Release Day Blitz: Life Next Door (Love Not Included #2)

Life Next Door (Love Not Included #2) by J.D. Hollyfield
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Romance
Release Date: November 3, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

There is only one thing in life that professional pastry Chef Priscilla Westcott values more than baking and wine, and that’s honesty. A quality she soon learns that her marriage lacks when her husband runs off with their next door neighbor.

Divorced and alone, Priscilla is determined to make changes in her life. She decides to approach her new goals like one of her beloved recipes. 

Surely with a little time, a dash of patience, and measured planning she can whip herself—and her life—back into shape.

However, when a new—and utterly delicious—neighbor takes up residence in the house that ruined her marriage, Pricilla fears that her careful world will fold faster than a deflated soufflé.

Trent Walker knows what he wants and his sweet, sassy neighbor is at the top of the list. He’s certain that the chemistry between them would be explosive, but Priscilla fears that an affair with him, however hot, could be a recipe for disaster.

♥ ♥ ♥

Promotional Event: Books, Blogs, & Reality

Books, Blogs, & Reality by Ryan Ringbloom
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 24, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

Life can suck…

When reality becomes overwhelming, seeking comfort in fictional fantasies keeps hope alive. And while this escape may be a little delusional, it’s also therapeutic.

Sharing secrets is daunting, but virtual friends don’t often judge and they are always ready to share a glass of wine…or three…while typing out life’s latest endeavors.

Brooke believes obstacles only add to romance, not detract. Rachael longs for a more intense relationship, or so she thinks. Lizzie misses the excitement in her life, but sometimes new situations find you when you’re not even looking. And Jess believes a tiger can change his stripes. It can’t.

Bound by a shared passion for blogging about happily ever afters, these four young women use keyboard therapy to work through their expectations, anxieties, and inadequacies, all with the hopes of achieving the perfection found in romance novels.

Completely blinded by what they think life should be, they navigate their unique paths in search of what they envision is right. But when reality taunts them with persistent curve balls, will they be strong enough to choose wisely? Or will their happy endings escape them?

♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

It’s not uncommon for people to have two sets of friends. The “real” friends; these are the ones who live nearby, the ones you see or talk with occasionally (less and less as time goes on). Then there are the “virtual” friends; these are the ones you talk to (well, type to) every day. The latter group comes from all over. You’ve never actually met any of them and yet you trust them with some of the deepest, most intimate thoughts and details of your life. You share way too much information and in return, they over-share way too much back.

On Brooke Bloomfield’s twenty-third birthday, she went to lunch with her real life best friend, Lauren. The two girls had a very nice time. They gossiped in between chews, catching up, because even though they lived only ten minutes away from each other, they still hadn’t seen each other in quite some time. When the bill came, Lauren grabbed it, insisting she treat Brooke on her special day. They hugged goodbye at their cars and promised to meet for lunch or a drink soon.

Promotional Event: Coming to Rosemont (Rosemont Saga #1)

Coming to Rosemont (Rosemont Saga #1) by Barbara Hinske
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Women's Contemporary Fiction
Release Date: February 18, 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

Forensic accountant Maggie Martin's well-ordered life is shattered by her husband's untimely death and the double life he concealed. 

Dealing with the financial and emotional wreckage left in Paul's wake, she is stunned to learn he inherited an estate known as Rosemont in the seemingly-serene Midwestern town of Westbury. 

Seeking a fresh start and a quiet, solitary life, she moves halfway across the country to make Rosemont her home. 

Before she can unpack her first box, she's knee-deep in a battle against political corruption, where defeat and retreat are not an option. Still bearing the scars of betrayal, will she find joy, romance and possibility in Westbury?

Coming to Rosemont is the first book in the Rosemont series.


♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

“Now,” Tonya said, “As you know, I have been calling for an independent audit of Westbury’s books. At first, I simply thought this was a good practice. I never dreamed that something could be wrong. But the more I requested and pushed for one, the more the Mayor and the other Council Members balked and stalled and misdirected the conversation.”

“I grew up the oldest child in a large family,” she continued. “I’ve heard plenty of wild excuses and tall tales in my time. My mother always knew when one of us was lying, and I guess I’ve inherited her nose for nonsense.” At this, a chuckle rippled through the crowd. “I felt like I was back in my mother’s kitchen with my brothers when these guys were making excuses to avoid an audit,” she said.

Review: Frostbitten

Frostbitten by Heather Beck
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: June 23, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

Great beauty hides dark secrets...

Seventeen-year-old Anastasia Lockhart has never led an easy life, but when she starts getting into serious trouble, she’s sent to live with her grandparents in Cedar Falls. 

The small, picturesque town hasn’t changed since she visited four years ago, with one exception – the presence of a handsome, mysterious boy named Frost. 

Despite warnings from her grandparents and friends to stay away from Frost, Anastasia can’t deny their attraction, and the more time they spend together, the deeper in love they fall. 

Unfortunately, Frost has a secret that is beyond Anastasia’s wildest imagination, and she soon finds herself in the midst of a supernatural legend that has haunted Cedar Falls for years.

Can Anastasia and Frost’s love really overcome anything, or are their fates much darker?

♥ ♥ ♥

Frostbitten follows Anastasia Lockhart who at the beginning of the story is being shipped off to her grandparents in Cedar Falls because her mom can no longer deal with her teenage antics. Anastasia used to spend her summers in Cedar Falls with her grandparents when she was younger and she had fond memories of the people and town. She’s hoping this will be a chance for her to start over and get back to the person she used to be.

Heather Beck created an amazing setting and I really loved the town of Cedar Falls, but the thing I loved most about this story was how well written it was. I liked how strange everyone was acting and how you know right away that something isn’t quite right between the people in the town. I also really liked how there’s this kind of rivalry mixed in with mystery. I thought that whole angle was great.

Book Blitz: Raven (Chronicles of Steele #1)

Raven (Chronicles of Steele #1) by Pauline Creeden
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: October 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

This is the complete Steampunk Fantasy novel - all four parts of the serial in one volume!

Human life has value.
The poor living in the gutter is as valuable as the rich living in a manor.
The scoundrel is no less valuable than the saint.
Because of this, every life a reaper takes must be redeemed.

Raven has lived by this first tenet since she was trained by her father to become a reaper. But since his death, she’s been spending years redeeming the lives she’s taken. 

By her count, she’s even and it’s time for that life to end. If she settles down and becomes a wife, she might just feel human again. But on the way to the life she thinks she wants, the baron of New Haven asks her to complete a task which she cannot ignore… Just when Raven decides to give up on her life as an assassin, she’s pulled right back in.


♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

Two sets of footsteps clipped across on the cobblestone. Before they rounded the bend to the stable door, Raven’s fingers twitched over her knife. When she saw Gorman and the younger baron, she relaxed and continued attaching her weapons.

“Can I trust you?” Baron Darius’s voice rose hesitantly as he approached.

She smiled. “I’ve saved your life once and promise to do it as many times as necessary.”

“Why?”

“It’s the reaper’s way. A life for a life.”

“How many have you killed?”

Raven clinched her jaw. “Too many.” Her gaze met the butler’s. “Will he have his own horse?”

Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain; a not so in depth book/tv comparison

Over the summer FX aired season one of the Strain, which is for the most part set to follow The Strain, the first book of The Strain Trilogy. I read in an article that del Toro wanted to the tv show originally, couldn't find a network, wrote the books to tell the story and is now getting the chance to actually do the show all the way through. See kids, dreams can come true.

Book Description

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing.

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city - a city that includes his wife and son - before it is too late.

Instead of actually doing a full book review or season review that might spoil you, I’m just gonna talk about a few things that lend better to either the show or the book. All images are promotional material from before the show aired or from the first episode. Content warning for below the cut: blood, gore and violence.