of those emotions and events could lead to love. And I didn't question their love for each other. That all felt very real to me. Reggie was so caring and loving. I adored how he would do anything to protect Darcie and keep her safe. In fact he did whatever it took to keep his whole family feel safe and protected.

One of the characters that really stood out to me was Drake. I think he came across, to me at least, as a much more level person than anyone else, and I'm so glad that book two in this series is his story. I'm really interested to read what's to come for him.

Something that I love to read about is the bond between families. And whilst everyone in this family may not be related by blood, that makes no difference to them. Their deep connection and love for each other was such a great thing to read. Despite their bickering and fighting, they would do anything for each other. 

Scarred love definitely turned out to be deeply gritty and at times disturbing and hard to read because of the intense subject matter. But as I said, I like my books like that. Despite my issues with the characters anger, I really enjoyed this book and I think that was due to the authors writing.

3.5/5 Dark Stars

Thank you to the author for providing me with an eCopy to read and review.

REVIEW: A Beautiful Wedding (Beautiful #2.5) by Jamie McGuire

You know that Abby Abernathy unexpectedly became Mrs. Maddox. But what do you really know?

Why did Abby pop the question?
What secrets were shared before the ceremony?
Where did they spend their wedding night?
Who else knew about it . . . and didn’t tell?

Everything about Abby and Travis’s elopement was top-secret . . . until now. Fans of Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster will get all of their questions answered in this whirlwind tale of the wedding day (and night!)—and as with all good stories, this one will definitely have been worth the wait.

My Thoughts:

"The only thing I'm afraid of is a life without you Pigeon."

"Then you have nothing to be afraid of," I said. "We're forever."

I think that where Travis Maddox is concerned, you either love him, or you hate him. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of middle ground where he's concerned. Personally, I'm way deep on the love side. I love his alpha male tendencies. I love his passion. I love the way he loves. He's all in. I never once found myself questioning how much Travis loved Abby. It's deep. It's complete. It's perfect.

I'm not going to go into great detail about the Travis and Abby story. I'm pretty sure that we all know it by now. And if you're considering reading A Beautiful Wedding, you've most likely read A Beautiful Disaster at the very least. A Beautiful Wedding was a great , quick, fun read, that filled in some of the blanks that were left the first time around. As the title suggests, this book centres mostly around Travis and Abby's wedding, the lead up to it and the reasons for it. I have to say that at first I was a bit put off by Abby and her reasons. Yes, I understood those reasons, but I wanted more from her. But then I suppose I always end up getting my more from Travis, and he delivered again this time around. But there was a turning point in the book where it kind of all clicked into place and I really started feeling her love for Travis. And her love is just as deep. Just as complete. And just as perfect. I think she's just not as full on in expressing that love as what Travis is. And I just didn't like how her demeanour had Travis questioning things. Travis's alpha male tendencies were much more toned down this time around and he was clearly trying to be much less volatile for Abby. And I kind of missed that Travis. 

“A Maddox boy will take you all the way to the edge, but if you go with him, he’ll follow you anywhere…

And when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever.”

If you're a Travis and Abby fan, then this book will definitely scratch that itch for the need to spend more time with the two of them. As a huge fan, I found this one enjoyable, just as well written as the others, and a nice way to round out things as far as their story goes. It was a nice filler, with some steam thrown in to keep all us fans happy. And happy I was!! 

4/5 Sweet and Steamy Stars

A huge thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia for providing me with a copy to read and review.