Review: Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5)

 Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5) by Richelle Mead
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Release Date: July 29, 2014
Buy Links:

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Book Description:

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives. In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.

Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .

Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.


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Let's talk about how excited I am that Richelle Mead's "Silver Shadows" finally came out! I didn't expect to love Mead's "Bloodlines" series as much as I do, but I've become completely emotionally invested in my little book babies Sydney and Adrian. Thankfully, I had its release day off of work, so I didn't have to waste any time in starting the book I've been waiting months and months for.

I actually had to go to three different stores in order to find "Silver Shadows", but it was worth the drive. Mead's newest installment in the series did not disappoint, and in fact, offered more than I thought it would. Again, the book is told in both Sydney and Adrian's point of views, and alternates by chapter. Sydney is dealing with being trapped in a reeducation facility, while Adrian is left in Palm Springs to deal with her loss and try to figure out how to find her and bring her back home to him.

Since Adrian and Sydney were forced apart at the end of the last book, "The Fiery Heart", I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to enjoy "Silver Shadows" as much as I did with the previous books where they had a lot more interaction. However, I was pleasantly surprised because I was still hooked as the two of them tried to get back to each other.

Blog Tour: The Lover's Secret (No Exceptions #1)

The Lover's Secret (No Exceptions #1) by J.C. Reed
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

When a sexy encounter comes like a dream...

Brooke Stewart thinks she's finally safe and can move on from her past. But after one night at the Trio Hotel and meeting the sexy stranger with the green eyes that can steal one's soul, her life is changed forever. Passions run deep. The fun is supposed to be for one night with no strings attached.

Sexy millionaire Jett Mayfield can have any woman he wants, but the night he sees Brooke, he knows what he has to do. Brooke has something Jett desperately wants, something he can't admit to the woman he tries to get to surrender. He has a secret so deep it would upend her life if she found out too soon. He's almost reached his goal, and then she gets a letter she was not meant to read. Suddenly, secrets get a completely new meaning.

When two hearts collide, at least one is bound to shatter.

A man who takes what he wants A woman who's ready to give him one night One bet that turns into a game of seduction But Mr. Sexy drives in the fast lane. And he has a secret that could destroy her

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Excerpt:

Review: Anna (The Starseed Series #1)

Anna (The Starseed Series #1) by Meghan Riley Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Release Date: August 29, 2013
Buy Links:

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Book Description:

To the outside world, Anna appears to be an ordinary high school senior...

Anna has a lot of questions. Should she pursue her desire to leave home for college and live out her dream of becoming a physicist? Or should she stay home and help care for her family, which has struggled ever since her father died in Afghanistan? Is her crush, Steve, really interested in her, or is he only using the highly intelligent Anna to try and boost his grades in school?

These questions, plus the ordinary trials and tribulations of high school, distract Anna from noticing some very... strange things that are beginning to happen to her.

For as long as Anna can remember, she has had a haphazard smattering of freckles on her arm. But these freckles are starting to change, and cause a series of unnerving hallucinations and odd side effects that only Anna seems to notice. When a strange shadow man starts to haunt her nights, she decides to go on a hunt for the truth to discover, once and for all, what is happening to her. The hallucinations continue growing stronger, however, and each new visit by the shadow man appears to become more and more threatening. Eventually, Anna realizes that she can no longer hide from her friends and family what is happening to her.

But as she shares her secret with those closest to her, Anna never imagines that her very life, and the lives of those she loves, will be put in jeopardy.

Who, or what, is Anna?

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"Anna" by Meghan Riley is the first book of her series "The Starseed Series". The story revolves around high school student Anna, who is just starting to realize that her life might not be as ordinary and boring as she's always thought.

The book's description has a lot to do with Anna's strange freckles and the changes that are happening to them and her as a result. On her arm, there are freckles that are in the shape of the constellation, Pleiades, and they're slowly starting to change. However, this is not the only weird thing that is happening, since Anna starts to be visited by a creepy Shadow Man, and she also starts hallucinating.

While the description was mainly based in the paranormal happenings of the book, that story doesn't really kick off until well into the book. The majority of the beginning of "Anna", actually just revolves around her daily high school life and the boy trouble you would expect any young adult book to have. She's always had a huge crush on the cute quarterback, Steve, who is finally starting to notice her, but now there's also a new boy named Jared that she meets in her astronomy club. This love triangle and the question of whether Steve likes her for her, or just because she's offering him help in school is what the beginning of the story is about.

Book Blast: The Girl (Guardians #1)

The Girl (Guardians #1) by Lola St.Vil
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: January 9, 2012
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

Sitting there in the car, a part of me bitterly resented what she was doing to me. I knew it wasn’t her fault. But does she have to be so... alluring? I need to focus on something else besides the spot between her earlobe and neck. It looked so soft. 

Her lips were slightly parted as she looked out the window. I wanted to part them further with mine. I put both my hands on the steering wheel. I could not allow myself to let go until she was out of the car. 

Suddenly she leaned in and kissed me. It was far better than I could even begin to explain to you. I've fought and died a slow and painful death on earth. And nothing, NOTHING can compare to how hard it was for me to pull away from her lips. I don't think any angel could to do it twice in a lifetime...


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Excerpt:

“Your courage is in your tears. Every time you cry, you lose a little bit more of it. That’s why you’re so breakable. Not because you’re human, because you’re always shedding courage from your eyes.”

~~~
Marcus, choose me. Choose the path that is perilous and leads to certain annihilation because it’s also the path that leads to me. They can’t understand that we are powerless to stop what we have for each other. But we know. We know that if we don’t bend to the will of this love, it will break us.

Book Blitz: Double Negative

Double Negative by C. Lee McKenzie
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Release Date: July 25, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

"My life was going, going, gone, and I hadn't been laid yet. I couldn't go into the slammer before that happened." Hutch McQueen.

Sixteen-year-old Hutchinson McQueen is trapped in a dysfunctional family. Shackled by poor vision and poor reading skills, he squeaks through classes with his talent for eavesdropping and memorizing what he hears.

After another suspension from school and suffering through one of his mother’s violent attacks, he escapes to a friend’s house that turns out to be a meth lab. The lab is raided and Hutch lands in juvenile detention.

When the court sentences him to six months in a new juvenile program, he meets a teacher with Alzheimer’s who will change his life and hers.

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Five Things I’d Do Before I Published My Book

1. Have a professional website and/or blog designed.

Be sure the navigation is easy and the pages are easy to read.
Buy a domain name. Mine’s cleemckenziebooks. I wish it were simply cleemckenzie. The simpler the better.
Don’t use music. People often browse in public places and music isn’t always appreciated.
Be sure people can pull up your site on all their mobile devices.

2. Become visible on the Social Networking Media

Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Shelfari
LinkedIn
Amazon (Especially, become familiar with Authors Central)There are more, but these are ones I’ve chosen to focus on. You’ll have to choose the ones that work best for you.

Cover Reveal: The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years #3)

Lola's Blog Tours Promotional Event

The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years #3) by Sarina Bowen
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 15, 2014

Book Description:

What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.

Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexual preference from everyone. Including himself.

So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.

John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.

And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.