Book Blitz: Welcome to Sortilege Falls

Welcome to Sortilege Falls by Libby Heily
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Magical Mystery
Release Date: June 12, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon ♥B&N
Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Grape Merriweather has just moved to Sortilege Falls and already she knows something isn't right. A small pack of teenage models, too beautiful for words, holds the town in their sway. 

The models have no plans on making Grape's life easy. But no matter how cruel they are to Grape and the other “Normals”, no one can stay angry with them for long.

Grape's life changes for the better, or so she thinks, when Mandy, the only “nice” model, befriends her. But that’s when the trouble truly begins. Mandy's friendship places Grape smack in the middle of a medical mystery that has the entire town on edge. 

One by one, the models fall ill from an incurable disease. Grape quickly realizes that the models' parents are hiding a secret, even as they watch their children die. To save her only friend, Grape will have to find the truth–and that means putting her life in danger.

♥ ♥ ♥

EXCERPT:

Grape is in her backyard at night.  Her brother, Brad, has just gone off into the woods to collect plants–Brad is a huge botany nut.  Grape is staring into the distance, trying to see into the woods when she hears something behind her:

       “Fancy meeting you here.”

Grape screamed.

“Calm down,” the vamp kid from school said, his hands raised in the air like a victim. He had switched his purple shirt for a black one and slicked his curly hair back as well. “It’s cool. It’s just me,” he said and reached out to grab her shoulder.

Grape pushed him hard in the chest, making him stumble backward. “Don’t touch me. What are you doing here?”

Book Blitz: Bound

Bound by Donnielle Tyner 

Age Group: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 19, 2015
Buy Link: Amazon ♥ B&N
Summary:

Bound by Vengeance.

Sadie has found the resolve to fight the man who caused so much pain in her life. Her tentative alliance with the HCA underground gives her the resources to train both her body and Talent for when she comes face to face with her grandfather.

Bound by Loss.

Being separated from her friends at St Vincent’s is harder than she could have ever realized and it doesn’t help that Kian has withdrawn from her as well. With help from a new friend, Sadie uncovers more about her past and that someone close to her has been keeping secrets from Sadie her entire life.

Bound by Fear.

Tragedy strikes close to home, giving a longstanding enemy, one desperate and willing to do anything to have Sadie on their side, an opportunity to arise. Allies and friends come together to stand against evil, but at a terrible cost. Sadie’s history and future collide while the world is thrown into chaos.

Sadie must overcome or forever be Bound. 

Book One:
(cover linked to Goodreads)

♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt:

Kian pulled into a well-worn dirt path off the main road, almost hidden by the thick press of trees on both sides. Both of us bounced in our seats with each pot-hole hit as the headlights danced through the trees. 

A smart retort was on the tip of my tongue as we broke through the thicket in a small clearing, but when Kian parked the car next to the lake I forced my lips together and swallowed my unspoken remark.

I jumped out of the car instead of waiting on him and his chivalry. Stars dotted the clear night sky and the full moon was exceedingly bright tonight. Both reflected off the blackened still waters of the lake like a mirror. The view was cleansing to my soul. A tear escaped as I marveled at the celestial view. It was magical.

Book Blitz: The Trouble With Family

The Trouble with Family by Heather Hobbs
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Release Date: March 3, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon
Summary:

Molly Anderson just found out her dad is getting married to a woman she’s only met once.

Fourteen-year-old Molly had planned to spend the summer before high school reading books, eating junk food, and napping. 

Instead, she’s forced to spend her days juggling four new family members, a grumpy older brother, a crazy grandmother, and Max, the new boy next door. 

Having lost her mother in a car accident a year before, she’s not sure how many more changes she can take before she hits her breaking point.

Based on an award-winning short story, The Trouble with Family tells the tale of a girl trying to make the most of her summer, not just survive it.

This is the first book in the Molly Anderson series.

♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt:

The courtroom smelled like burnt popcorn. Holding my breath, I shifted in my seat, making the hard wooden bench creak.

 “This is taking forever,” Ben hissed into my ear.

I ignored him and glanced across the aisle at my soon-to-be stepsiblings. Clara cut her icy blue eyes at me without actually turning her head. She sat beside her brother Sam, stiff and plastic-looking with perfectly highlighted blond hair, only reinforcing my initial suspicion that she was, in fact, a living Barbie doll. Sam, on the other hand, actually looked over at me and offered a slight nod.

 “Children of the Corn,” Ben whispered. 
                                

I rolled my eyes and faced forward. “Just because they’re blond-”

“Blond and creepy,” he interjected.

The doors at the back of the room opened and Judge Newton walked in, followed closely by Dad and Susan.

Book Blitz: Burning Bright

Burning Bright by Chanda Stafford
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 25, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon Summary:

Three years ago, Samantha Gray killed her parents.

Haunted by their deaths, she hides her scars behind sarcasm and vintage t-shirts, counting the days until she can escape her foster home in Alegria, Arizona. 

Then she meets Ben, a California boy whose filmmaker parents constructed a big cat sanctuary outside of town. She's hesitant to get close, terrified he'll learn her secret.

When Ben introduces Sam to Solomon, a Bengal tiger on borrowed time whose gruesome history eerily mirrors her own, she must decide whether she’s strong enough to overcome her past and save not only Solomon’s life, but her own. And to do that, she'll need to tell Ben the truth.

♥ ♥ ♥

Except:

“I didn’t think you’d come.” A low voice murmurs over my shoulder, and I spin around. Ben leans against the wall, dressed in all black, from his button up shirt to his dress slacks. He’s slicked his hair back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck and a shiny black Batman mask fails at obscuring his identity. 

He appraises my dress silently, his eyes darkening with some emotion I imagine is reflected in my own. Gently, he reaches out and runs his fingers along the shawl’s feathery edges.

Book Blitz: The Forgotten (Zola Flash #2)

The Forgotten (Zola Flash #2) by T. Marie Alexander
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon ♥  B&N
Summary:

ZOLA HAS LOST SO MUCH.

Her family

Her home.

Her sense of self.

BUT SHE HAS ALSO GAINED.

Friends.

Another home.

And Pin, the Payohlini she loves above all else.

With Renz gone and no one to command the Payohlini army, Zola assumed everything would go back to normal. Well, as normal as life could be for someone like her. The war should be over and her planet and people should be safe. Having accomplished what she set out to do—getting revenge for her family’s murder, she even dares to dream of days spent as a normal girl, of dates with Pin without them looking over their shoulders for flying swords. No more hiding, but living the kind of life she always thought she’d have.

With new responsibilities come new problems, though—as well as a Flash from her past that she didn’t see coming. 

One that threatens to change everything.

Zola thought she had nothing else to lose. Unfortunately, she’s about to get a galactic awakening.

No one ever said being a princess would be easy.

♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt:

Slowly, I open my eyes. A hot, blue light beams down on me. Trying to rise, I realize my hands and feet are bound by strong, metal cuffs to a table I am lying on. My body is covered by a rough cotton sheet. “Somebody!” I call out. “Help!”

People wearing white masks come over to the table. They spread out, surrounding me. One of the masked people pulls out a knife as they remove the rough cotton sheet covering me.

Book Blitz: In Danger's Embrace (Cimmerian Moon #3)

In Danger's Embrace (Cimmerian Moon #3) by A.M. Griffin
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopian
Release date: June 7, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon ♥ B&N
Summary:

In many ways, my life is complete, or as complete as it can be with aliens roaming Earth, killing and enslaving humans. 

Jason, my love, is by my side, and my friendship with Wade is back on track. Even better, it seems the threats of annihilation from the aliens have turned out to be nothing but hot air.

Yet, despite the peace of our Arrowwood refuge, there is still a war waging outside, something I’ve tried not to think too much about. 

Just as I’ve ignored the fact that a sanctuary can also be a prison, or a tomb, we are forced to step out of safety and live or die, in danger’s embrace.

Book One:

Against the Darkness (Cimmerian Moon #1) by A.M. Griffin

Age Group: Young Adult

Genre: Dystopian

Release date: June 4, 2014

Buy Link: Amazon ♥ B&N

Summary:

This one time, at band camp…aliens invaded earth. Sounds like a bad riff on an old joke, doesn’t it? Unfortunately for me and my friends, it’s all too true. I thought a mess like this only happened in the movies but, as I watch the alien ships hovering over the major cities, I suddenly realize I’m a thousand miles away from my Mom. From home. From safety.

Darkness may have fallen over the world, but I won’t let it claim me. I’ll do anything I have to get back to Michigan. Yet nothing could prepare me for what we find on our trek north from Tallahassee. There’s hardly anything the aliens haven’t bombed. 

Survival, at any cost, is the name of the game for the few people who haven’t been killed or captured. As if trying to stay free and alive isn’t enough, I think I just met the love of my life. And he’s just the kind of bad boy who’ll tear down the walls I’ve built around my heart—then break it.

Book Two:

Ashes That Remain (Cimmerian Moon #2) by A.M. Griffin

Age Group: Young Adult

Genre: Dystopian

Release date: August 6, 2014

Buy Link: Amazon ♥ B&N

Summary:

We’re at war against the aliens that have invaded Earth, fighting the only way we can—by surviving. I have more than most people do, but although I know it’s stupid to hold on, I can’t let go of what might have been—can’t help dreaming of something more. 

No matter how I tell myself it would be easier to do what everyone else wants me to, there’s a part of me that can’t give in.

Making the best of the situation is one thing. Settling, even to make other people happy, is something else.

Then we hear the alien mother ships have disappeared. Of course we have to go and investigate. What we find lands us in a huge mess that we somehow have to clean up and, as our little enclave is rocked to the core with even more changes, I’m learning a hard lesson.

The more things change—for the better or the worse—there’s no fighting human nature, and building on the ashes that remain will take everything we have. And maybe more.

♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt:

Brook’s whimpering sounds through the darkness. My eyes have adjusted to the night and I can make out who everyone is and the layout of the room.

“Shh,” Rocky coaxes. “We’re going to be fine. We’ll all be fine.”

I hear her mumbling cries about how scared she is, probably talking more to herself than to her dad.

“Everyone get some rest,” Rocky says in a whisper. “We’ll be here for another twenty-four hours, might as well use this time to rejuvenate.”

“Twenty-four hours?” my mom asks. “Shouldn’t we try to leave as soon as the bombs stop?”

Book Blitz: Bound by Birthright

Bound by Birthright by Janeal Falor
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: June 6th 2016
Buy Link: Amazon ♥ B&N
Summary:

Elven princess Arabella is set to marry the human Prince Phillip but her countrymen do not hesitate to express their anger with her parents' attempt to improve relations with the humans. With death threats plaguing her, Arabella is forced into hiding.

When her sanctuary is usurped by pirates, Arabella goes on the run with humans who vow to help and keep her safe. She finds herself drawn to one of the humans, the dashing Robert, who steals her heart.

Arabella would like nothing more than time to get to know Robert better, but with pirates attacking and her wedding date approaching, time is one thing she doesn't have. Arabella's on a flight for her life and must reconcile with the truth—she can never be with the one she wants.

If only her heart would agree. 

♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt

My hand brushes his.

I should pull away. I will pull away.

Only, before I can do so, he leans closer.

My breath becomes shallow and catches in my throat. A flame kindles in my heart. It’s small at first, but then bursts into a blaze coursing through my body. I tilt my face toward his, and time ceases to exist as I’m aware of nothing but him.

My own breathing matches the rapid rise and fall of his chest. I can't help but take him in, from his chiseled jaw line all the way to his distinguished brow. From his angular nose to a small scar above his mouth—a sharp line that cuts across a portion of his upper right lip. I'd noticed it before, but never paid much attention to it.

Book Blitz: It Started With a Whisper

It Started With a Whisper by Shannon McCrimmon
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Release Date: June 1, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon 
Summary:

Five simple words: That's all it takes to change the course of 18-year-old Josie Graham's life in the summer of 1989.

Josie is a musical prodigy: She can sing, play guitar and is a natural on the piano. Instead of spending her last summer before college traveling the country with her rock star father, she's made a last minute decision to spend it working at her Aunt Bernie's inn, in Ambler's Fork, North Carolina. But what could have turned her life-long passion for music into a hatred for an industry she's worked so hard to get into?

Her aunt's inn seems like the perfect place to escape, to clear her head and figure things out, but on her first day there, she almost drowns before Chic Hobbs saves her.

Chic wants nothing more in life than to leave Ambler's Fork and his sordid past behind—at least not until that day Josie Graham swims into his life. The problem is, Chic's got a secret. It's a secret he's keeping from Josie, and he's worried if it gets out, it'll ruin everything, and she'll judge him for his past mistakes the way everyone else in town has.

Josie is carrying a burden of her own. One that made her run to Ambler's Fork - away from her family and everything she's ever known.

Chic saved Josie once. Can he save her again? Or will Josie rescue him this time?

♥ ♥ ♥