YA Adventure

BEFORE THEY FIND US–Cover Reveal

Before They Find Us
Cover Designed by: Cathi Stevenson of Book Cover Express
Book Summary:

I’m going to make you wish you were dead.
Just a text. Seventeen-year-old Rebecca Hales tries not to worry. Probably a wrong number. Not really meant for her, and definitely not related to the crime she witnessed six years ago. Right?

Then two states away, a bomb goes off in her best friend’s locker. Soon Ryan is labeled a terrorist and runs to the safest place he knows—Rebecca’s house in small-town Wyoming. It doesn’t take long for the FBI to show up asking questions. Rebecca lies, of course, and says she hasn’t seen him.

Now she’s neck-deep in it with him, whatever “it” is. The only way out is to return to Vegas, where Ryan is a wanted man. The city of lies and illusion puts Rebecca’s small-town wits to the test as she struggles to find the person who framed Ryan and why.

Is Rebecca’s text linked to the bombing? And what does it have to do with a six year old murder? Rebecca needs to find out before she loses Ryan—and her own life.

About the Author
Michelle A. Hansen was raised in southeastern Washington. She earned her bachelor of arts degree in English teaching from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and taught high school English for six years.

Michelle loves Pepsi and Doritos more than chocolate. She loves summertime and hates to be cold. She has had three near-death experiences. She’s addicted to office supplies and has an irrationally large stash of pens and notebooks


Author Links:
photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png    photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png  photo iconpinterest_zps6fcf02a7.png

Flooded with emotion FORTY DAYS/FORTY NIGHTS–Reviews and Giveaway!

Hi there! Today I’m blitzing Stephanie Parent’s two-part YA epic historical romance. Why? Because they rock…As you will see below.
Forty Days (Neima’s Ark #1)
Summary from Goodreads:
The entire village knows Neima’s grandfather is a madman. For years the old man has prophesied that a great flood is coming, a flood disastrous enough to blot out the entire earth. He’s even built an enormous ark that he claims will allow his family to survive the deluge. But no one believes the ravings of a lunatic…
…until the rain starts. And doesn’t stop. Soon sixteen-year-old Neima finds her
entire world transformed, her life and those of the people she loves in peril. Trapped on the ark with her grandfather Noah, the rest of her family, and a noisy, filthy, and hungry assortment of wild animals, will Neima find a way to survive?
With lions, tigers, and bears oh my, elephants and flamingos too, along with rivalries and betrayals, a mysterious stowaway, and perhaps even an unexpected romance, FORTY DAYS is not your grandfather’s Noah’s Ark story.
My Review:
Holy Moly! So to be clear, while the center of this story is Noah and the flood, the heart of the story is Neima–the awkward, ungainly grand-daughter of Noah. She’s sixteen and an independent thinker, even if she doesn’t say what she thinks often.

Still, she’s dutiful, and follows orders even when it means loading the Ark. The Ark that she’s hated her entire life. Because that Ark has poisoned her entire village. It looms over everyone, and the villagers find her whole family tainted by Noah’s perceived madness.

Her two best friends, Debya and Jorin, stand by her side until the unthinkable happens.
Neima’s cousin Kenaan–a highly attractive young man–sure that they will be betrothed actually takes the matter into his own hands. He attempts to coerce Neima into relations, which breaks Debya’s heart and sets Jorin back. See, Jorin’s always loved Neima. And Debya wanted Kenaan for herself.

And then the flood happens. And Neima’s trapped on the Ark with Kenaan, his parents and sister, her parents, grandparents, and another uncle and aunt–and about a million stinking animals. All her friends are washed away. Gone. Destroyed in this One God’s watery wrath.
Neima can’t make sense of this new world. This world where Noah isn’t crazy and Kenaan stalks her in the shadows.

Until she finds the stowaway. One she’s willing to cast her life overboard to save.

FORTY DAYS is heady and amazing and nothing I imagined it would be. It does contain a cliffhanger ending.

Readers looking for a traditional, religiously oriented version of the Noah’s Ark story should be warned that FORTY DAYS may not appeal to them. The novel will, however, appeal to lovers of apocalyptic fiction, historical fiction, and romance, as well as anyone who’s ever dreamed of having a baby elephant as a pet.
Get your FREE copy:
photo B6096376-6C81-4465-8935-CE890C777EB9-1855-000001A1E900B890_zps5affbed6.jpg  photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg
 
Forty Nights (Neima’s Ark #2)
Release Date: September 2013
Summary from Goodreads:
Neima, her family, and her grandfather Noah have found themselves trapped aboard an ark as a great flood destroys all life in the world. As their time aboard the ark lengthens, food begins to run out, wild animals grow restless, and family tensions become as much of a threat as the flood outside. In the second and final installment of Neima’s Ark, the stakes are higher, the conflicts are greater, and Neima finds herself facing a choice as impossible as the destruction all around her.

Forty Nights is a continuation of the story begun in Forty Days, and it’s recommended that you read Forty Days first for the best experience. Forty Nights does, however, contain a character guide to refresh readers’ memories. The Neima’s Ark series is a historical, feminist reimagining of the story of Noah’s Ark rather than a religiously oriented one, and the novels are best suited for readers who are comfortable with new interpretations of biblical stories.

My Review:
When I survived my mini-heart attack from the ending of FORTY DAYS I popped open FORTY NIGHTS.

The story picks up at the exact right moment, a moment where Neima raises her voice to be heard. When the horrors of the past are opened to the light of day. The stowaway has been found and his life is forfeit. Noah is certain only family is to survive–and Neima’s uncle vows to toss himself over, too–sure that his lineage is tainted.

It is Nezmar, Noah’s wife, who acts as the voice of reason. And still, the danger isn’t over. A freak fire and an unnecessary slaughter are blamed upon the stowaway…meanwhile the rain pounds down.

For Neima, it is a time of strife and constant vigilance to keep herself safe from Kenaan and the other predators lurking in the Ark’s holds. But time and again Neima demonstrates that strength is not always physical. Her burgeoning love for the young man whose life she had spared reminds her there are bigger things to hope for, a future to look forward to, perhaps. And love is a force in it’s own right.

With an unlikely ally and her mother’s blessing, Neima finds the strength to overcome her past, and build the future she couldn’t have dreamed.

So powerful. I just really loved this ending. But, then again I loved the beginning and the middle, too. It is a fully realized story of hope and faith and love, that while not religious, calls us to find that inner peace and resilience that most people have cast aside. I picked up on Stephanie Parent back in the summer when I downloaded PRECIOUS THINGS and, after FORTY DAYS and FORTY NIGHTS, I know I’ll be looking for more of her work soon.

Available from:
photo B6096376-6C81-4465-8935-CE890C777EB9-1855-000001A1E900B890_zps5affbed6.jpg  photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg
PRAISE FOR THE NEIMA’S ARK SERIES: 
“Stephanie Parent takes a story I would have immediately shrugged off and turned it into a story with a surprising amount of reality and despite being religious based is not at all religious. Stephanie somehow created a paradox… When I think of a word to describe this story I think, layers.
The tension is extremely layered. We get internal tension among the characters, tension relating to the animals, and tension from the storming raging outside. It’s not even supernatural elements, it’s all practical points like food and animal needs. The characters are also well defined and fleshed out.”
–Michelle, In Libris Veritas
The romance is slow and imperfect, but it’s realistic and believable. I can honestly say that this love story is one of if not the best one I’ve read so far…a very thrilling read full of some great twists…[the ending] was everything I could have asked for and more, it was a perfect ending to an imperfectly perfect story.
–Zachary Flye, Zach’s YA Reviews
About the Author
Stephanie Parent is a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts as a piano major. She moved to Los Angeles because of Francesca Lia Block’s WEETZIE BAT books, which might give you some idea of how much books mean to her. She also loves dogs, books about dogs, and sugary coffee drinks both hot and cold.

***Author Links***
photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png  photo icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png  photo icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png  photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png



*GIVEAWAY*
1- ebook of Forty Nights & $10 Amazon Gift Card
(INT)
2- ebook copies of Forty Nights (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz
hosted by:

THE STAR CATCHER Shines–Review and Giveaway!

the star catcher banner copy Hi there, and welcome to my stop on The Star Catcher blog tour organized by  YA Bound Book Tours. This YA Paranormal Romance is the finale of The Star Child trilogy by Stephanie Keyes.

TheStarCatcher.v4-FinalMagick and destiny intertwine as Kellen St. James fights to save his kingdom and the goddess he loves.   Her kiss…the feel of her skin…the beat of her heart…For seventeen-year-old Kellen St. James, each memory is marred by a single sentence on a lone strip of paper.

Cali has been taken…

Armed with an amulet that channels the ultimate power of Faerie, Kellen searches for his love. However, control of the amulet’s energy comes with a price, and Kellen soon learns that Cali’s captor has plans for the stone. With the threat of the Star Catcher’s evil looming above Kellen and his kingdom, he’ll have to free the Heart of Faerie and break the curse the binds the Children of Danu to the darkness. But before that, he has to find his real father, the king. No pressure, right?

Kellen and Cali will battle bewitched armies and unknown foes as they fight to stay together. Will Kellen embrace his immortal destiny? Or will his world, and the man he is fated to become, be destroyed by The Star Catcher?

“One of the best endings in a trilogy I have seen in a while. Fans will not be disappointed!”-Jackie Jackson, The Book Maven

My Review:
Allow me to sum up…
Kellen is a half-Fae prince. An ancient prophesy has foretold that Kellen will:
1. Save Faerie from a power-hungry being
2. Marry Calienta, an immortal female who lights the stars–literally.
3. Rescue his father, the King of Faerie, and unite Faerie’s fractured realms.
And, the ride is spectacular.
This multi-viewpoint adventure tracks Calienta as she endeavors to escape the Big Bad–Ainmore–a Star Catcher, or usurper of fae magic. He’s also the unwitting father of Cali’s niece.
Kellen can’t believe Cali has been kidnapped on the eve of their wedding–but he won’t rest until he has her safe and by his side. He strikes out to find the keeper of all Fae magic-Sid-and gives up his mortality so that he can safely wield Danu’s amulet.
Now immortal, Kellen can fight the castaway demons of humanity’s fears to rescue his father and fulfill the prophesy. Oh, and get married. Because there is a wedding.

We have the good luck to tag along with Gabe–Kellen’s best friend and a Protector or shapeshifter. He’s bound by honor to protect Kellen at all cost–and he risks much, his life and his love.

Ainmore is willing to destroy all of humanity in his quest for Danu’s amulet and the ultimate universal power. So, he’s a serious adversary. Kellen struggles to undo the dark magic that has bound his father and their subjects in misery.
I loved the many viewpoints–each had its own voice so it didn’t overwhelm. And it was fun to track different sides of a scene through different eyes. This trilogy has a solid footing fantasy. The worlds are well-realized and this book drops you into the action and it doesn’t stop until you turn the final pages. Despite the solid romance the work is innocent. I’d recommend it to my 11 y/o son…so, ya know, it’s middle-grade safe.

The Trailer

Interested to learn more about The Star Catcher? Check out the cool trailer from the award-winning, Kristen Kress of BrainFry Productions!

Read the books that started it all… Click on each of the covers below to learn more…

The Star Child CoverAfter Faerie

The Giveaway

So for this giveaway, we’re releasing several cool items. Let me tell you about them!

  • 1 The Star Child series E-book Pack (includes all three novels, plus the novelette, After Faerie)
  • 2 The Star Catcher e-book
  • 1 The Fallen Stars custom faerie bookmark
  • 1 The Star Child series swag pack (contains bookmarks, and more!)
Part of The Star Child series swag pack...

Part of The Star Child series swag pack…

The Fallen Stars custom bookmark -The Book Swag Shop

The Fallen Stars custom bookmark -The Book Swag Shop

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Book Tour

The Star Catcher tour is running through November 29th, so check out some of the great sites that’ll be participating!

About the Author

I think my face is frozen. Yup, definitely frozen.

Stephanie Keyes, author of The Star Child series

Stephanie Keyes has been addicted to Fantasy since she discovered T.H. White as a child and started drumming up incredible journeys in her head. Today, she’s still doing the same thing, except now she gets to share those ideas with readers!

When she’s not writing, Stephanie is also a graphic designer, international speaker, teacher, musician, avid reader, and Mom to two little boys who constantly keep her on her toes. In addition, she’s best friend to her incredible husband of eleven years.

Mrs. Keyes holds an undergraduate degree in Business and Management Information Systems from Robert Morris University and a M.Ed. from Duquesne University. She is a member of the Society For Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), as well as a featured author in the global group of writers, Love a Happy Ending.com.

Keyes is the author of the YA Fantasy series, The Star Child, which currently includes The Star Child, After Faerie, The Fallen Stars, and the soon to-be-released finale, The Star Catcher (November 2013), all from by Inkspell Publishing. Mrs. Keyes is hard at work on a new YA Paranormal Romance.

twitter_48facebook_48google-plus-dark_48goodreads_48pinterest-dark_48

Good luck and, as always, keep reading my friends!

To be FOREVER YOUNG–Review and Giveaway

Forever-Young-Banner

Hi there and welcome to my stop on the FOREVER YOUNG blog tour sponsored by AToMR Book Tours. Check out other stops on the tour by clicking here. FOREVER YOUNG is a the first in a YA series from bestselling author Sawyer Bennett.

Forever YoungBook Description:
She’s a loner, she likes to fight and, oh yeah…she has the ability to see the demons that lay beneath the faces of ordinary humans. It’s a gift Charlie Wright inherited the night her parents were brutally murdered when she was fourteen years old.

Now in her last year of high school, Charlie just can’t seem to keep herself out of trouble. Rather than taking a one-way trip to juvenile detention, Charlie chooses to join a mysterious group called The ForeverLand Alliance.

And then her life really gets weird.

Charlie finds herself magically transported to an alternate universe. In Semper Terra, no one ages, people fly, and one stunningly gorgeous, immortal man manages to capture Charlie’s heart and awaken the adult woman she is becoming.

But it’s not all fun and games. For Charlie is training to become an Annihilator, a select group of Semper Terrans who protect mankind from all of those things that go “bump in the night”.

It’s only when Charlie finds herself stuck in the middle of a prophecy that could bring about the end of the world that she truly begins to understand the deep sacrifices she will have to make.

My review:
I liked it. Charlie is a little sensitive, a little snarky, and a lot heroic. She’ll brawl to help anyone weak defeat their attackers. She doesn’t tolerate mean girls and can’t understand why the new males in her life find her attractive…particularly Caiden Gallagher, the perpetually youthful 400+ year old Annihilator serving as Charlie’s mentor.

Of course, Charlie’s mean girls aren’t only students–her headmistress Sarah is part of the I-Hate-Charlie club also, mainly because Sarah has a history with Caiden, one she’d like to repeat. The story reminds me a bit of Veronica Roth’s DIVERGENT without the dystopia and recruit maiming. Charlie must master hand-to-hand combat so she can survive battle. With demons. But only the bad demons, because, for an interesting twist, not all demons are bad. Who knew?

I love Charlie’s gay BFF Justas. He’s a beefy character, not stereotypically done–think Tiny Cooper–and he’s a nice foil to Charlie’s occasional pessimism. Plucky Emerson Potts, the tiny black waif recruit, will remind you of Rue (Hunger Games) but we get to know her quite a lot better.

Charlie’s doing well in her training, and Caiden is keeping her fantasies filled, but it’s Charlie’s heart that takes over the story. It’s easy to root for a hero, and Charlie defines the archetype. I wasn’t surprised by the ambush ending, but I was unsettled by the sudden appearance of Charlie’s real father.  In all it feels like a good start to a quality series.

Interested? You can find FOREVER YOUNG at Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

4bebe-sawyerbennettAbout Sawyer Bennett:
USA Today Best-Selling author, Sawyer Bennett, is a snarky southern woman and reformed trial lawyer who decided to finally start putting on paper all of the stories that were floating in her head. She is married to a mobster (well, a market researcher) and they have two big, furry dogs who hog the bed. Sawyer would like to report she doesn’t have many weaknesses but can be bribed with a nominal amount of milk chocolate.

Catch up with her at Facebook or on Twitter.

***GIVEAWAY***
Click the link below for your chance at winning a $50 Amazon gift card!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

And, as always: keep reading my friends!

AToMRTours_mdm

Cephalopod Coffeehouse October 2013–UNBREAKABLE by Kami Garcia

Hi there!  I’m back with another pre-Halloween SPOOKTACULAR read–this time, sharing a fave from the month with the Armchair Squid and a gang of book bloggers. This month I’ve read probably twenty-five books…some I liked, others, meh…

This month’s feature is a new release. I got the ARC at the ALA 2013 annual meeting, and it’s been on the store shelves for a few weeks. It’s a perfect October read. Why?

GHOSTS. Oh, and demons.

Oh! And murder most fowl! Er, I meant murder most foul. Ahem. Blasted homophones.

Unbreakable (The Legion, #1)UNBREAKABLE is the first book in The Legion series by Kami Garcia–best-selling co-author of Beautiful Creatures.

Here’s what happens:

Kennedy Waters is 16, an artist with eidetic memory and a perfect GPA, and destined for fabulous things. She and her mom share a lovely home in the Georgetown area of DC. Her dad left years ago, but Kennedy’s survived that sorrow. Until her mom ends up dead.

Heart failure? In a healthy 30-something, non-smoking woman?

Hey, doc. Cracker Jack called. They want your diploma back. *V throws hands in the air and walks off*

Well, as you may imagine, I didn’t buy the whole ‘heart failure’ diagnosis. And neither did Lukas and Jared Lockhart. Good thing, because that life-sucking ghost that did Mrs. Waters what for? It came back to finish the job on Kennedy.  This time they were there to save her.

See, the Lockhart twins are part of a secret society, The Legion, who are heaven-bent to rid the world of Andras, a demon unleashed by their ancestors right about the time the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence. Along with Priest–a 15 y/o weapons whiz and Alara a 17 y/o voodoo priestess, these teens make up a modern-day Ghostbusters-cum-Exorcist crew. And Kennedy is their missing piece.

Except, she has no idea what she’s doing. The others had been trained for Andras-hunting since before they could ride bikes, but Kennedy’s mom didn’t want her mixed up in this supernatural quest. Before she knows it, Kennedy’s bungling calls Andras to their Batcave and they have to flee the weapons and medicinals in a tire-burning escape. And don’t even get me started on her mishap at the mansion!

See, Andras controls ghosts. He can’t take his own form until he’s regained enough power–and he gets that power from evil deeds done on his behalf. So he’s got ghosts practically killing Kennedy and the Legion–all to protect the one weapon that might destroy him–the Opthalmic Shift.

In the meantime of hunting all the pieces to this ocular deathpiece, Kennedy wants desperately to belong to something–anything–as rootless as she is in the world. It doesn’t hurt that broody Jared Lockhart is delicious and unattainable. Well, sort of unattainable. He’s in deep like for Kennedy, but he’s got a Big Secret that only Kennedy doesn’t know…and it’s a doozy.

Still, the Legion toils onward, putting bad ghosts down and releasing beneficent spirits to their eternal peace. It’s a thrill ride that ends in a prison with a posse of murderous ghosts on their tail. At the last Kennedy is FINALLY a heroine–assembling the Shift just in time for the cliffhanger ending and a catastrophic miscalculation on the Legion’s part. Because the Shift isn’t a weapon after all.

And the whole goddamned world is screwed.

Bring on Book 2!

Hope you enjoyed this look at a great new paranormal YA adventure, quasi-romance. It was a fun read and is cool for upper-middle grade readers and onward.

Feel free to check out the rest of the Coffeehouse readers on their literary journeys by clicking the linky-links below: (fingers crossed that this works…)

Let me know if you check out UNBREAKABLE and what you think of it.

And, as always:  keep reading, my friends.

ESCAPE FROM EDEN–Review and Giveaway!

escape from eden banner copy

Welcome to my stop on the ESCAPE FROM EDEN blog tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours. Click HERE to see the full blog tour schedule!

escape from edenEscape from Eden
by Elisa Nader
YA Contemporary romance/adventure

Available NOW!

Summary from Goodreads:

Since the age of ten, Mia has lived under the iron fist of the fundamentalist preacher who lured her mother away to join his fanatical family of followers. In Edenton, a supposed “Garden of Eden” deep in the South American jungle, everyone follows the Reverend’s strict but arbitrary rules—even the mandate of whom they can marry. Now sixteen, Mia dreams of slipping away from the armed guards who keep the faithful in, and the curious out. When the rebellious and sexy Gabriel, a new boy, arrives with his family, Mia sees a chance to escape.

But the scandalous secrets the two discover beyond the compound’s façade are more shocking than anything they ever imagined. While Gabriel has his own terrible secrets, he and Mia bond together, more than friends and freedom fighters. But is there time to think of each other as they race to stop the Reverend’s paranoid plan to free his flock from the corrupt world? Can two teenagers crush a criminal mastermind? And who will die in the fight to save the ones they love from a madman who’s only concerned about his own secrets?

My review:

Wow. Just, wow.

This YA romance/Adventure kicked me in the gut.

Sixteen y/o Mia hates the religious compound where her mother brought her six years ago. She wants to leave desperately and clings to her one hope–that she can somehow escape. Seventeen y/o Gabriel arrives with his parents–bearing the emotional scars of a chilling childhood incident. He’s angry and resourceful, and just as desperate as Mia to escape.

After becoming an unwitting accomplice in the deaths of 11 commune members, Mia is shaken. But she soon has a new drama: attending her first prayer circle. These mysterious experiences leave many members changed, and not for the better. When Gabe is brought along, Mia is sure something strange is happening behind the scenes, but she could never imagine the hellscape she’s a part of.

A fire. A jungle escape and an impossible choice keep this story hopping. Will Mia return to Edenton to save her friends and family from Reverend Eden’s torture?

[Spoiler: hey, she’s a heroine, right?]

The climax is brutal, and makes the reader sit up and wonder about the power of religion in human experience. For some of you the word ‘Jonestown’ may conjure the mass killing of a religious cult.

In ESCAPE FROM EDEN, we learn that the Jonestown True Believers really had it easy.

Goodness!

You want ESCAPE FROM EDEN? Get it here….or there…

Goodreads│ Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Powell’s | IndieBound

ADVANCED PRAISE

“The chemistry between Mia and Gabriel is palpable in their teasing dialogue and sizzling moments of physical connection. Its rewards … are many: fast-moving action, a capable heroine and a resolution that leaves plenty of room for a sequel.” – Kirkus Reviews [STARRED REVIEW]

“Debut author Elisa Nader hits a strong note with her ESCAPE FROM EDEN… At-times swoony, at-times extremely dangerous, and at-other times completely shocking.” – Examiner.com

“Nader has done something amazing: written a really original novel, one full of characters you’ll care about; smart, witty dialog; and plenty of shocks and thrills. A wonderful balance of light and dark.” —Michael Grant, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Gone Series

“An exciting, terrifying, page-turning thrill ride you will not be able to put down.” – Gretchen McNeil, Author of POSSESS, TEN and 3:59

About the Author

elisa naderHi. I’m Elisa. I like cheese and reading and TV show marathons. Writing is scary, but not as scary as, say, Civil War amputations. I’m an Aquarius. Uh… let’s see… I’m not very good at writing my own biography. Or autobiography. I guess this is reading more like a slightly incoherent personal ad.

 

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook │Pinterest

 

GIVEAWAY:

(2) Sets of Moleskine Sketchbook, set of Le Pen colored fine tip pens, a copy of Otherkin and Othermoon by Elisa’s crit partner Nina Berry, and a personalized copy of Escape from Eden

eden giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

8ca30-yaboundtoursbutton

Cover Reveal–40 NIGHTS by Stephanie Parent

Forty Nights (Neima’s Ark #2)
Release Date: September 2013
Cover Designed by: Najla Qamber Designs
Summary from Goodreads:
Neima, her family, and her grandfather Noah have found themselves trapped aboard an ark as a great flood destroys all life in the world. As their time aboard the ark lengthens, food begins to run out, wild animals grow restless, and family tensions become as much of a threat as the flood outside. In the second and final installment of Neima’s Ark, the stakes are higher, the conflicts are greater, and Neima finds herself facing a choice as impossible as the destruction all around her.


Forty Nights is a continuation of the story begun in Forty Days, and it’s recommended that you read Forty Days first for the best experience. Forty Nights does, however, contain a character guide to refresh readers’ memories. The Neima’s Ark series is a historical, feminist reimagining of the story of Noah’s Ark rather than a religiously oriented one, and the novels are best suited for readers who are comfortable with new interpretations of biblical stories.
Book One:
(Linked to Goodreads)
Forty Days is currently FREE!  Get your copy!
photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg  photo KoboIcon_zps515cdc1a.jpg  photo smashwordsicon_zps931b0409.jpg

About the Author
Stephanie Parent is a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts as a piano major. She moved to Los Angeles because of Francesca Lia Block’s WEETZIE BAT books, which might give you some idea of how much books mean to her. She also loves dogs, books about dogs, and sugary coffee drinks both hot and cold.

***Author Links***
photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png  photo icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png  photo icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png

ABERRANT Book Blitz and GIVEAWAY!!

Aberrant (Aberrant )
by Ruth Silver
Release Date: 04/17/13
Summary from Goodreads:
In the future Dystopian society of Cabal, the government instills equality for all and offers its citizens the perfect system. There is food, shelter and jobs for everyone. The one requirement is to follow the rules without question, including the government’s match in marriage and “The Day of the Chosen”, a lottery that randomly selects families to conceive children as natural means hasn’t existed in generations. Following her eighteenth birthday, Olivia Parker accepts her requirement to marry her childhood best friend, Joshua Warren, and is eager to start her work assignment and new life when it all comes abruptly to an end as she’s arrested and thrown in prison. The only crime committed, her existence. Olivia is unlike the rest of the world born not from “The Day of the Chosen.” The truth haunts the government and puts her life in grave danger as one simple fact would destroy the perfect system.

With Joshua’s help, Olivia breaks free of prison and is forced on the run. Together they set out to find the promised rebel town in search of a new home and new life together. Their situation seems less than promising as they reach the town of Haven. New rules and customs must be adhered to in order to stay. Leaving would mean most certain death in the large expanse of the Gravelands. Time is running out as the government mounts an attack to destroy Olivia and bury her secret with her. Thrown into a world unlike their own, they must quickly adapt to survive.

Available from:
photo B6096376-6C81-4465-8935-CE890C777EB9-1855-000001A1E900B890_zps5affbed6.jpg  photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg

About the Author
Ruth Silver first began writing poetry as a teenager and reading heaps of fan fiction in her free time. She has written under three unique pseudo names and penned well over a hundred stories.


She attended Northern Illinois University in 2001 and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Communication. While in college she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, “Deuces are Wild”, which she self-published in 2004. Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories.

Her love of writing, led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia. Silver enjoys reading YA novels and sharing her favorite books with other readers. She runs her own book blog and also enjoys photography and traveling.
Her favorite YA genre is a mix of Dystopian & Fantasy which is evident in the upcoming release of her latest book, Aberrant. Slated for release April 2013 by Lazy Day Publishing, it is the first in a trilogy.

***Author Links***
photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png  photo icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png  photo icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png  photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png

***GIVEAWAY***

1 signed paperback of Aberrant (US only)
3 scrabble tile necklace charms & signed
bookmark (INT)
3 bottlecap keychains & signed bookmark (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz
Organized by:

Cover Reveal! The Portrait of Dulce Garcia

The Picture of Dulce Garcia (The Coven #1)

Release Date: Fall 2013
Summary from Goodreads:
Dulce Garcia, star of The Coven, would rather spend her days sketching dresses. Instead, she works to support her family and dreams of one day becoming a fashion designer. After Teen Vogue declares Dulce, “The Hottest Teen in America,” she is stunned by how amazing she looks in their photo.

At sixteen, Dulce feels the pressure to stay youthful in Hollywood. When Dulce’s prop Book of Shadows gets destroyed, she substitutes her favorite Victorian Anthology, opened to Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and says her spell during the shoot over the anthology. Afterwards, in her trailer, she discovers that she has transformed into her Teen Vogue picture, and her real body is
completely airbrushed. Can she break the curse or will she remain locked forever in a picture?


Finalist—Young Adult Category of the 2011 RWA Stiletto Contest!
Finalist—Young Adult Category of the 2011 RWA Launching A Star Contest!
Finalist—Young Adult Category of the 2011 RWA Heart of the Rockies Contest!

About the Author

Alana Albertson is the former President of both Romance Writers of Americas’s Young Adult and Chick Lit chapters and the founder of Academe Advantage, a college admissions & test preparation company. Alana Albertson holds a Masters of Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University. A recovering professional ballroom dancer, Alana currently writes contemporary romance and young adult fiction.
She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, two young sons, and four dogs. When she’s not spending her time needlepointing, dancing, or saving dogs from high kill shelters through Pugs N Roses, the rescue she founded, she can be found watching episodes of House Hunters, Homeland, or Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.


***Author Links***
photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png  photo icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png  photo icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png  photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png  photo iconpinterest_zps6fcf02a7.png

RUSH (The Game Series #1) Book Blitz and Giveaway!

Rush (The Game #1)
by Eve Silver
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Summary
from Goodreads:
So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know?

When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t.
And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.
Available from:
photo addtogoodreadssmall_zpsa2a6cf28.png  photo B6096376-6C81-4465-8935-CE890C777EB9-1855-000001A1E900B890_zps5affbed6.jpg  photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg   photo KoboIcon_zps515cdc1a.jpg

***Excerpt***
There’s a flash of light, blindingly bright. Colored haloes obscure my vision. They dance and flicker and then disappear, leaving only a rectangle of light boxed in by the dark doorframe.
I see then that the door’s gone and in front of me are people. No…they aren’t people. They have limbs, hair, faces, but they aren’t human. After the first glance, they don’t look even remotely human. They’re pure, painful white, so bright they throw off a glare. They look like they’ve been dipped in glass, smooth and polished, but fluid. And their eyes…they’re a silvery color, like the mercury in the antique thermometer that my mom used to have at the side of the front porch.
When I was ten, I knocked that thermometer off with my wooden kendo sword, shattering the glass. The little blobs of mercury went all over the porch. I was a kid. I didn’t know better. I touched them, prodding the little balls until they joined the bigger blob. My mom swooped down on me and snatched me away, telling me it was poison. It could kill me.
I stare at the things in front of me: the Drau. I can’t look away.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remember Jackson talking about Medusa.
Don’t look at their eyes.
Their mercury eyes.
They’re poison.

They will kill me.
Copyright © 2013. Eve Silver. All Rights Reserved.





About the Author
Eve Silver lives with her gamer husband and sons, sometimes in Canada, but often in worlds she dreams up. She loves kayaking and sunshine, dogs and desserts, and books, lots and lots of books. Watch for the first book in Eve’s new teen series, THE GAME: RUSH, coming from Katherine Tegen Books, June 2013. She also writes books for adults.


Author Links:
     

***GIVEAWAY***
Signed copy of Rush, US and Canada only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Hosted by: