Book Blitz: A Son of Carver

A Son of Carver by Haven Francis
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Release Date: May 17, 2016
Buy Links: Amazon
Summary:

Sometimes the best version of yourself is the one you can only see through someone else’s eyes. But what happens when those eyes belong to the one person you don’t want them to?

Thanks to her father’s affair and her parent’s resulting separation, Presley Knox has been ripped from her life in California and dropped into an abyss in the middle of Georgia. With her alternative looks and creative spirit, trying to find her place in a sea of jocks and cheerleaders is hard, but doing it while living with her cousin who belittles her every chance she gets is almost impossible.

There is one person in Carver who embodies everything Presley hates about her new life and she can’t help but use him as the outlet for all of her frustrations.

Nash Carter’s bad boy image isn’t a façade; he drinks too much, sleeps around, makes his money street racing and has zero plans for his future beyond living a rowdy life with his likeminded dad and older brother. His good looks, cut body and popularity have always gotten him anything and anyone he’s ever wanted. That is until Presley Knox showed up at Carver High.

Nash knows to steer clear of Presley and her sharp tongue that’s always aimed at him. But that becomes impossible when they’re paired together for a semester-long photography assignment that promises to push them into the depths of each other’s personal lives. In order to survive the semester, Nash implements a new strategy: get the one girl who’s immune to his charm to change her mind about him.

With Nash’s unwavering pursuit to know everything about her, and with the nagging voice inside her head that’s insisting there’s more to him than she’s letting herself see, Presley struggles to keep her wall firmly in place. When it slowly begins to crumble, Nash wonders if he should have kept his distance after all because the girl that’s been hiding under Presley’s hard shell is breaking his heart wide open.

Nash has been a lot of things to a lot of girls, but Presley’s the only one he’s ever wanted to shelter and protect. But how is he going to do that when he knows she’s right to keep their friendship a secret in order to protect herself from him?

Excerpt:

“From one to ten, how much do you hate living here?” I ask Presley.

She laughs – a normal cute laugh, not an angry one. “Depends on where I am.”

“You’re here; in your room… with me.”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Ten’s the worst?”

“Yeah.”

“An eleven?” she smirks.

“Is it because the room part or the me part?” I ask, cocking my head at her.

“Both.”

I pout at her.

“Don’t even try that with me,” she says, narrowing her eyes.

“It’s cute,” I tell her.

She shakes her head.

“Come on, I’m cute – you have to admit it.”

“You’re not cute, Nash.”

Book Blitz: Because I Love You

Because I Love You by Tori Rigby
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 17, 2016
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

Eight weeks after sixteen-year-old Andie Hamilton gives her virginity to her best friend, “the stick” says she’s pregnant.

Her friends treat her like she’s carrying the plague, her classmates torture and ridicule her, and the boy she thought loved her doesn’t even care. Afraid to experience the next seven months alone, she turns to her ex-boyfriend, Neil Donaghue, a dark-haired, blue-eyed player. 

With him, she finds comfort and the support she desperately needs to make the hardest decision of her life: whether or not to keep the baby.

Then a tragic accident leads Andie to discover Neil’s keeping a secret that could dramatically alter their lives, and she’s forced to make a choice. But after hearing her son’s heartbeat for the first time, she doesn’t know how she’ll ever be able to let go.


♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

“I’ll ask Jill to come pick me up.”

“No,” he replied, his voice breaking. He cleared his throat. “Don’t put yourself out. I’ll stay with Owen.”

“It’s okay. I like being there.”

Neil nodded then shook his head. “No, this is ridiculous.” He moved so fast, I had no idea what was happening until my face was in his hands, and his lips were on mine.

Review by Melissa: Kaitlin's Tale

Kaitlin's Tale by Christine Amsden
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: May 16th, 2016 (ebook), July 15th, 2016



Book Description:

Kaitlin Mayer is on the run from the father of her baby – a
vampire who wants her to join him in deadly eternity. Terrified for her young son, she seeks sanctuary with the Hunters Guild.

Yet they have their own plans for her son, and her hopes of
safety are soon shattered.

When she runs into Matthew Blair, an old nemesis with an
agenda of his own, she dares to hope for a new escape. But
Matthew is a telepath, and Kaitlin's past is full of dark secrets

she never intended to reveal.

*Companion to the Cassie Scot Series

♥ ♥ ♥

I'm really excited that Christine Amsden is traveling outside of her original Cassie Scot stories in favor of shedding some more light on characters who were previously only in the background. It's interesting to see the same conflicts and events going on through different perspectives, and Amsden is great at making sure everything weaves together nicely.

"Kaitlin's Tale" is actually Amsden's second time branching off from her original series. I had read the previous book, "Madison's Song", and enjoyed it, so i knew that "Kaitlin's Tale" was also going to be enjoyable for me. And thankfully I was correct. Like Amsden's other books, I found this one hard to put down and read the whole thing in one weekend.

Book Blitz: Rose Petal Graves (The Lost Clan #1)

Rose Petal Graves (The Lost Clan #1) by Olivia Wildenstein
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Faeries
Release Date: May 15, 2016
Buy Links: Amazon
Summary:

I thought losing my mother would be the greatest shock of my life, but the greatest shock came after her death.


Founded two centuries ago by an aloof and powerful tribe of Gottwa Indians, Rowan was a quiet town, so quiet that I fled after graduation. Staying away was the plan, but Mom died suddenly, so I rushed home. 

Dad said she suffered a stroke after she dug up one of the ancient graves in our backyard, which happens to be the town cemetery. Creepy, I know. Creepier still, there was no corpse inside the old coffin, only fresh rose petals. 

As we made preparations for Mom’s burial, Cruz, the new medical examiner, arrived. I should have felt relieved, but how could I? He was unnervingly handsome, glowed like a human firefly, and knew absolutely nothing about examining dead bodies. 

But, he did know what killed my mother…or rather who.

  

Book Blitz: The Neverland Wars

The Neverland Wars by Audrey Greathouse
Genre: YA Fantasy/ Fairytale Retelling
Release Date: May 9, 2016
Buy Links: Amazon│Barnes & Noble
Summary:

Magic can do a lot—give you flight, show you mermaids, help you taste the stars, and… solve the budget crisis? That's what the grown-ups will do with it if they ever make it to Neverland to steal its magic and bring their children home.

However, Gwen doesn't know this. She's just a sixteen-year-old girl with a place on the debate team and a powerful crush on Jay, the soon-to-be homecoming king. She doesn't know her little sister could actually run away with Peter Pan, or that she might have to chase after her to bring her home safe. Gwen will find out though—and when she does, she'll discover she's in the middle of a looming war between Neverland and reality.

She'll be out of place as a teenager in Neverland, but she won't be the only one. Peter Pan's constant treks back to the mainland have slowly aged him into adolescence as well. Soon, Gwen will have to decide whether she's going to join impish, playful Peter in his fight for eternal youth… or if she's going to scramble back to reality in time for the homecoming dance. 

Excerpt:

Hey landed and moved slowly through the jungle for the last few hundred feet, giving Peter time to explain to Gwen as she walked at his side.

If you’ve never met a mermaid before, there are a few things you should know about them.ȑȐLike what?ȑȐLike they are the most cunning and conniving creatures you will ever cross paths with.ȑȐReally?ȑ Gwen asked, astounded.

I would have thought mermaids would be... I don’t know, beautiful and sweet.ȑȐSirens, all of them. They’ll do anything to get what they want. Mermaids have no qualms about the means to the end, so long as it’s their end they get to. Well, what do they want?"

It’s always some kind of trouble... not that they’ll ever tell you what they want.ȑPeter barreled through a clump of vines, hanging low in his way. Gwen followed after him, her curiosity compounding with every moment. ȐAre they dangerous then?ȑȐTerribly,ȑ Peter responded. ȐSo there are three rules for whenever you confront mermaids. 

Book blitz: Everafter (The Immortals of Westchester Prep, #1)

Everafter (The Immortals of Westchester Prep, #1) by M. Lathan
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Release Date: May 15, 2016
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

After years of battling leukemia, seventeen-year-old Sydney Long has made peace with her impending death. She expected pain, she expected tearful goodbyes, but she never expected to be turned into an immortal monster who can, with the slightest touch, control life and death.

Now, flowers are stirring when she walks by, she’s oddly drawn to death and the dying, and she must wear gloves to keep her living parents safe.

While her family toils with this supernatural nightmare and finding a way out of it, Sydney falls for magic and an equally as enticing boy who she can’t seem to stay away from.

But nothing comes without a price. When Sydney is targeted for her illegal magic, she’ll learn a whole new meaning of fighting for her life.

♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

I’d always wondered if Heaven looked the same to everyone or if it changed to fit our versions of paradise.

My version would be a recreation of my grandparents’ garden in Trinidad, and I would sit there and read poetry forever. But instead of a garden, I opened my eyes in my bed at the resort, still wearing the gloves Sarah had placed on my hands.

Someone had removed my oxygen tube, and they’d taken the IV out of my arm without leaving any puncture wounds. My usual marks from blown veins and years of being a pincushion had also disappeared.

So had the heart monitor and every other sign that a sick person had lived in this room. Pale gray light floated in through the curtains and illuminated the dust particles in the air. As I watched them, I lay perfectly still on the bed, waiting for something cosmic to happen.

Book Blitz: A Criminal Magic

A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

THE NIGHT CIRCUS meets THE PEAKY BLINDERS in Lee Kelly’s new crossover fantasy novel.

Magic is powerful, dangerous and addictive – and after passage of the 18th Amendment, it is finally illegal.

It’s 1926 in Washington, DC, and while Anti-Sorcery activists have achieved the Prohibition of sorcery, the city’s magic underworld is booming. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters’ crime sprees. Smugglers funnel magic contraband in from overseas. Gangs have established secret performance venues where patrons can lose themselves in magic, and take a mind-bending, intoxicating elixir known as the sorcerer’s shine.

Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from Norfolk County, Virginia accepts an offer to work for DC’s most notorious crime syndicate, the Shaw Gang, when her family’s home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, a first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws.

Through different paths, Joan and Alex tread deep into the violent, dangerous world of criminal magic – and when their paths cross at the Shaws’ performance venue, despite their orders, and despite themselves, Joan and Alex become enchanted with one another. But when gang alliances begin to shift, the two sorcerers are forced to question their ultimate allegiances and motivations. And soon, Joan and Alex find themselves pitted against each other in a treacherous, heady game of cat-and-mouse.

A CRIMINAL MAGIC casts a spell of magic, high stakes and intrigue against the backdrop of a very different Roaring Twenties.

♥ ♥ ♥
QUIZ:

What Role Would You Play in A CRIMINAL MAGIC?

Lee Kelly’s A CRIMINAL MAGIC takes place during the Roaring Twenties, the age of guys, dolls, molls and crime bosses. But in this story’s Jazz Age, magic instead of alcohol is prohibited. Sorcerers work hand in hand with gangsters in every aspect of their illegal dealings – from hiding robberies and murders to underground performance magic shows – as Prohibition Unit agents struggle to uphold the letter of the law.

If you were around during the Prohibition of magic, which type of player would you be? Take our quiz and find out!

QUIZ

1. Which one of these vacations most appeals to you? 

a. A week at an all-inclusive resort in Hawaii with my family, with beautiful beaches, golf courses and lots of down time.
b. A long weekend in Las Vegas with a handful of my closest friends.
c. A ten-day backpacking trip by myself through New Zealand.

2. Most Friday nights I can be found: