SERPENTINA

SERPENTINA By Faith Consiglio
Publication date: June 27, 2024
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

Driven to find a cure for her brother’s illness, Emma embarks on a research trip to the island of Crete, a land brimming with tales of the gods. There, she is drawn to the myth of Medusa, a beautiful priestess turned monster, cursed at the hands of a jealous Athena.

Her exploration leads to a dangerous encounter with a mysterious serpent in the forest, and after the snake’s venom nearly kills her, Emma slips even deeper into the myth, her own fate intertwining with the woman at its heart.

She returns home, eyes set on attending Columbia University after graduation, but it isn’t long before she notices changes to her body and mind… changes that are nothing short of serpentine.

As she pulses through Medusa’s memory, she unlocks an unexpected truth that alters her world. She discovers the scope of her new abilities, including her blood’s power to cure illness, but with a cost. When Emma is betrayed by those closest to her, she finds herself hunted by an enemy hungry for her blood. And she is not the only one in danger; a horrifying plan unfurls as young girls disappear from the streets.

Emma must embrace what she has become to fight an enemy more ancient and evil than she imagined, for the chance to heal her brother, save the girls, and avenge the mythical source of her power.

—

EXCERPT:

“Dark leaves rustled in the forest, their dried tips rubbing against each other like the slow rattle of a snake. Emma paused, a warning echoing in her mind. Since her arrival to the reptile research base on Crete, she had ventured into the palm forest alone each afternoon, wandering deeper each time.

Never enter the forest alone. It was the rule her research mentor emphasized most during orientation. But there was nothing truly dangerous on the island. Hercules had cleared away all the deadly creatures to honor Zeus’s birthplace. She smiled, recounting the myth the airport taxi driver had told them. Emma knew, out of all the snakes there, only the cat snake had venom, and it was too mild to hurt a human.

Vibrations – Children of Atlantis

Vibrations – Children of Atlantis By A. R. Alexander
Publication date: November 12, 2024
Buy Link: Coming Soon...
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

Nada and Kani, two sixteen-year-olds with secrets as deep as the ocean, are about to face the truth. Nada, an orphan hiding her ability to read sound waves despite being deaf, has kept her powers buried for years, fearing rejection and isolation. Kani, who seems like a typical popular kid, also harbors a secret, he can sense and manipulate vibrations around him, a gift he’s never fully understood.

When a string of unexplainable attacks turns their world upside down, Nada and Kani are thrust into a hidden war between ancient forces. Atlantis, the legendary lost civilization, isn’t just a myth: it’s their destiny. Together, they must unravel the mysteries of their origins and confront mythical creatures determined to stop them. With the survival of Atlantis, and possibly the world, on the line, Nada and Kani must face their fears and inner demons. But can they rise to the challenge and prove they are the champions Atlantis has been waiting for? Or will their secrets be their undoing?

—

EXCERPT:

Nada
December 21, 2012
NADA

I can feel the gritty sand under my hands as I hit the ground. My battle partner lies still beside me, his chest barely rising and falling. I reach out, my fingers brushing through his blood-soaked hair, feeling the ragged rise and fall of his breath. The creatures’ footsteps grow louder, the sound of their approach heavy and unrelenting. We wait for the final blow, completely spent. Every movement sends a fresh pulse of pain through our battered bodies, blood seeping steadily from our wounds. I shut my eyes and think, Mom, forgive me. You told me to run, but I didn’t listen. The world around me starts to fade away.

Virch

Virch By Laura Resau
Published by: Owl Hollow Press
Publication date: January 1, 2024
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

In a time when a single billionaire wields nearly all of the power, virtual reality is the distraction, the fashion, and the entertainment of the hour.

When 16-year-old Liv from one of the poorest sectors in the nation manages to get into a prestigious internship program run by the world’s most powerful man, she finds his black sheep son is not the person she’s seen portrayed in the virtual world—he’s got heart and interest in righting the inequities of the world, and he might just capture HER heart, too.

Together, they begin to uncover the dirty and dangerous scheme at the heart of the Virch Empire, and their world begins to unravel.

The Withering Trials of Gwendolyn Gray (The Chronicles of Gwendolyn Gray, #3)

The Withering Trials of Gwendolyn Gray (The Chronicles of Gwendolyn Gray, #3) By B.A. Williamson
Publication date: November 18, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

She Saved the City, But Lost Her Life

What would you do if your parents disappeared? How would you live, barely scraping by, lying to everyone in your life?

Two years ago, Gwendolyn Gray saved the City. But The Blackstar stole her parents and took them to another world. She lost her powers, her portals, and even her hair. 

So while the rest of the City is reveling in its newfound freedom, Gwendolyn has spent two years dodging the clutches of the Childkeeper and the Home for Unclaimed Children. Balancing work and school and impersonating her own parents hasn’t been great for her bipolar disorder, either.

So when a school bully and a vengeful faerie bring her carefully constructed lies crashing down around her, Gwendolyn seizes the chance to travel through the realms of story again, trying to find the world where her stolen parents are hidden. 

But battling bills is nothing compared to the gothic vampires and eldritch horrors she’ll meet along the way. And on a world of smoke and lightning and metal, a teenage rebel holds the key to saving her parents and getting back the life she lost.

Because growing up isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

—

EXCERPT:

An Unexpected Party

The phone rang, and Gwendolyn squealed in surprise. She sprang out of bed and dashed into the ruined living room, but she tripped over something dark and furry, and fell flat on her face.

The black cat rubbed itself against her cheek.

“Ugh.” Gwendolyn shoved the cat away and got to her feet. “As if destroying my home wasn’t enough. This is the last time I take in a stray.”

The cat bounded away and Gwendolyn started toward the phone in the kitchen, but at that moment, there was a knock at the door.

She froze, torn between the ringing and the knocking. But an unexpected knock was almost certainly a sign of trouble, the kind that made scratched up furniture seem tiny in comparison. The kind of trouble where polite men would politely tip their pointed caps and politely pack her away to the Home for Unclaimed Children.

City of a Thousand Tears (Beauty From Ashes)

City of a Thousand Tears (Beauty From Ashes) By Pamela Hart
Publication date: September 5, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

Beulah is a city divided by privilege and poverty, and seventeen-year-old Ellio lives in the poorest district of all—the Downs. 

Assigned there at birth, even his extraordinary gift with machines isn’t enough to escape Beulah’s rigid class structure.

But the boundaries of his world start to crumble the night he encounters a mysterious young woman.

Kaya is stubborn, impulsive, and volatile. His opposite in every way. Worse, she’s from Aurea, the city’s golden district, and beneath her hardened exterior lies a web of secrets tangled around Retiarius, the city’s elite fighting guild. 

How did she wind up in the Downs that night? And what’s her connection to Retiarius?

As Ellio and Kaya’s relationship deepens, they defy the boundaries of Beulah’s class system, risking everything to continue meeting in secret. When their forbidden love is put to the test, Ellio will have to decide if Kaya is just another impossible dream, or if some things are worth fighting for—even in the Downs.

If you enjoy dystopian romances like The Lunar Chronicles, Red Queen, and Divergent, check out this story of courage, love, fierce heroines, and underdogs.

—

EXCERPT:

Ellio found a lot of interesting things poking around dumpsters in the Downs, but this was the first time he’d found a foot. Peeking out from under the bin, the glossy black nail polish shimmered from the light of a distant streetlamp. Getting over his initial shock, the young man breathed a sigh of relief when his further investigation revealed that the foot was still attached to a leg. A rather shapely woman’s leg swathed in black biomesh with metal grommets tracing up the seam from calf to thigh.

Falling to his knees, he ignored the water from the puddle now seeping into his jumpsuit and the cold rain that dripped down the back of his neck. He pushed his goggles up into his dark-blue hair. Another, older set dangled from his throat as he leaned down. Ellio peered under the dumpster and was further consoled that the shapely leg was still attached to not only a torso but an entire woman’s body. 

Designed (Designed, #1)

Designed (Designed, #1) By Amy Patrick
Publication date: October 17, 2022
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Mireya is the youngest person on Earth in 2055. Well, one of them. She and her classmates on the military base where she lives are survivors of Zika-Two, a mosquito-borne virus that took out the very youngest and oldest of the world’s population fifteen years earlier and rendered the remaining humans infertile.

Formerly banned research into cloning, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence is green-lighted by a government desperate to prevent looming human extinction. In fact, it was experimental nanotechnology that saved the lives of Mireya and her friends.

She’s always been told this makes her special. She certainly doesn’t feel special. As hard as she tries, she can never seem to please her indifferent parents, and her periodic memory lapses threaten to sink her already-shameful class rank to dead last. She just wants to be like everyone else, to be normal.

Mireya’s never left the base, never wanted to, and never questioned why she’s been content to stay there her whole life—until she runs into Heath. Actually, he bumped into her with his Gideon Corp delivery van. She’s not hurt, but she is baffled.

Why did the alluring young guy look at her like he knows her? And why did he seem shocked at her very average eye color?

When one-by-one her friends visit the physician and come back acting like strangers, Mireya decides to venture beyond the gates of the base to the nearby city of Atlanta to search for answers. And for Heath.

What she’ll find is the imposing walls surrounding Gideon Corp, the world’s largest corporation, hide many secrets about the cataclysmic global event and perhaps even Mireya herself.

DESIGNED is perfect for readers who loved Hunger Games, Divergent, Delirium, The Wrath & the Dawn, and the Selection.

—

SNEAK PEEK:

“Warning. Collision alert. Warning.”

The loud electronic voice reached me a second too late. I’d already stepped off the curb into the street and directly into the path of a delivery van.

A flash of white and chrome filled my peripheral vision as the bumper made contact with my left hip, sending me to the pavement with a wince and a yelp.

The good news was I wasn’t flattened by the thing. The nearly silent electric vehicles were programmed with collision avoidance tech that slowed them automatically in case of a sudden obstacle, which meant it hit me hard enough to knock me over but not hard enough to crush bones.

Child of Etherclaw

Child of Etherclaw By Matty Roberts
Publication date: August 2, 2022
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

The bonds of family go well beyond blood.
But can those bonds hold when the blood itself carries a devastating secret?

Fenlee’s opal necklace had always radiated a certain warmth since her mother’s death. But now, at sixteen, her world begins to unravel as the stone sparks to life, revealing itself to be an otherworldly artifact of untold power.

Between her mechatronics studies at the academy and scavenging expeditions beneath the sprawling city of New Cascadia, Fenlee and her adopted brother, Elliot, try to decipher the mysteries of her necklace and its link to events in Fenlee’s past.

But they’re not alone in their search.

Strange undercity dwellers offer cryptic warnings, drones track their movements, and deadly corporate agents lurk in the shadows. When tragedy rips Fenlee’s family apart, she must learn to use the artifact’s power to save those who are deeply precious to her. But nothing can prepare her for the dark truths that she will uncover on that journey…

“Lee,” Elliot mumbled. “I’m not who you think I am.”

—

EXCERPT:

Thoughts of etherclaw and worries about her father had kept Fenlee up, so she’d spent almost the entire night installing and integrating the Elixir chip to keep her mind elsewhere. She got it working, but sleep still wouldn’t come, so she composed a message to her father. It’d be expensive to send, but she had to say something.

Hi, Dad. Hope you’re well. Me? I’m great. Except that I’ve been shitting myself because, you know, aer Mom died, we all promised we’d never leave each other. And that’s kind of what you’re best at these days. But, hey, it’s all fine because I found a chip that’s most likely stolen and worth probably half this apartment block, but in order to get it to work, I had to go into the Lunarinto Market for an adapter. 

Shifter (The Healer Chronicles, #2)

Shifter (The Healer Chronicles, #2) By Michael J. Bowler
Publication date: April 12, 2022
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

Fifteen-year-old Alex and his learning-disabled friends barely survived the events of Spinner, but their nightmare has only just begun.

Alex’s wheelchair has never stopped him from doing what he wants, but his supernatural power to heal every human ailment known to science has put him in the crosshairs of a dangerous doomsday cult that will stop at nothing to capture him and his long-lost twin, Andy, who can shift illness from one person to another. When the boys combine their “gifts,” they unleash the power to control life and death.

Now Alex, Andy, and the others have been kidnapped by the U.S. military. On a creepy Air Force base in the remote Nevada desert, they must decide who to trust and who to fear while uncovering secrets this base wants to hide from the world. Who is the young boy with unusual abilities who’s treated like a soldier? What is hidden in an ultra-secret hangar that no one can access? And what unnatural experiments are conducted in that closed-off laboratory?

As Alex unravels these mysteries, he strives to bond with his twin, but Andy is distant and detached, trusting no one. He’s also more attracted to the dangerous power they wield than Alex would like. When misplaced faith in science ignites a hidden lust for supremacy, rescue can only come from the most unlikely source, and Alex must confront a terrible truth.

The Healer Chronicles continue…

—

EXCERPT:

He felt eyes on him and realized Andy was staring again. He held up his near-empty bottle. “Water?”

Andy nodded, so Alex reached around behind Roy’s lolling head to snag a second bottle, tossing it toward Andy. Even though the bottle was perfectly aimed for an easy catch, Andy didn’t even raise his arms. The bottle struck his chest and dropped into his lap. Andy’s blue eyes flashed with anger, the piercing cobalt color almost burning with fire.

Alter (Alter, #1)

Alter (Alter, #1) By H.R. Truelove
Publication date: January 26, 2022
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

Who do you trust when you can’t trust yourself?

Lennox, Erris, Wisdom…
There are many voices in Laura’s mind but no one, not even her family, will believe her.

Laura’s life is far from normal. After spending years in a medical center for seeing visions no one else can, Laura is transferred to the Tomlinson Institute of Research. There, she’s promised, lies the truth she’s been after her entire life.

But as her eighteenth birthday looms closer, Laura’s already complicated life takes a sudden turn. When she discovers what hides behind her unusual abilities, Laura’s reality is blown to pieces, and she must learn to make sense of her super-natural gifts. With a little help from the voices in her head, Laura needs to fight to save herself, the world she lives in–and every other world in the multiverse.

Alter is a gripping and intricate tale of conspiracy, mad scientists, and broken lives. A multiverse of blurry lines, lies, and deceit where we come face-to-face with the best of humankind… And it’s very worst.

—

EXCERPT:

My eyes were weak, but I heard every heartbeat in the Hollow. Every thud had a signature as unique as each of the countless snowflakes piled outside.

The chilly air stung my eyes and lips. My ears curled from the cold and the tips of my fingers were burned black.

We didn’t even have a word for frostbite in the Dark World. Many Shadows who slept in the Hollow had missing fingers, hands, or entire arms and legs. Some limbs were taken in battle, others lost to the cold, but not one of them was a lesser fighter for it. 

Book Blitz: The Sin Soldiers (Fragments, #1)

The Sin Soldiers (Fragments, #1) By Tracy Auerbach
Publication date: July 23, 2019
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

Red compound makes them angry. Yellow exhausts them. Blue drives them into a state of ravenous addiction. 

The thief Kai knows about the chemically controlled soldiers of the Eastern forces and their savage, deadly nature. When a robbery attempt at Club Seven goes wrong, Kai is captured by a handler and his bestial soldier-boy. She wakes up inside the military base with no idea what happened to her twin brother, Dex. 

Things go from bad to worse when Kai is started on a drug and training regimen, and forced to take injections of blue compound. The scientists in charge plan to make her into a working soldier who will mine the mysterious power crystals beneath the desert. 

Kai becomes a victim of the bully Finn, a handsome but nasty soldier whose years on red compound seem to have erased his humanity. Still, she begins to pity the Seven Soldiers, including the monstrous boy who tried to rip her to shreds at the club. They appear to be nothing more than genetically enhanced, drug-controlled teenagers. 

On the outside, Dex and his tech-savvy boyfriend try to crack the soldiers’ chemical code to find a weakness that will break the system. But Kai has already been drawn deep into her new world. Strong feelings for the soldiers she’s come to know have started to cloud her judgment. Can she escape and find Dex without becoming a monster herself?

—

EXCERPT:

The strobe lights and blaring music made Kai’s pulse beat along to their frantic rhythms. She and Dex had worked for Leo before, but never on a hit this big. To steal the night’s earnings from Club Seven took more than the kind of finesse that she and her brother were famous for; it took balls.

She looked over at Dex, who squatted in a small patch of shadow by the three steps leading up to the club’s first marble floor. Only he could make squatting look graceful. She strained to see him clearly while the blue-white lights flashed like a detonated bomb with a pause button. The strobes were replaced by a dim red glow, and she held up two fingers to signal the all-clear.

Dex responded instantly, their timing down to an art form. He hoisted himself onto the cold marble and did a quick military crawl to where she was lying flat on her stomach beside the liquor bar, propped on her elbows. His long, spiky hair brushed against her.

Book Blitz: Mimic

Mimic (The Prodigy Chronicles #2) By C.L. Denault
Publication date: March 22, 2019
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Dystopian, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

In 2012, one cycle of an ancient calendar system came to a close. Humanity predicted its downfall, but it wasn’t the end of their evolutionary climb. 

It was the beginning.
Willow Kent is discovering that life as a second-phase prodigy comes at a price. Trapped in the London Core, her choices are limited, made difficult by her forbidden romance with Reece and the presence of a new commanding officer who establishes harsh rules. 

With unpredictable skills and a growing distrust in her birth parents, she is struggling to play the Core’s game. 

But when opportunity arises in the form of a mysterious shapeshifter, Willow realizes there’s more to her own evolution than meets the eye. She soon learns that keeping secrets is a key move, and the more dangerous they are, the greater her need to evolve into the powerful prodigy nature intended her to become. 

But those closest to her have their own secrets, and her status has made her an easy target for betrayal. Who will she turn to, when nothing is as it seems?

Sequel to:

—

EXCERPT:

The blow shouldn’t have stunned me. I’d grown up in a tavern, defending myself, and had spent plenty of time training with Kane and Tem. I knew how to take a hit.

This was more than a hit. Kristoffe’s swing was fast and brutal, with a force behind it that rivaled my own—enough to knock me off my feet and send me flying down the hall.

Sensations took over. There was the feel of backward motion. Loss of control as my body hit the floor. More motion from sliding, and the hot sting of my flesh scraping tile. Ceiling lights blurred into white lines. Pain throbbed in my cheek.

Book Blitz: Remote

Remote By Lisa Acerbo
Publication date: December 24, 2018
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summary:

When technology fulfills every dream, reality is a nightmare. 

Below the streets of New State, the Grounders fight to remain free of the technological control of the world above. When dusk falls, Wren risks her life by entering the capital city as a raider to secure resources for the rebellion. 

Each step further inside puts her life in jeopardy from New State’s deadliest weapons – Phantoms. More machine than human, tortured until devoid of emotion and caring, Phantoms have only one objective. 

Kill. And they do it with exacting precision.
Wren is good at her job as a raider and committed to the cause until she meets Codex, a New State citizen who doesn’t quite fit her preconceived expectations. 

After a couple of awkward encounters, he shows her the meaning of hooking up—a computer simulation that allows people to live out their fantasies—without the complication of emotional entanglements or physical reality. But what Wren feels for Codex is very real. And it’s punishable by death. 

As she and Codex grow closer, Wren convinces him to leave New State for the underground. But unrest between New State and the Grounders escalates, and Phantoms move in to destroy her world. Nothing goes as Wren planned. Families are arrested, loyalties are strained, and Wren’s forced to choose between her people and her feelings. The wrong choice could mean the end of her people, and reality could slip away—forever…

—

EXCERPT:

“We should stop.” Part of her didn’t want to.

Codey ignored her words, pulling her closer.

Wren should draw back, take a breath, but her body betrayed her and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, tangling her fingers in his hair when their lips met. She kissed him back.

She felt his hand run over her thigh and then move up. He slid his fingers under the fabric of her worn sweater so he could caress her abdomen, tracing the lines of her ribs. In the next second, he whipped off his shirt and pulled her close, continuing to kiss her.

She felt his skin, smooth and hot, and thought she would scream if she couldn’t get closer to him. She pushed herself against him, and Codey responded with another passionate kiss as he pressed gently against her on the bed.

Book Blitz: Girl with all the Pain

Girl with all the Pain (Aliens, Tequila & Us #4) By Michael Herman
Publication date: February 23, 2018
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
Summary:

Sometimes an ugly duckling becomes more than just a swan. 

In the streets of Santiago, Chile, a young homeless girl named Isabel screams a scream of rage that is the last sound the gang tormenting her ever hears. 

Deep within the city, a family feels her cry and sets out to find her for their sake as well as hers. 

Never straying far from Isabel, Skunk Mountain, a homeless pile of walking filth, visible to only the neighborhood kids, maintains a guardian presence 

that is key to her survival in a world where, beneath the very ground they walk, a dark ancient intelligent entity prepares to unleash forces that will devastate Chile. 

Sometimes that swan has claws and teeth.

_______________________________________

Girl with all the Pain is the first of the Global Invasion Chronicles.

The Aliens, Tequila & Us series is prologue to Girl with all the Pain

_______________________________________

 If you are interested in mass extinction events, Chinchorro mummies, alien creatures, tequila, Pisco Sours, Very Large Telescopes, foreign tongues, evolution theories, witchcraft beliefs, Santiago Chile, underground caves, vineyards, million dollar concept bikes, interstellar space travel, abandoned mines, the Atacama Desert, Russian ATVs, Himmler’s Nazis Lebensborn, predictions of future times, earthquakes, orchids, avatars, and people with mutant powers, then this is the book for you.

Kind reviews go far and help keep up the spirit while I work to bring the second Global Invasion Chronicle to life.

—

EXCERPT:

When the woman strokes Isabel’s black fur, Isabel purrs loudly and makes clicking sounds. She knows she rests between friends who will not allow the ones below the base of the statue to harm her.

The woman looks down at Isabel and says, “At long last, I have found you. You have not been forgotten. You and your people will return. We will end your long-suffering. You will no longer be alone.”

Book Blitz: Toxic

Toxic by Lydia Kang
Genre: YA Scifi
Buy Link: Amazon
Release date: November 6, 2018
Summary:

Hana isn’t supposed to exist. She’s grown up hidden by her mother in a secret room of the bioship Cyclo until the day her mother is simply gone. Along with the entire crew. Cyclo tells her she was abandoned, but she’s certain her mother wouldn't leave her there to die. And Hana isn’t ready to die yet—she’s never really gotten to live.

Fenn is supposed to die. He and a crew of hired mercenaries are there to monitor Cyclo as she expires, and the payment for the suicide mission will mean Fenn's sister is able to live. But when he meets Hana, he’s not sure how to save them both.

Because Hana knows the ship’s secret—and Hana and Fenn falling for each other may be what ultimately kills them.

Excerpt   

My heart is beating so fast I can barely stay standing. I have clawed my robe until it has holes in the edges. 

It has been six hours now. I am absolutely forbidden to leave my room, a room that does not exist in the consciousness of any crew member except my mother, hidden as it is in the most unused part of Cyclo’s body, the northeast quadrant, alpha ring. 

For the last two hours, I’ve raised my hand countless times, poised a few inches from the door, before dropping it. Even touching the door is strictly forbidden. But I can’t wait here for much longer. Where is Mother? Where could she be? 

Book Blitz: Alive?

Alive? (The Alive? Series, #1) By Melissa Woods
Publication date: October 30, 2018
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Zombies
Summary: 

Everyone knows the first rule of the zombie apocalypse: Don’t. Get. Bitten.
Too bad Violet has never been great at following the rules. 

Walking home after a night of partying, she manages to let one of the Dead take a chunk out of her only hours after they’ve begun walking again. Fortunately for Violet, she doesn’t die. Unfortunately for Violet—she’s not exactly alive, either. 

Violet’s body is undergoing changes, and suddenly the taste of human flesh is not as revolting as it once sounded. 

Controlling her new urges will be hard. Living with survivors who have no idea will be even harder. And the real zombies? They still want to eat her, too… 

Surviving the zompocalypse is tricky when you play for both teams.
New from author Melissa Woods, Alive? is a heart-pounding adventure with suspenseful plot twists, complex characters, and a dash of dark humor. Gritty and raw, Alive? is sure to keep you guessing, and will delight zombie apocalypse fans everywhere.

—

EXCERPT:

A creak of floorboards. Violet opened her eyes just in time to see a woman lunge. She was wearing a white lace nightie, offset slightly by the gaping wound in her stomach. Violet held out her arms, pushing back with all her strength.

She barely had any left, but it was just enough to keep the zombie at bay. The woman’s eyes were almost white, and her teeth snapped in Violet’s face. Though she had no idea what caused this or why it was happening, she knew this thing wanted to kill her.

Book Blitz: Clan

Clan By Realm Lovejoy
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: November 12, 2013
Purchase Link: Amazon
Summary:

“Highly enjoyable, thought-provoking sci-fi by an author with considerable talent and promise.”–Kirkus Reviews
____ 

Clans are Unity. 

No variation. No deviation. 

On Clades, to be a Clan is to be an exact copy. A perfect society cloning themselves to survive, even as the zombielike Frags threaten to overrun them on an unforgiving planet. 

Clan 1672 (privately known as Twain) was never supposed to survive the Incubation Tank. But he did. Illegally. He is different from the other Clans. 

A secret that could destroy him.

♥ ♥ ♥

*Now available on audio!*

—

EXCERPT:

A glitch. Being a glitch was somewhat bearable, but an intentional glitch was not. Twigg had told Father Krume and Brisbane that Twain had been an accident.

Twain wanted to believe that he had been locked up because Twigg had wanted to protect him, not because Twigg had wanted to cage him like some sort of sick scientific experiment. All those years he had spent, hidden—agonized by solitude…

“Son.” His sponsor stood at the door. “Mandy reported to me that you’ve thrown away dinner two nights in a row. Don’t tell me you’ve got nausea again.”

GIVEAWAY: 62 Paperback!!!

Welcome to the #PNR and #UF Giveaway Party!

Who’s ready for a giveaway you can get your hands on? A bunch of authors got together to bring your this Big Box of Paperbacks Giveaway! One lucky winner is going to win SIXTY-TWO (62) Paperback Books! How’s that for an epic Book-Lover’s Prize?! If you are a fan of Urban Fantasy, Dystopian Fiction, or Paranormal/SciFi Romance, you’re going to want to get in on this! The best part is that even if you don’t win, you’ll be subscribed to the sponsoring authors newsletters for a chance to grab some freebies, snag some special offers, and enter more giveaways!

—

Here are a couple of sneak peeks!

Excerpt from Foxblood: A Brush with the Moon by Raquel Lyon

The funeral was a typically sombre affair, alive with soggy tissues and streaky make-up. I stood at the back, letting the vicar’s voice wash over me, and spent the whole time staring at the flower-laden coffin, wondering if the lid would suddenly flip up and a fanged monster would escape to reap its vengeance on the congregation.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t happen, and as the mourners dispersed in the direction of the pub, I quietly snuck off home. I wasn’t in the mood for crowds and needed time to think, time to try to make sense of at least something, but as I turned to close the door, it was obstructed by a perfectly polished black shoe that belonged to…

“Sebastian?”

“Seb, please,” he said, easing his way through. “Only my father calls me Sebastian.” He checked down the backstreet and closed the door securely. His eyes scanned the flat. “Nice place.”

“I like it.”

“It doesn’t bother you? Living over a funeral parlour?” he asked.

“Why would it? The neighbours are quiet.”

He didn’t laugh at my joke; neither did he comment. He simply stood silently, staring. It was very unnerving and made my legs go all wobbly. Perhaps if I turned away from him, he’d disappear again? It was worth a shot. I forced my jelly legs over to the front window and stared out at nothing in particular. The light was subdued, and the sky had darkened to an air force grey. A low mist was beginning to carpet the distant fields, and I wondered if snow had been forecast.

Book Blitz: Shadow Fall (Shadow Fall, #1)

Shadow Fall (Shadow Fall, #1) By Audrey Grey
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: November 22, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon
Summary:

The asteroid hurtling toward the earth will kill billions. 

The Emperor and his Gold Court will be safe in their space station, watching from the stars. 

The Silvers will be protected underground. But the Bronzes must fight it out at the Shadow Trials for the few remaining spots left on the space station. 

When an enigmatic benefactor hands Maia Graystone a spot in the Trials, she won’t just get a chance at salvation for her and her baby brother, Max: 

She gets to confront the mother who abandoned her in prison, the mad Emperor who murdered her father, and the Gold prince who once loved her. 

But it’s the dark bastard prince she’s partnered with that will make her question everything, including her own heart. With the asteroid racing closer every day, Maia must trust someone to survive.
The question is who?

♥ ♥ ♥

—

EXCERPT:

My legs wobble as I step into the now lukewarm water. I sink to the bottom. Tiny bubbles escape my nose as I watch all the ugly remnants from the last seven years leave my body.

Lungs burning, I rise and come face-to-face with Pit Boy.

I glare at him. “You really have to work on the knocking thing.”

Despite the fact that I’m indecent, his attention never falls from my face. I almost wish it would, just to give me a break from the intensity of his focus.

“I only get a few more hours to be the ‘one-eyed freak’ from the pit. Might as well take advantage.” He doesn’t dare crack a smile, so it’s hard to tell if he’s joking or serious.

“Don’t worry. In my heart, that’s exactly who you’ll always be.”

His words remind me that soon we’ll be reconstructed using forbidden nanotech. But it won’t just be our flesh they’ll reengineer. It will be our brains, too.

I don’t foresee my rewiring being too complicated, but Riser needs to upload almost twenty years of false memories. That will be tricky and time-consuming.

And time is the one thing we don’t have.

Riser flicks his gaze to the mirror. He lifts a hand, touches the patch of mottled flesh where his eye should be.

Book Blitz: The Retreat (The After Trilogy, #1)

The Retreat (The After Trilogy, #1) By Kelly St. Clare
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: August 30, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon
Summary:

Earth is ruined. Humankind destroyed. And it’s old news. 

Romy’s life is simple—for a genetically enhanced space soldier; pick up space junk with her four friends, and stave off the invaders fixated on stealing Planet Earth. 

It isn’t much. But it’s temporary—only another 850 years to go, give or take. 

When her crew tangles with a gulp-worthy alien mothership, Romy’s return to Earth is brought forwards at hurtling pace. 

Strength comes from the unlikeliest of quarters. 

As does leadership.
…As does betrayal.

 ♥ ♥ ♥

—

EXCERPT:

Romy’s side of the battler must have torn away during landing. Only a few shredding battler walls remained. It was as though her side of the ship had been ripped off like a chunk of bread from a loaf.

The floor underneath her was gone, leaving her legs dangling. Romy herself was suspended by the harness, which dug into her torso. It was the only thing keeping her from falling three metres to the dry grass.

The bottom part of her battler segment had embedded itself into the ground on an angle. Romy’s end of the segment was immobilised in the air, forty-five degrees to the surface. She looked to have landed at the edge of a grassy clearing. Or maybe a forest, she amended, judging by the multitudes of trees before her.

Behind her, the ripped walls were flayed wide open, smoking, sparking, and hissing.
She took in the vast splash of colours before her with unseeing eyes. She was on Earth. Hanging above real ground.

Review by Melissa: "Floor 21"

 Floor 21 by Jason Luthor
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia
Release Date: June 2nd, 2015
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ Barnes and Noble

Book Description:

As humanity lives out the remainder of its existence at the top of an isolated apartment tower, young Jackie dares to question Tower Authority and their ban on traveling into the tower's depths. Intelligent and unyielding, Jackie ventures into the shadows of the floors below. But will her strong will and refusal to be quiet—in a society whose greatest pride is hiding the past—bring understanding of how humanity became trapped in the tower she has always called home, or will it simply be her undoing?

♥ ♥ ♥

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when I agreed to read and review Jason Luthor's "Floor 21". I was drawn in, as I usually am, by a dystopian young adult book, and I was hoping that I wouldn't be let down. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the book and its premise more than I thought I would.

The Story takes place in a tower where only the top floors are inhabited, because the lower levels have been infested by this substance that they call "Creep". No one is sure how it got there or when, they just know to not ask a lot of questions and to follow the rules that were set by the Tower Authority. Of course, following the rules would make a bad and boring book, so "Floor 21" is what happens when one girl starts questioning their existence in the Tower and starts to look for answers.

What was cool about "Floor 21" was that it was different. The story was told in a first person narrative, as the characters recorded their story on voice recorders. I liked this idea, because it was a great way to show off the characters' unique voices in a way that is not commonly done.

The recordings, in my opinion, also added more suspense to what was happening. Since the characters are going through their own stories, they aren't able to speak knowingly on what else is going on, or why it's going on. Instead, the reader finds out more information along with the characters on the voice recorder, and everything has a stronger sense of immediacy.

 

I would recommend "Floor 21" to anyone who enjoys dystopian stories as much as I do. I read the whole book in about a day and a half (and that was even with me going out with friends and having a life for a change!), because I wanted to find answers. It seems like Luthor is setting up for another book to follow, and if that is true, I would love to continue reading and learning more about the Tower and the Creep.

♥ ♥ ♥

Author Bio:

Jason Luthor has spent a long life writing for sports outlets, media companies and universities. His earliest writing years came during his coverage of the San Antonio Spurs as an affiliate with the Spurs Report and its media partner, WOAI Radio. He would later enjoy a moderate relationship with Blizzard Entertainment, writing lore and stories for potential use in future games. At the academic level he has spent several years pursuing a PhD in American History at the University of Houston, with a special emphasis on Native American history.

His inspirations include some of the obvious; The Lord of the Rings and Chronciles of Narnia are some of the most cited fantasy series in history. However, his favorite reads include the Earthsea Cycle, the Chronicles of Prydain, as well as science fiction hits such as Starship Troopers and Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?

Website ♥ Goodreads