Book Blitz: Handpicked

Handpicked by Dani Oden
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

College freshman Jill Holloway takes one look at the stuck-up girls going through sorority rush and nearly returns her borrowed dress and heels. Against her best judgment, she ends up falling for the prestige and parties, and snagging a bid from a top house. After moving in, she quickly grows skeptical of her too-perfect sorority sisters. She tries to ask questions, though no one will take time from their busy social calendar to give her any real answers.

Jill wastes no time digging for everything she’s not supposed to find, and soon comes face-to-face with a big and bloody secret hidden in her sorority’s basement. She knows she’s in over her head, but taking off so soon would raise the perfectly-plucked eyebrows of her suspicious new sisters. She’s stuck until she can make a smooth exit.

But the closer she gets to leaving, the more it becomes clear that it won’t be as simple as she hoped. A tempting fraternity guy, a best friend who needs her, and new details about what has really been happening in the basement have her questioning what her next move should be, and whether or not it’ll be worth the risks.

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Excerpt:
The commotion in the center of the room seemed to grow, and I leaned my head back against the barrel behind us. "How are we going to keep up with these girls?" I asked.

"What?" Lindy leaned toward me, nearly tipping over.

"These girls! They drink hard!" I shouted.

"Yes," she said, and I wondered if she heard me.

"What's happening?" Hannah interjected, staring at the mob of colorful dresses directly in front of us.

Book Blitz: A Midsummer Night’s Fling (Stage Kiss Series, #1)

A Midsummer Night’s Fling (Stage Kiss Series, #1) by Beth Matthews
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

After dating her childhood sweetheart Max on and off for years, aspiring actress Nicola Charles is finally ready to move on. It’s time for her to focus on her stage career and stay away from Max–before he can break her heart again.

Max regrets hurting Nicola, but he wants another chance. So when his play loses its leading lady, giving Nicola the part seems like the perfect opportunity to win back his old flame.

But the course of true love—and a theater production—never do run smooth. As Max fights to reignite Nicola’s love, the onstage antics can’t rival the bedlam backstage: a neurotic cast, a prickly crew, and an evil diva of a director who’s got designs on Max.

As Nicola and Max battle to keep the drama onstage, Max can’t help wondering if their romance will end with the last performance. Or have the two of them finally captured what they’ve dreamed of all their lives? True Love.

A contemporary romance that should appeal to fans of the wry humor and playful sexiness in the works of Julie James and Victoria Dahl.

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Top 5 Reunited Lovers

Since my book A Midsummer Night's Fling is about a pair of reunited lovers (they were sweethearts in high school and college), I thought it would be fun to talk about my Top 5 Reunited Lovers of All Time.

5. Fred and Lily from Kiss Me Kate

"Deceive me, desert me, I'm yours 'til I die…so in love with you am I." My favorite musical and my favorite feuding lovers. I grew up watching the 1950s version with Howard Keel. These two are immature, tempestuous, spoiled, and perfect for each other. You certainly wouldn't wish them on anyone else.

4. Navarre and Isabeau from Ladyhawke

"Do you know that hawks and wolves mate for life? The Bishop didn't even leave us that... not even that." One of my favorite movies as a teenager. The curse on these two is so poignant: "always together, eternally apart." She's cursed to be a hawk during the day; he's cursed to be a wolf during the night. When they're finally together again as humans in the end it makes me cry. Every. Time.

Book Blitz: Anthem's Fall

Anthem's Fall by S.L. Dunn
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: July 31, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

Above a horrified New York City, genetics and ethics collide as the fallen emperor and a banished exile of the same herculean race ignite into battle over the city’s rooftops. 

In the streets below, a brilliant young scientist has discovered a technology that can defeat them both, yet might be more terrible than either.

Set both in modern New York City and in the technologically sophisticated yet politically savage world of Anthem, Anthem’s Fall unfurls into a plot where larger than life characters born with the prowess of gods are pitted against the shrewd brilliance of a familiar and unlikely heroine.


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Giveaway:

Book Blitz: Stealing Third

Stealing Third by Marta Brown
Age Group: New Adult
Genre:Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

For Emily, going to camp, the summer before college starts, means leaving her feuding parents alone for the next eight weeks, and coming back to divorce papers is a risk she can’t take.

But no matter how many meddling phone calls, questionable hair decisions, and possibly illegal hookups she plans, her parents still march her off to Camp Champ totally against her will.

No matter. A few broken rules, and Em will be home free. That is, until she learns Tyler Ford, her baseball coach father’s star player and her drunken party hookup, is at camp, too.

For Tyler, summer is the onramp to the biggest decision of his life: med school or major leagues. Mega hot, possibly underage Emily? A complication he does not need.

But as the summer heats up with strikeouts and stolen bases will Tyler and Emily hit a home run and get what they’re after? Or will they both be thrown a curveball…in the game of love?

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Excerpt:

Emily

Tyler’s question catches me off guard, since getting in trouble on purpose is all I’ve been trying to do since I arrived at camp, but right now, that’s not why I’m here. Unless giving Tyler hell can get me in trouble.

“Well?” Tyler asks. His breath, minty and cool, rushes over my face, reminding me just how close we are. “If you’re not here to see Todd, then what are you doing here?” His jaw is tense and flexes as he stares at me.

I bite my lip, unsure how to answer now that I’m here and we’re standing so close I can feel the soft fabric of his Henley brush against my slightly sunburned skin.

Tired of all the games we’re playing, I drop my eyes to the ground and fidget with the frayed hem of my jean shorts. “I…I came to see you,” I admit, trying to keep an edge of anger in my voice, but it comes out sounding exactly the way I feel. Vulnerable. “Why?” he whispers, angling his head so our foreheads almost touch, the space between us so small I worry he can hear my heart thudding in my chest.

Blog Tour: Tortured Souls (The Orion Circle #1)

Tortured Souls (The Orion Circle #1) by Kimber Leigh Wheaton
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: June 29, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

Sometimes Rest in Peace isn't an option.

Kacie Ramsey sees ghosts—and it's ruining her life. Her mother left, her father blames her, and no matter how hard she tries, she can't keep the ghosts away. Now a new power has emerged. Nightly visions of grisly murders and a relentless predator draw her to the brink of insanity.

When the phantom appears at a party, Kacie's longtime crush, Logan, saves her. He invites her to join the Orion Circle, a group of supernatural hunters with chapters in schools all over the country. Through the Circle, Kacie learns to embrace her spiritual powers, and for the first time in her life she feels in control rather than a victim.

But the Foxblood Demon will not give up so easily. A demented serial killer in life who trapped the souls of the thirteen children he murdered, imprisoning them within the walls of his mansion. Now in death, he plots his return while drawing power from the pure souls of the children. He recognizes something in Kacie he's never seen before—a medium powerful enough to provide a vessel for his tainted soul.

Kacie can't ignore the tortured souls of the children crying out to her every night. With Logan at her side, she will fight the Foxblood Demon. But can they banish this powerful phantom, or will Kacie lose not only her body, but her eternal soul to the monster.

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Playlist

Review: Stolen Dreams (Cassie Scot #4)

Stolen Dreams (Cassie Scot #4) by Christine Amsden
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ Barnes and Noble

Book Description:

Edward Scot and Victor Blackwood have despised one another for nearly a quarter of a century, but now their simmering hatred is about to erupt.

When Cassie Scot returns home from her sojourn in Pennsylvania, she finds that her family has taken a hostage. 

Desperate to end the fighting before someone dies, Cassie seeks help from local seer Abigail Hastings, Evan Blackwood's grandmother. But Abigail has seen her own death, and when it comes at the hand of Cassie's father, Victor Blackwood kills Edward Scot.

But things may not be precisely as they appear. Evan persuades Cassie to help him learn the truth, teaming them up once again in their darkest hour. New revelations about Evan and his family make it difficult for Cassie to cling to a shield of anger, but can Evan and Cassie stop a feud that has taken on a life of its own? Conclusion to the Cassie Scot series.

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"Stolen Dreams" is the fourth and final book in Christine Amsden's "Cassie Scot" series. I've read the entire series before this point, so I was excited to see how Amsden was going to tie up all of the loose ends and finish Cassie's story. I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed in this last book.

The two main characters in this series are Cassie Scot and Evan Blackwood, who have been friends since they were children and harbor more intense feelings for each other. However, their love isn't something that their families approve of since the Scots and Blackwoods have been feuding for as long as anyone can remember. Whereas the tension in the last book focused mainly on the town and its feelings towards magic, in "Stolen Dreams," it's the tension between the two families that is at an all time high. Cassie must figure out a way to solve the matter before someone gets hurt.

Amsden's "Cassie Scot" series is definitely one that you have to read all the way through from the beginning. While each book may deal with a different mystery to solve, they aren't really standalone books. The main tension and drama is between the two families, and it takes all of the knowledge that's been set up from the beginning to fully understand what is going on. What's good about that though is that the books are an easy and quick read, and are the type where you want to keep turning the pages to keep up with all of the action.