Book Blitz: Sword

Sword by Amy Bai
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

Sword shall guide the hands of men . . .

For over a thousand years the kingdom of Lardan has been at peace: isolated from the world, safe from the wars of its neighbors, slowly forgetting the wild and deadly magic of its origins. Now the deepest truths of the past and the darkest predictions for the future survive only in the verses of nursery rhymes.

For over a thousand years, some of Lardan’s fractious provinces have been biding their time.

Kyali Corwynall is the daughter of the Lord General, a child of one of the royal Houses, and the court’s only sword-wielding girl. She has known for all of her sixteen years what the future holds for her–politics and duty, the management of a House, and protecting her best friend, the princess and presumed heir to the throne. 

But one day an old nursery rhyme begins to come true, an ancient magic wakes, and the future changes for everyone. In the space of a single night her entire life unravels into violence and chaos. Now Kyali must find a way to master the magic her people have left behind, or watch her world–and her closest friends–fall to a war older than the kingdom itself.

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Excerpt:

There was someone following them.

Devin shifted in the saddle, twisting to look behind him for the third time in the last hour. He turned back when his guard Hewet, a man who looked like he had been carved whole from dark oak but who moved with unnerving grace, hissed through his teeth. Amazing how much irritation such a small sound could hold. He scowled and faced the road ahead, which stretched on endlessly under patches of treeshadow and the blistering blue arch of the sky.

"They're closer," he said sullenly, earning himself another hiss.

Orin's briny, moody winds were far behind them now, and the rich fields of Syndimn province lay all around, shimmering under a heat haze. He missed the salt air and the fogs. He missed fish for breakfast, fish for lunch, and fish for dinner. He even missed Duchess Armelle, who had done what not one of the doddering theorists who claimed to be her court wizards had managed, and terrified him into taming his wayward Gift.

She was a frightening lady, Armelle Orin. He understood the magic no more than he did when he'd arrived, but he could at least play a tune without a flicker of magic now. He was going to miss her. He was going to miss her heir Ysmena more, though.

Book Blitz: My Soon-To-Be Sex Life

My Soon-To-Be Sex Life by Judith Tewes
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

Charlie is down to her absolute. Total. Last. Resort.

Despite a thoroughly comprehensive list of potential cherry poppers, er…suitors, and careful plotting, Charlie is three weeks into her devirginization campaign, still untouched, and getting desperate. In the movie of her life, this aspiring screenwriter is giving herself a PG, for please, get some.

Her project goes into freeze frame when her mom checks herself into rehab and packs Charlie off to live with her estranged, or just plain strange, grandfather, Monty. How is she supposed to get a date when she has to go pick up his Depends?

Enter Eric, a hot rehab grad on the road to redemption, and the only one who can make Charlie rethink her strategy. The more she gets to know him, the more convinced she becomes that is the one, and not just another to add to the list of people who will abandon her.

In this hilarious and heartbreaking story of one girl’s detoured road to womanhood, Charlie’s list develops a life of its own – right when she realizes there’s so much more to lose.

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Excerpt:

In the most surreal moment of my life, my mother, the woman who had just folded my clothes into orderly bundles, told me, “I’m going into rehab.”

Resolution rested on every line of my mother’s profile. Rehab. The bricks in my stomach lurched. This was my fault. Why hadn’t I been in Mom’s face as soon as I started to notice her taking more and more pills? But I thought she knew what she was doing. Christ, she was a nurse. How the hell had I missed the fact that she’d started crossing the line? I felt dizzy, off balance, like someone held up my world and gave it a snow globe shake.

“I’d drag you to my place,” Grace said. “But with my hours at the law firm and Ian being on the road so much – you’d be alone most of the time anyway.”

I sucked back a snort. “I’m old enough to stay here and look after myself.”

Book Blitz: Eyes Unveiled (Unveiled Series, Book 1)

Eyes Unveiled (Unveiled Series, Book 1) by Crystal Walton
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 1. 2015
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

Twenty-one-year-old Emma Matthews lost the song in her heart the same night she lost her dad. With an unfulfilled promise and an ultimatum shadowing her junior year of college, maybe it’s better that way. You can’t hurt if you can’t feel.

But when the reflection she sees in musician Riley Preston’s eyes borders dangerously close to the one she’s spent the last five years searching for, Emma discovers her walls can’t guard her heart from its fiercest desire. Terrified of what she’s experiencing, and even more afraid of what she might lose, Emma grapples for the courage to hold on to one dream without abandoning the promise of another.

Contemporary New Adult Romance novel Eyes Unveiled lets you relive those heartfelt moments when you don’t know how you’d survive a day without your best friend, when you’re trying to figure out who you are and what you’re supposed to do with your life, and when falling in love changes everything.

Music. Friendship. Self-discovery. Hope. Purpose. Identity. Within this inspirational love story, you’ll find you have a song of your own to share.

♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

Coffee beans churned in the automatic grinder, my nerves not far behind. “I’ll have a small—actually, make that a large chai tea.” It had the potential of being a very long night.

The barista twisted from the back to the front counter and set my drink next to the register before I unburied my wallet from my cluttered purse.

“That’ll be $3.79, dear.”

Someone set a five-dollar bill in front of me. “May I?”

Slowly, I lifted my head toward a voice I didn’t recognize to find the eyes I knew by heart. I couldn’t answer him. Not with that half smile tying my vocal chords in knots.

Riley propped an elbow on the counter. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Blink. Say something. What in the world was Riley Preston doing paying for my drink?

Cover Reveal: Infernal Ice (The Stygian Chronicles #1)

Xpresso Promotional Event:

Infernal Ice (The Stygian Chronicles #1) by Joceline Farrah
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Erotica
Release Date:
Book Description:

Beneath the sun kissed skies and the glamour of South Beach, Stygians and mortals co-exist under an uneasy alliance. Governed by strict rules known as Stygian Protocol, they live by one most sacred and cardinal rule: Never comingle with mortals.

Grief stricken, caseworker Jessa Belle Jones loses herself in her job, after the love of her life, Scott Dempsey disappears without a trace. When her father announces her betrothal to Abbandon, the General of the Stygian Armies, Jessa-Belle turns to Havah, the Tinseller to thwart her father’s plan by finding her own Stygian noble to marry.

Book Blitz: Death by Social Suicide

Death by Social Suicide by Kat Daemon/Karen Anne
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 13, 2015
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

The night Brittany Wakefield kissed her best friend, Jaime, she lost everything. Who knew one amazing moment could send him running— spinning a web of deceit and avoidance for two years. 

Stepping onto campus, she’s ready to win him back, even if it involves pledging a sorority she has no interest in.

Erik Draxton fell hard for Brit the moment she walked into the art room. With vibrant purple hair, music in her veins and a rebellious flair, she’s all he’s ever wanted.

While Jaime shrouds himself in secrets, Brit finds herself longing even more to be a part of his world. Unable to watch the girl of his dreams get tossed to the side, Erik decides to take matters into his own hands. But when Erik crosses a line, Brit feels backed into a corner, and discovering Jaime’s secret leaves her devastated.

With a shattered heart from Jaime, and the risk of losing Erik on the horizon, she knows one thing: navigating the social circles can be a suicide mission.


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STRANGER THAN FICTION: When art (unexpectedly) imitates life.

In my novel, Death by Social Suicide, the main character Brit has a passion for music. She plays electric guitar like a rock star, the music swimming through her veins making her feel at peace—but only when she’s alone. The fear of others hearing her is numbing. I get that. Although I don’t have a tenth of the amount of talent that Brit has, I do have a phobia of playing guitar or piano in public. It’s not something that people can easily understand.

They can’t comprehend why I would own these instruments if I never play them. I do play them, I just play when I’m alone. Maybe one day, with enough confidence, I’ll gather up the courage to allow others to listen, but for now I’m perfectly content with playing for my cats— and boy are they critical! ;)

Brit also has a deep love for the band, Green Day, and who can blame her? The band has played consistently great music for twenty years. I remember getting Dookie on my sixteenth birthday and playing it so often I nearly wore the CD out. Like Brit, I’ve gone to concerts to see the band perform.

Cover Reveal: Beyond Reach (True Calling #2)

Lola Book Tours

Beyond Reach (True Calling #2) by Siobhan Davis
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction
Release Date: April 30, 2015
Book Description:

Now back on Earth, Ariana is caught in a dangerous crossfire between clandestine rebel organization Clementia and the power-hungry government. Refusing to divulge the location of the secret information entrusted to her by her father, she desperately tries to bargain for her Mom, Lily, and Cal’s rescue. But she’s fighting a losing battle, and the clock is ticking.

Conflicted by evidence of fiancé Cal’s apparent betrayal, she loyally defends him despite her concerns. As she grows closer to ex-boyfriend Zane, her heart is increasingly troubled.

When the stakes are raised, a succession of shocking revelations rocks her world, setting her on a path that will not only change her destiny but the fate of humanity.

Confronted by a memory so abhorrent comes a truth she would do anything to forget. But some things just can’t be undone.

Beyond Reach is the gripping second novel in the True Calling trilogy, continuing the story of Ariana Skyee in the weeks after she arrives back on Earth.

♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

He grips my arm at the elbow and escorts me inside. As we walk up three flights of stairs, his hold never loosens. When we reach the top level, he taps in a code on the wall-mounted keypad, and we step through one set of wide double doors. We walk through two more sets of double doors and come out into a long narrow corridor with windows on one side and a row of separate steel cells on the other.

He unlocks one of the empty cells and guides me inside. I sit down on the end of the cold, hard bench and try to calm the rampant pounding in my chest. I wonder what they have in store for me next. There’s a metallic clunking sound as the door locks, and then I hear the heavy thread of his footsteps as he walks away.

“Hey, doll,” a deep voice says behind me. Every hair on my body rises to attention, and I refuse to turn around. “I don’t bite,” the voice adds, amusement coloring his tone. Running my hands through my hair, I tap my foot nervously on the ground. “That’s a Clementia uniform, right?” That got my attention.

Music Rec's: Currently Listening To...

So, I don't think I've done a music rec. post before, but lately I've been stumbling on some awesome music that I totally need to share with my equally awesome followers. A while back I signed up for this really cool thing called IRL Box. It comes once a month and is filled with all kinds of epic goodies and indie music!

So I've spent the last two months practically attached to iTunes and my Amazon Fire Phone so I'm connected to Sound cloud and my music library wherever I go. Music is love people.

So below I'm totally going to break it down for you in two categories: Artists to check out and songs I play so much on my phone they pop up in the suggestion box before I even open the app.

Artists to Check Out:

OK Go - I've been listening to the  Hungry Ghosts album on repeat since I added it to my library. Looove it. Their music is so upbeat. I mean they've got some slow songs too, but even those just kinda make me happy.

Former Vandal - He isn't new to be honest haha, but I love him to death anyway and since I just bought like seven of his songs the other day, he's another one that's been on repeat on all of my playlists. His music makes me fucking emotional, like I cry to his songs it's ridiculous. Soooo good.

Dutch Party - Give me all the things. I LOVE Paper Moon. I've listened to it seven times this morning and I will most likely listen to it more before the day is over, not gonna lie.