Book Blitz: Burning Bright

Burning Bright by Chanda Stafford
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 25, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon Summary:

Three years ago, Samantha Gray killed her parents.

Haunted by their deaths, she hides her scars behind sarcasm and vintage t-shirts, counting the days until she can escape her foster home in Alegria, Arizona. 

Then she meets Ben, a California boy whose filmmaker parents constructed a big cat sanctuary outside of town. She's hesitant to get close, terrified he'll learn her secret.

When Ben introduces Sam to Solomon, a Bengal tiger on borrowed time whose gruesome history eerily mirrors her own, she must decide whether she’s strong enough to overcome her past and save not only Solomon’s life, but her own. And to do that, she'll need to tell Ben the truth.

♥ ♥ ♥

Except:

“I didn’t think you’d come.” A low voice murmurs over my shoulder, and I spin around. Ben leans against the wall, dressed in all black, from his button up shirt to his dress slacks. He’s slicked his hair back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck and a shiny black Batman mask fails at obscuring his identity. 

He appraises my dress silently, his eyes darkening with some emotion I imagine is reflected in my own. Gently, he reaches out and runs his fingers along the shawl’s feathery edges.

Book Blitz: A Second Chance

A Second Chance by Dana K. Ray
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Release date: June 14, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon ♥ B&N
Summary:

A past she can’t forget… 

Raven will do just about anything to forget a horrific event from the past that still haunts her. 

Forced to attend church because of a promise she made at a party, she is immediately attracted to the young, handsome preacher but is unconvinced of his promises of a better life. 

A future he refuses to accept… 

Matthew has everything planned out until Raven walks into his church and turns his life upside down. 

Repulsed by her lifestyle, yet fascinated by her beauty and charm, he finds himself drawn to her by a force he can’t explain. 

Raven and Mathew’s unlikely friendship leads them through escalating troubled waters that threaten to doom their growing relationship. Will they survive to learn valuable lessons of grace, forgiveness and love?

 ♥ ♥ ♥

Q&A with Dana K. Ray:

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Always. I felt odd because I always had movies playing in my head. I was so concerned with it that in college I wrote a paper on “fantasy thoughts” because I wasn’t sure if it was normal. I was a stay-at-home mom which gave me the chance to write my books down. Now, I am a full-time children’s minister at my church, which I love, and a writer in the evenings and weekends.

What do the “movies in your head” look like?

Very vivid. I see the characters in color but the fun of it, is I can change things. I can watch a scene and if I don’t like it, I mix it up. I do this until I love the scene then I go write it down.

When did you first start putting your stories on paper?

Cover Reveal: Lavender in Bloom

Lavender in Bloom By Lily Velez
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Romance
Release date: July 25th 2016
Summary:

It’s the year 1802 in Avignon, France…
Noah Capet has spent most of his young life living simple and unvaried days in the hushed countryside of southern France. 

Quiet, reserved, and diffident, his preference for existing is to do so in solitude, keeping to himself both in town and on his family’s farm—a predilection that’s altogether disrupted when a newcomer to town by the name of Jeremie Perreault begins an unremitting quest to befriend him. 

Jeremie is everything Noah is not. Charismatic and gregarious, he leaves a trail of charmed admirers in his wake wherever he goes. 

Expressive and idealistic, he talks without end about his deep love for old books and his spirited dream to one day travel the world on a literary pilgrimage. 

Over the course of a single summer, the two form an unlikely friendship, but just as quickly as it develops, it soon entirely dissolves as they’re forced to face the truth of what has unexpectedly emerged between them. 

Lavender in Bloom is a tender and tragic coming-of-age story about first love and self-discovery, and a poignant reminder that time is fleeting and always takes with it the choices we’re too afraid to make.

♥ ♥ ♥

Book Blitz: Love, Alchemy

Love, Alchemy by Eden Ashley
Age Group: New Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Release Date: July 1,2016
Buy Link: Amazon
Summary:

Daveigh Little is preparing for college, planning to leave behind the tiny hick town she’s spent her entire life in once and for all. 

But plagued by a trouble at home and school, Daveigh makes a series of bad choices that land her in hot water with a local kingpin. Suddenly, people around her are dying and Daveigh finds herself on the run. 

And then there’s Ethan. Fresh out of the academy, Ethan Remington represents the authority Daveigh has come to despise, but she is inexplicably drawn to the handsome rookie of few words. 

From the first moment she laid eyes on him, Daveigh knew Ethan was different. She just didn’t realize how different. 

Reasons of his own have led Ethan into the tangle strands of danger with the town of Harpey…but those reasons aren’t nearly as mysterious as Ethan’s origins or the irresistible passion between them.

 ♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt:

Cooper’s fingers dug into her arm with bruising force, leaving Davey no choice but to defend herself. Punching out with the heel of her free hand, she struck him in the nose. Rearing back in pain, he immediately let go and she struggled to keep her footing.

Recovering, Cooper snarled and lunged to retaliate. Davey scrambled but wasn’t fast enough to escape his reach. And then suddenly she didn’t have to. A dark figure stepped into Cooper’s path, and seconds later, Cooper was on the ground bleeding and wearing a dazed look. He wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.

Book Blitz: The Forgotten (Zola Flash #2)

The Forgotten (Zola Flash #2) by T. Marie Alexander
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon ♥  B&N
Summary:

ZOLA HAS LOST SO MUCH.

Her family

Her home.

Her sense of self.

BUT SHE HAS ALSO GAINED.

Friends.

Another home.

And Pin, the Payohlini she loves above all else.

With Renz gone and no one to command the Payohlini army, Zola assumed everything would go back to normal. Well, as normal as life could be for someone like her. The war should be over and her planet and people should be safe. Having accomplished what she set out to do—getting revenge for her family’s murder, she even dares to dream of days spent as a normal girl, of dates with Pin without them looking over their shoulders for flying swords. No more hiding, but living the kind of life she always thought she’d have.

With new responsibilities come new problems, though—as well as a Flash from her past that she didn’t see coming. 

One that threatens to change everything.

Zola thought she had nothing else to lose. Unfortunately, she’s about to get a galactic awakening.

No one ever said being a princess would be easy.

♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt:

Slowly, I open my eyes. A hot, blue light beams down on me. Trying to rise, I realize my hands and feet are bound by strong, metal cuffs to a table I am lying on. My body is covered by a rough cotton sheet. “Somebody!” I call out. “Help!”

People wearing white masks come over to the table. They spread out, surrounding me. One of the masked people pulls out a knife as they remove the rough cotton sheet covering me.