A Book-a-licious Story

Supernaturally Kissed Blog Tour: Promo + Excerpt

2012-03-05T21:06:00.000+08:00

Introducing...

Stacey Kennedy!

About Stacey

Stacey Kennedy’s novels are lighthearted fantasy with heart-squeezing, thigh-clenching romance, and they even give you a good chuckle every now and again. But within the stories you’ll also find fast-paced action, life-threatening moments and a big bad villain who needs to be destroyed. Her urban fantasy/paranormal and erotic romance series have hit Amazon Kindle and All Romance eBooks bestseller lists.

Stacey welcomes comments from readers. You can find her at http://www.staceykennedy.com/.

And her novel...

Supernaturally Kissed
Frostbite #1

The Blurb

Ghosts harass and annoy Tess Jennings to save their souls. Sometimes she helps them. Other times she ignores them. But one ghost will give her no choice.

Kipp McGowen, a cop with the Memphis Police Department, will stop at nothing to gain her help, including using his ghostly charms to seduce her.
Tess must help solve the five year old cold case of Hannah Reid, because solving the case will save Kipp. But a bigger problem presents itself. Tess is falling in love with a ghost. Now she must decide.

Keep Kipp forever or find the killer…

BUY LINK:
http://www.staceykennedy.com/supernaturally-kissed/

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A Supernaturally Kissed Excerpt

An icy wisp of air swept in behind me, causing my heel to twist as I stumbled. To the other pedestrians striding along the downtown Memphis street, the sensation would be brushed off as a cold breeze.
They were wrong. A spirit lingered here.
“Can you hear me?”
From the intrigue rolling in his voice, he hadn’t expected me to acknowledge him. Shit! I’d already given myself away. A mistake I’d rectify.
Without hesitation, I righted my stance and strode forward with purpose, forcing myself to remain deaf to the voice. If I ignored ghosts long enough, they moved on and searched out someone else who held the same irritating ability, whom I had yet to meet.
Much to my annoyance, the ghost stayed right on my heels and his presence remained strong behind me. The cold air at my back remained a contrast to the warm morning air in front of me. Every hair on my neck stood up and goose bumps pimpled a trail along my skin. If only I could rub them away, but I didn’t dare. Ignoring him would make him go away.
“You can hear me, can’t you?” the ghost asked again.
Spirits were typically harmless, but annoying. I’m dead, what’s going on, why am I a ghost—yada, yada, yada. I quickened my steps and made my way down Peabody Place in hopes he’d leave me alone.
“Wait.”
He sounded desperate, which meant a big headache for me. If I hadn’t worn my damn slingbacks, I would’ve tried to run and hide. But the three-inch Manolos and the tight, tailored gray skirt restrained my movements.

I passed Miss Polly’s Soul Food Café, and the delicious aroma of bacon and eggs drifted along the air. My empty stomach complained. My only thought after I woke had been caffeine. Now I wished I’d grabbed a muffin with my latté at Starbucks. With ten minutes to get to my desk, I couldn’t worry about such things.
My boss, Event Manager Dylan Cobb, would hand me my ass if I stepped into the office a minute late. Sadly, there’d never been a day I didn’t cater to his every need.
I approached Beale Street and sighed in relief, relishing the warmth surrounding me. Not only from the sun above—the spirit’s cold presence at my back had vanished. Pleased my dodge of him had worked, I took a sip of my energy in a cup and smiled. Coffee’s fantastic, the ghost is gone—life is good.
Another block passed under my heels before I reached the historical red-brick building. Randall Marketing, written in black block letters, decorated the striped green-and-white awning.
I opened the door to the office and strode in, greeted by a bubbly voice. “Good morning, Tess.”
“Mornin’.”
“Give me a moment here.” Doris shuffled paperwork around her desk, her auburn curls bouncing on her shoulders. The receptionist had always been messy, yet somehow organized. “There were a few messages on the voicemail for you.” She raised her head and held out the pink slips of paper. “A lovely day today, is it not?”
“Sure is.” So I lied. The ghost hadn’t kicked off my day on a high note. Not as if I’d tell her about my interaction with spirits. My ability to converse with spirits remained on a need-to-know basis, and as far as it concerned me, no one needed to know. I grabbed the messages from her hand. “Did your weekend treat you good?”
“I spent the entire weekend knee-deep in my garden.” Her cocoa-colored eyes lit up. “My best year ever, I’m hoping. You’ll have to come out and have a look-see.”
“I’d love to.” Doris treasured her gardens, so I tried to appear interested, even though my green thumb looked black.
Her smile brightened, but when the phone rang, she waved a goodbye and answered the call. “It’s another beautiful day here at Randall Marketing, how may I direct your call?”
Leaving her behind, I strode down the hall toward my office and sipped my coffee. The warmth slid down my throat and provided an immediate rush to my energy levels. At the third door on the right, I entered my bleak workspace with its pale-blue walls, closed the door behind me and approached the desk. I dropped down into the black leather chair and flipped through the messages. None were urgent enough to worry about now.
I powered up my computer, but a knock at the door had me glancing up. Before I got a word out, the door swished open and I cringed, fully aware of the looming trouble.
Caley, the officer manager and my best friend since the age of four, looked like a typical Barbie. Perfect skin, long flowing blonde hair and a body men drooled over. I might have been jealous of her perfection since I couldn’t pull off her looks even with a makeover—so maybe a little envious—but her appearance had always been a front. She was the devil in disguise.
She scowled, shutting the door behind her with a slam. “Do you mind explaining where you were all weekend?”
“At home.” I batted my lashes. “Why? Did you try to call me?”
She pointed her finger, narrowing her eyes at me. “Don’t you try that shit on me. I called you all weekend and your phone went straight to voicemail.”
“Hmm…” I pretended to ponder. “The battery must have died.” She had enough gall to just come over, but the little hint had been a subtle way of telling Caley to leave me alone.
“Liar.” She plopped down in the seat across from my desk. “Where were you? I wanted to go out.”
“Nowhere. Honestly, I vegged on the couch.”
Caley snorted. “You lead such an exciting life.”
My mouth parted to offer a snappy retort, but a cold wisp of air brushed across my skin, causing my lips to snap shut. Damn! I thought I’d got rid of him.
“Hello.” Caley snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Leave the aliens behind and return to Mother Earth.”
I blinked, trying to force my attention back to her, yet failing. The ghost knelt right beside Caley—not kneeling, of course; more like floating, since ghosts were never able to obtain physical contact with the world around them—and my focus held strong on him, unable to stop myself from ogling. He stared intently, with one crystal-blue eye, while the other was a chocolate color. His strong jaw, the muscles clenching along his cheeks, all spoke of power. But as he ran his hand through his untidy sandy-colored hair, his expression showed playfulness. His black tank top left his arms exposed and muscles upon muscles layered those arms.
“Anyways,” she said, dragging my gaze back to her. “I had to go out with Susanne because you left me high and dry.”
I laughed. Caley’s horny, twenty-year-old stepsister had the body that men chased after. “You did have the option to stay home, you know.”
Her eyes widened. “On a Saturday night?”
“Yeah, you know, get some popcorn, watch a movie and relax.”
She frowned. “If you don’t stop your grandma behavior, your va-jay-jay is going to shrivel up and die.”
The ghost chuckled.
His smooth laugh hit me like a cup of warm cocoa, causing my insides to melt. Nothing amused me. First off, Caley had been so wrong—maybe a little right—but I’d never admit to her accuracy aloud. Second, reacting in such a heated way to a ghost definitely didn’t hit my to-do list today.
“Excuse me.” I spoke not only to Caley, but also to the irritating ghost. “My va-jay-jay is just fine.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear you’ve still got some spunk.” She stood and placed her hands on her hips. “Because we’ve got a double date tonight.”
“A what?” Dear God!
She grinned from ear to ear. “Yes, my dearest Grammy, we’re going out.”
“With who?”
“Two guys I met on Saturday night. You’re coming with me, either willingly or unwillingly, so suck up your hesitations, babe, because saying no isn’t an option.”
“But it’s a Monday night.” Not saying a date didn’t sound like fun. A month had passed since my last attempt at dating—which failed miserably—but a man Caley chose while drunk? No thanks. My sex life might have been as dead as the sexy ghost in front of me, but I’d still search for a way out. “I have to work tomorrow.”
She wagged her finger in classic Caley fashion. “You’re a grandma.”
Most times, I respected her persistent personality. She never backed down, always dreamed big and went for the gold, but her grit hadn’t been all rays of sunshine. Her determination made her annoyingly tenacious. I had to agree or she’d never give up, and getting her out of my office sounded all too good. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”
“Oh, stop looking so pissy. We’ll have fun. Promise. I’ll come to your place at eight.” She opened the door, glanced over her shoulder and winked. “Leave the granny panties at home.”
* * * * *
The day came and went. My head pounded, not because my boss had been as demanding as any two-year-old, which he did often, but because the ghost hadn’t shut up. The past hours, even after I returned home to get ready for tonight,he’d tried his best to gain my attention. Good thing I’m great at tuning people—ghosts—out, or I would’ve caved after hour two.
“I’m not leaving until you admit you can hear me,” the ghost said.
With a flick of my shag-cut brown hair—that actually didn’t give me any trouble tonight—to dismiss him, I strode next to Caley, heading back toward the downtown core. Dressed in my low-riding, dark wash jeans and blue plaid three-quarter-length-sleeve top, tied to leave my midriff exposed, at least I looked half decent while I suffered through the embarrassing blind date.
The ghost’s tone came a little louder and more abrupt. “Dammit, woman! Will you stop ignoring me? It’s annoying.”
I’m annoying him? I nearly laughed at the ridiculous notion, but did not intend to give myself away. I’d held strong for nine hours. Soon, he’d catch the drift and piss off.
Caley knocked my arm. “Will you stop looking so tight assed?”
I glanced away from the sidewalk and smiled at her. “My ass is tight.” Okay, not eighteen-year-old tight, but only twenty-five now, I worked hard to keep things tight.
She chuckled. “You’re…”
“Damn right, you do, sweet cheeks,” the ghost said.
Caley stopped dead in her tracks, which caused me to stumble. “What’s got you blushing?”
I righted my stance, raised my hand to my face and, to my horror, my cheeks were warm. “I’m not blushing. I I I’m hot.”
“Unless you somehow turned into a lesbian and have fallen for your best friend,you’re acting weird.”
“I do love you.” At her widened eyes, I laughed. “But I don’t want you in the sack. Seriously, I’m just hot.”
The ghost’s voice deepened. “Ah, a way to grab your attention, I see.”
The little purr hanging off his tone made my stomach flip-flop. Clearly, I craved some attention and needed to get some in a bad way if I reacted in such a heated way to a non-living person.
I shoved the ridiculous reaction away and focused back on Caley, falling into stride with her. “Who’s the guy I’m hooking up with tonight?”
“He’s just your type.” She wiggled her brows. “You’re going to thank me later.”
“What do you mean my type?” I liked men, all types of them, and I’d never confine my options into a little box. Caley had apparently taped the box shut and shipped the package.
“He’s a pro baseball player and is home visiting his family for a couple days.”
“A pro, huh?” Maybe I had fooled myself into believing I didn’t have a type, because hearing baseball player made my interest rise. Images of skintight white pants and a scrumptious ass filled my mind.
“Yeah, he’s got the looks too.” She nudged her shoulder into mine. “And the money.”
“Women,” the ghost muttered.
I ignored the ghost like the ghost he was, turned onto Beale Street and Coyote Ugly Saloon appeared. A line of people outside meant an hour of waiting. Not as if I thought we’d have to wait. I had Caley with me, after all.
She snatched up my hand, yanking me forward, and hurried her steps. “Brandon,” she called out.
Two men turned toward her, and evidently, Caley knew my type better than I did, since either of the men would have fallen into the fantasy category.
“I’m so glad y’all came,” Brandon said.
Caley gave one of her pageant smiles. “We’re glad you asked us to come.”
“You must be Tess.”
I glanced toward hunk number two. He held the typical all-American look—brown hair, blue-eyed, charming smile, and with his dimple, I suspected he could woo his way into anyone’s bed. Maybe even mine if he played his cards right tonight.
“I’m Trent.”
“Nice to meet you.” I ogled his trim body and handsome face and caught sight of the big white D on his navy-blue hat. “You play for Detroit?”
He nodded. “Both Brandon and I do. We were lucky enough to get a little time off to see the family.”
“Figures, Detroit sucks,” the ghost said.
I smiled, keeping my focus on Trent, ignoring the annoyingly sexy voice by my ear.
“Come on, let’s go get a drink.” Caley wrapped her arm in Brandon’s and approached the bouncer. If one good thing came from her charismatic pushy attitude, she’d always been quite the social butterfly. No one, including me, ever said no to her.
“Did you grow up here in Memphis?” I asked Trent.
“Born and raised.”
Seemed as if he wanted to say more, but Caley interrupted with her typical impatient yell. “Come on, y’all.”
I glanced over my shoulder to find her waving her hands. “We’ve been summoned.”
Trent chuckled.
I strode past the irritated crowd, who didn’t have a Caley in their group to push their way through. Entering the bar, loud country music, accompanied by hoots and hollers, rang out around me. The stench of sweat made my nose crinkle. Caley pointed to a table across the way and I maneuvered through the partygoers, following her.
At the table, Trent held out a stool and gestured for me to sit. He sure played his cards right to a royal flush. I slid onto the stool, and he asked, “What’s your drink?”
“A cold beer sounds great.”
He winked. “My kind of lady.”
The boys headed to the bar. I glanced over at Caley, who bounced up and down on her seat in excitement. “I did good, right?”
I nodded, not at all ashamed to give her props for her choice. “He’s not only sexy as sin, but a gentleman too. You did great.”
The ghost snorted.
I’d forgotten all about him and had hoped he wouldn’t follow me into the bar. Nothing would ruin my excitement now. A long time had passed since I’d met anyone worth meeting. The ghost wouldn’t put a damper on my fun.
Within minutes, Trent and Brandon returned to the table with four beers in hand. I claimed a bottle, took a long sip and sighed in happiness. After the day I had, the beer comforted me. The alcohol refreshed the senses, revived the mood and removed the tension sitting heavy on my shoulders.
Trent grinned. “Looks like you needed a drink.”
I licked the dribble of beer from my lips. “I’ve been craving a beer all day long.” I set the bottle onto the table. “So, tell me, what’s it like to play baseball as a pro?”
I’ve never regretted saying words more in my life. One question led to a twenty-minute conversation I wished I’d never instigated. Caley, the traitor, had vanished onto the dance floor with Brandon, which left me with the pompous stud.
“I’ve grown as a player…” Trent went on.
“This guy is a fucking joke,” the ghost said.
I almost turned my head to nod, but of course refrained. I continued to listen to Trent’s words without truly hearing what he had to say. I merely muttered “yeah” or “cool” when appropriate.
“If I were him, I would’ve skipped the conversation all together and had you back in my bed the moment I laid eyes on you.”
He did not just say that! My stomach leapt up into my throat and my body warmed in places that shouldn’t from a ghost. He’d only said words—not used soft touches to entice me—but the way his voice carried into my soul, the effect had been similar to sweet caresses. “The coach has been pleased…”
The ghost’s tone dropped an octave. “I wouldn’t have wasted the time with small talk. I would’ve used my mouth to learn my way around your luscious curves and used your responses to tell me about the woman you are.”
I squirmed on the stool in an attempt to ignore the soft purr of his voice sending shivers down my spine. I even leaned in further toward Trent and tried to concentrate on his boring conversation.
“After I tasted your sweet skin and saw your desperation for more, I would kiss your mouth until your lips were rosy and swollen. I’d deepen the kiss by tangling my fingers through your hair and holding you close to feel all of me.”
I gulped, crossed my legs and squeezed them tight. He’s a ghost! Nothing that involved him should arouse me. But the pulse between my thighs declared he held the power to make me undone.
“I’d kiss my way along your jaw while I lowered my hand to trail along your stomach. Then I would seek to discover all those little places that make you squirm.”
He ran his finger from below my ear all the way to my nape. His touch forced my eyes closed. A cold shiver danced along my skin to leave goose bumps in its wake. Wild sensations stole my logical mind. My will to ignore him plummeted.
“Tess,” Caley shouted.
I opened my eyes, and after taking a moment to focus, I discovered not only Caley staring at me, but Trent and Brandon too.
She frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”
I shook my head and released the breath stuck in my throat, which came out in a slow wisp of air. “Nothing—I’m fine.”
“I’d lower myself between those luscious legs of yours, tempting you and teasing you. I’d stare into those pretty green eyes of yours until they widened in pleasure.”
“You’re not fine,” Caley retorted. “Your face is bright red.”
“I’d wait until your hips arched toward me and begged me to take you. Then, and only then, would I give you what you desire.”
I grabbed my beer, took a big swig and a couple more. All eyes stared at me with blatant confusion. Part of me wanted to move away, while the other needed to hear more.
“Ah, Tess,” Caley whispered. “Seriously, are you okay?”
I paid my obvious inappropriate behavior no attention. The fantasy the ghost built in my mind needed to have a conclusion. “Yes. Yes. I’m good.”
“I would thrust against you, demanding you react to my intentions. You’d scream out and I would echo the sound with a moan of my own, as I used all my strength to satisfy you.”
Caley chuckled nervously.
I gripped the edge of the table in front of me and held on tight.
“You’d come into your orgasm because I’d leave you with no other choice. But I wouldn’t stop there.” He ran his finger along my exposed lower back and the coldness against my hot skin made me shiver. “Without giving you the chance to recover, I’d flip you over on your knees,” his tone dipped lower, “and fuck you senseless.”
I shot up from my seat, which caused the stool to slam back into the person behind me, who swore in return. “I have to go.”
Caley nodded. “Ah yeah, I think you do.”
Without another word—or a goodbye to the living men or the dead one who had got me all hot and bothered—I bolted from the bar and ran so hard my calves burned, reminding me of the three-inch heels strapped to my feet.
The ghost didn’t follow me and nothing pleased me more. I needed some space, time to return to reality or to pleasure the need out of me—either would do.
Within only a few minutes, I arrived at my condominium, which appeared more like an old textile factory, but inside were renovated modern apartments. The arousal burning inside me hadn’t vanished. The wetness between my thighs was a constant reminder of the ghost’s words.
I ran up the stairs while I took my keys out from my back pocket. At the thick mahogany wooden door, I raised my key pass to the scanner, grabbed the chrome door handle and swung it open.
Just three doors down, I opened the door to my condo before slamming it closed behind me. I didn’t bother to lock the door and did the only thing I thought of now. I sprinted to the bedroom, stripped out of my clothes and finished the fantasy the ghost had built in my mind.

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My Thoughts

Look at that cover!!! Dammit, it's like one of the sexiest/hottest I've seen so far - and I have definitely seen my fair share of Ellora's Cave's, Samhain's, etc covers, mind you. I've never really been too interested in ghost novels, but this one sounds worth a shot, don't it?;)

See anything that caught your eye? If so, you can find out more about Stacey and her novels here:

Spell Checked Blog Tour: Book Spotlight (Overdue)

2012-03-02T22:34:00.002+08:00

Introducing...

C.G. Powell

About C.G.

As a teen C.G. Powell was selected as a member of her school's newspaper staff. After her first article the editor decided the darkroom was a more suitable place for her skills…or lack of. Since then, she has traveled everywhere—thanks to her innate curiosity about the world and the Navy. In her life time, she has learned: aviation electronics, CCNA networking, Gemology and how to get bloodstains out of the carpet (you never know when you might need that). But her latest, all-consuming, endeavor is storytelling. When asked why, her response was "I live to challenge myself; I like to be pushed outside of my comfort zone and writing is one of those things that pushes my boundaries. Besides it was the only way to share all of the crap bouncing around in my head!" C.G. Powell lives in Virginia with her husband and children. When she is not writing, you might find her watching hot guys jog past her front window, ordering the cabana boy to fix her another drink or abusing the local authorities…but that’s just hearsay.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

And her novel:

Spell Checked
No Uncertain Logic #1

The Blurb

Broken relationships were a constant in Mae’s life, causing her to swear off men forever. Unwittingly lured to Ireland, Mae finds herself knee-deep in a hidden world she never knew existed and head over heels for the very man that tricked her to coming there. His deception is complicated by his own feelings for the one person that holds the key to merging the ancient races that once ruled the ancient word.
Mae finds herself in an underground world of witches, and vampires, which are half-breeds of aliens long gone. She learns about her own unique parentage and powers, which she must study in order to control, before they consume her.
Beck and Helen’s love for one another spans across a millennium, her human soul reincarnated to match Beck’s own immortality. This time however the body she occupies is of a being that cannot be eclipsed by her return. After waiting two hundred years, Beck finds himself tormented by Helen’s inability to return and his growing love for her new host.
Some of the underworld creatures welcome her with open arms as a savior, while others seek to destroy the abomination they believe her to be. Will the knowledge of her existence cause a race war when the true power of her blood is discovered? Or will love become her ultimate downfall?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

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What people are saying on Goodreads:

Beth Wright rated it

I am still dying here from laughter, love the chia pet part of the story. I must add the running through the castle halls butt naked was a laughing treat as well :D This story is packed with hiding secrets, unknown events and much more. If your into hot vampires and warlocks this is your kind of story. They have so a wonderful sense of humor and enjoy using it every chance they get. Some parts may make you tear up :( I know I did, but the story is so wonderfully put together. Get ready for unexpected events, amazing action and wild romance. Grab this one now because I can promise you there is going to be a part 2, and hun I sure hope to be one of your reviewers for that :D woot haha chia pet, haha naked and getting his ass handed to him by his sexy mate lmao. Ok, ok I'm done now, no I'm not, lmao, lmfao, omg so love it. :)

Nichole Chase rated it

I enjoyed the new take on some of the mythological creatures I find in books so often. It is quite clear that Ms. Powell has an analytical mind and it was easy to see from the get go that she had every little bit of the supernatural completely planned out and understood. She wove the mythical history that we study nowadays with her own interpretation, and created an interesting new world.

I was a little put off with Mae at times. She was hard to relate to, because I never got a good feel of her character. The supporting cast really made this book interesting, and I am hoping Mae will step up a little more once she understands herself better. I do look forward to finding out what happens in the next installment. I think it is going to be even more interesting.

Rhonda rated it

Spell Checked is one of the most original Paranormal Romances that I’ve read in a long time. Forget what you ever thought about the stereotypical Immortals, this book has you seeing Vampires and Witches in a whole new light. Truly spell binding, funny and romantic. CG Powell’s characters are likable and sexy, they will leave you wanting more. It’s hard to believe this is CG’s first book, I’m anxiously awaiting book 2 to see what she has in store for us next.

What I had to say about Spell Checked:

I haven't really read the book yet; I've started on it, but have decided to put it on hold. There were quite a few awkward scenes (not phrases - it isn't the editing I'm critiquing about), and I wasn't liking how the story was unfolding - many cliches and too much focus on the "Adonis and friend falls in love with main girl who is actually just some plain old Jane" Spell Checked has going on. The synopsis intrigued me, and since many other readers and reviewers are giving it stellar reviews and ratings, I guess I'll get back to it some other time.

My tour stop was supposed to be on the 29th of Febuary, on Leap Day, but I was hesitating whether or not to do a spotlight post since I didn't really enjoy the book. However, since this is a last-minute thing, there won't be any replacement tour stop if I do not post this spotlight, and that Spell Checked did win many readers' hearts, I decided to go ahead and post this anyway. Hope you're enjoying the post so far! :/

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Wanna find out more about C.G. or her novels? You can visit her at:

Or you can follow the tour here:

Full Tour Schedule

Fire Baptized Blog Tour: Excerpt + Review + Giveaway

2012-03-01T21:20:00.001+08:00

Introducing...

Kenya Wright!

About Kenya

Kenya Wright always knew she would be famous since the ripe old age of six when she sang the Michael Jackson thriller song in her bathroom mirror. She has tried her hand at many things from enlisting in the Navy for six years as a Persian-Farsi linguist to being a nude model at an art university.

However, writing has been the only constant love in her life.

So here we are Kenya is publishing her first book, Fire Baptized, the urban fantasy novel she always wanted to read. This novel is the first book in a series.

Will she succeed? Of course.

For she has been coined The Urban Fantasy Queen, the Super Iconic Writer of this Age, The Lyrical Genius of Our Generation. Granted, these are all terms coined by her, within the private walls of her bathroom as she still sings the Michael Jackson thriller song.

Kenya Wright currently resides in Miami with her three amazing, overactive children, a supportive, gorgeous husband, and three cool black cats that refuse to stop sleeping on Kenya’s head at night.

--Cited from the Author's Website

And her amazing novel:

Fire Baptized
Habitat series #1

The Blurb

Since the 1970s humans have forced supernaturals to live in caged cities. Silver brands embedded in their foreheads identify them by species: a full moon for Vampires, a crescent moon for Shifters, a pair of wings for Fairies, and the list goes on, for each supernatural species has been tagged and categorized by humans.

Lanore Vesta is marked with a silver X, the brand of Mixbreeds, second-class citizens shunned by society. She stays to herself, revealing her ability to create fire only during emergencies. All she wants to do is graduate college and stop having to steal to survive. But when she stumbles upon a murder in progress, she catches the attention of a supernatural killer. Now all she wants is to stop finding dead bodies in her apartment.

Enlisting help from her Were-cheetah ex-boyfriend MeShack and a new mysterious friend named Zulu, she is steered through the habitat’s raunchy nightlife. But their presence sometimes proves to be more burden than help, as they fight for her attention.

While the corpses pile up, and the scent of blood fills the air, Lanore is left wondering: will she find the psycho or die trying?

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An Excerpt from Fire Baptized

Hours later, I lounged on Zulu’s couch, my stomach full of roasted duck, watching the NSFL championship on his 6DTV. He’d recorded it earlier. I grabbed the couch’s pillows as he massaged my feet. Pleasure spread throughout my body. I’d lost a bet that the Buddhist Monks would be in the lead before halftime. Being that he had a foot fetish, he chose massaging my feet as his reward. I found it to be a win-win situation.
As far as the kiss in the garage, neither one of us brought it up. It was too closely linked to the asshole Air Witch. It had taken the whole dinner to calm Zulu down.

“Tackle him!” Zulu yelled.

The game’s images floated throughout the room. The 6DTV had just come out on the market. Two Air Witches had patented the spell. A football flew past my head. The referee’s whistle blew right next to me. I covered my ear.

“Could you turn the weather effects down?” I said as the wind from the stadium blew into the living room.
Zulu grabbed the remote control and stuck it on his X brand. The cold breeze disappeared. Several players ran off the field and sat on the bench next to me. A horrid funk floated off the players. I covered my nose.

“Zulu, we’re too close to the action.” Sweat sprayed on my neck as a player flung off his helmet. I wiped it away.

A boy walked through me with a barrel of water.

“Come on, tackle him!” Zulu yelled.

I looked in front of me and froze. The Monk’s quarterback raced toward me. Ten feet away. Dust flew under his feet. Eight feet. My heartbeat increased. Six feet. I could see five Santeros behind him. Four feet. I dove off of the couch and onto the carpet as the Santeros slammed into the quarterback and pushed him into the place where I’d been sitting. They fell through the couch. Helmets crashed. The quarterback grunted.

“Yes!” Zulu yelled and cheered.

I stood up, shaking my head as a commercial came on.

A blonde vamp with huge breasts slid her hands up and down a Burglar beer can. Words floated, stating that all raccoon blood was extracted humanely.

What I had to say about Fire Baptized:

"FIRE BAPTIZED was an unexpectedly captivating novel! I haven't been enjoying the books that are provided for the blog tours that I've signed up for for the past few months, so I wasn't expecting much from FB initially and was even a little prejudiced toward it at the start, somehow convincing myself at page 2 that I will not like the book. But imagine my shock when, as I continued flipping its pages, the flippin' got faster and faster, and I just had to finish it in one sitting (I did it in two, actually, because I still need my beauty sleeps at night:P).

(....)

I was honestly hooked to FB while I was reading it, and felt so sorry when the epilogue came up. I even chanced reading it in class! There was that steamy hot love triangle that I was seriously not expecting, and a complicated murder case that was mind-blowing. The suspense was intense, and the plot scared me a little for awhile, and I LOVED it."

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Giveaway Deets

Kenya will be giving away a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour as well as to the host whose post receives the most comments (excluding Kenya's and the host's).

See anything that caught your eye? If so, then you can find out more about Kenya and her novels here:

Author's Website | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Or you can see the full tour schedule HERE. :)

Review: Fire Baptized by Kenya Wright

2012-03-01T20:58:00.000+08:00

Published Date: January 28th 2012
Finished Date: March 1st, 2012
Publisher: Dragonfairy Press
Format: eBook for Tour
Series: Habitat #1
My Rating: 4/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Since the 1970s humans have forced supernaturals to live in caged cities. Silver brands embedded in their foreheads identify them by species: a full moon for Vampires, a crescent moon for Shifters, a pair of wings for Fairies, and the list goes on, for each supernatural species has been tagged and categorized by humans.

Lanore Vesta is marked with a silver X, the brand of Mixbreeds, second-class citizens shunned by society. She stays to herself, revealing her ability to create fire only during emergencies. All she wants to do is graduate college and stop having to steal to survive. But when she stumbles upon a murder in progress, she catches the attention of a supernatural killer. Now all she wants is to stop finding dead bodies in her apartment.

Enlisting help from her Were-cheetah ex-boyfriend MeShack and a new mysterious friend named Zulu, she is steered through the habitat’s raunchy nightlife. But their presence sometimes proves to be more burden than help, as they fight for her attention.

While the corpses pile up, and the scent of blood fills the air, Lanore is left wondering: will she find the psycho or die trying?

My Review

FIRE BAPTIZED was an unexpectedly captivating novel! I haven't been enjoying the books that are provided for the blog tours that I've signed up for for the past few months, so I wasn't expecting much from FB initially and was even a little prejudiced toward it at the start, somehow convincing myself at page 2 that I will not like the book. But imagine my shock when, as I continued flipping its pages, the flippin' got faster and faster, and I just had to finish it in one sitting (I did it in two, actually, because I still need my beauty sleeps at night:P).

My Summary

Lanore Simone Vesta is a Mixie, a mixbreed with both Fairy and Demon blood within her, who can create and manipulate fire with any part of her body. She lives with a childhood friend and past lover, MeShack. He happens to also be a Were-leopard. A really protective, possessive, and ultra hot one.

Lanore is part of the Mixbreeds For Equality (MFE), a revolutionary group that aims to fight for the rights of Mixies who are looked down upon by both the Humans and Supernaturals (Supes) which is headed by Zulu, Lanore's current lover and an alpha-male Mixie who has the connections and wealth.

The Supernaturals and Mixbreeds live in the Habitat, where there is a boundary that they cannot cross. It's not a bad world, with proper schools, universities, clubs and such, but when Lanore stumbles upon a live murder scene one day, she becomes a target of a serial killer with a fetish for draping the crime scene with the victim's decorated body parts. But what if the serial killer isn't just dismembering random passers-by? What if, there was a pattern and a purpose to all these killings?

Not only must Lanore solve these issues and handle MFE matters, she must also deal with the emotional confusion that is Zulu and MeShack, two very hot-headed and sexy half-Shifters...

My Thoughts

I was honestly hooked to FB while I was reading it, and felt so sorry when the epilogue came up. I even chanced reading it in class! There was that steamy hot love triangle that I was seriously not expecting, and a complicated murder case that was mind-blowing. The suspense was intense, and the plot scared me a little for awhile, and I LOVED it.

Lanore's a very cool heroine. She's just the right amount of kickass and feminine; She sticks up for herself, fights her own battles, but when things got real bad and horrific, she did lose it for awhile, and had to be taken care of by the boys, but that all just made her seem all the more real and....well, cool! MeShack and Zulu too. I thought that their names were so odd when I first read about them, but it didn't matter anymore as I got to know them. They. Were. HOT. Haha, and so protective, possessive, romantic, cheeky, hot-tempered, testosterone-y, and sexy.

I liked Kenya's writing style too - the plot flowed smoothly and the scenes were illustrated vividly. The murder scenes were portrayed in all their gory detail which did gross me out quite badly, and it truly seemed like a horror story at one point. But that just goes to show how truly well FB was planned and written. Lanore was becoming obsessed with finding the murderer as it was becoming clear that she was going to be one of the next victims, and I was as confused as she was while she was still trying to solve the case. But when the big revelation came, you would go, "Why didn't I make the connection?!" It was so shocking, and I couldn't, for the life of me, have guessed who the bigass mastermind was! That part was fantastically well done.

I'd recommend FIRE BAPTIZED to fans of Paranormal Romance and Mystery/Thrillers. I'm so glad I took this tour up, and I'm anxiously awaiting for book 2, THE BURNING BUSH.

My Rating

Cover Reveal--Archangel's Storm has a cover!!

2012-02-29T21:13:00.002+08:00

Archangel's Storm

Guild Hunter series #5

By Nalini Singh (awesome-est author!!)

Expected Publication: September 4th 2012 by Berkley Sensation

Other information about AS: As was mentioned at Ms Singh's blog, this book will be about Jason.

Author's Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! *Coughs* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Even though I was - and still am - yearning for another book in Elena's POV, I don't mind having the sequel in Jason's cause he's my next favourite character!! Apart from Raphael, that is. Look at that cover! So intense! One thing though: I didn't expect Jason to be so....huge. I imagined him being lean and a little buff, but not THAT buff. He is Raphael's spymaster, so shouldn't they be more, well, built to be nimble? But still, I do love that cover.:D

But my favourite cover is still ANGEL'S FLIGHT, which by the way, releases today! If you don't know about it (gasp!), it is an anthology with stories of some secondary characters in the Guild Hunter series.

Available in paperback and ebook, purchase your copy here:

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

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So what do you think of the cover?:)

The Broken Destiny Blog Tour: Character Profile + Cast

2012-02-27T22:04:00.001+08:00

Introducing...

Carlyle Labuschagne!

About Carlyle

Carlyle Labuschagne

Lives in Johnnesburg

First I am a Mother, wife and career woman. By night I read. By early, early morning peace I write. I love trees, I love food. I love music. I love people , I want to touch lives.

--Cited from Carlyle's Website

And her debut novel...

The Broken Destiny
Broken #1

The Blurb

Her Destiny is to Rise

against the fall

that threatens to take her soul.

Her soul is the Key to unlocking a secret weapon.

But to know her soul she has to hate it first,

and then come back from that.

Her Destiny starts with Betrayal.

The Broken Destiny

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Meet The Broken Destiny [Dream] Cast

Ava

Third generation, Granddaughter to the founder of their kind. Carries the secret bloodline of an Ancient weapon within her soul.

Actress Britt Robertson

Troy

Nocturnal, Military student, Jaguar clang, Son of a warlock. The only broken to be born the traditional way. Bound by an oath not to use his powers and/or intervene with Ava's destiny but only to guide her. He is not to fall in love with her or they both face imminent doom. Owns the only motorbike on Poseidon. Weapon, anything her can get his hands onto, but mostly hand to hand combat.

Actor : Alex Pettyfer

Enoch

Meet Ava's downfall.

Minoan Warrior leader. Parents - unknown. Adopted by Minoan healer Arriana , adoptive brother to Maya. The bluest eyes you have ever seen. Powers - to be revealed. Weapon - long bow.

Actor : Hirthic Roshan

Sam

Ava's best friend who has sworn to keep the secret journals of Ava's birthmother a secret. An overachiever, feisty and a man-eater. Third Generation.

Actress: Emma Stone

Maya

Adopted by the powerful Minoan healer and former chief's wife Arriana. Parents -unknown. Origins - unknown. Saves Ava's life a few times. Weapon - dagger.

Actress: Alexandra Daddario

Anaya

Minoan Healer. Sexy warrior woman. Sister of Arianna . Beautiful and strong. Vowed to help Ava on her quest. The power of Telepathy. Weapon - all, but likes to keep it simple - hand to hand.

Actress: Bipasha Basu

Tatos

Parents deceased. Minoan Warrior. Power of Telepathy and patience. Vowed to help Ava on her quest. Weapon -Bow and Arrow.

Actor: Aaron Diaz

Willard

Youngest of the Minaon warriors, shy and clumsy. Weapon - sword. Green eyes. Age 16

Actor : Eddie Spears

David

Nocturnal, Military Student, Troy's best Friend. Power of strength, agility and speed. Trained in hand to hand combat. A knack for technology research and development. Third Generation

Actor: Riley smith

Robert

Nocturnal, Military Student, Troy's best Friend . Power of strength, agility and speed. Trained in hand to hand combat. Knack for all things mechanical. Best friends with David and Troy.

Actor: Matt Lanter

Arraina

Last of the Ancient Minoans descendants. Blind. Powers of healing, seeker and telepathy. Adoptive mother to Enoch and Maya.

Actress: Padman Lakohmi

Kronan

Minoan Warlock. 200 and something years of age. Broken Blood. Power of magic and foreseeing. Vowed to help Ava fulfill her Destiny. Father to Troy. Angry and bitter that his son will not use his natural powers. Telepathy by practice.

Actor : Viggo Mortensten

Nomsa

Good witchdoctor. Powers of magic. Sister to Isithunzi , has kept her identity and relasionship with Kronan a secret.

Actress: Genevieve Nnaji

Isithunzi

Evil witch doctor wanting to bring the ancient spirit of king Shaka Zulu back through the soul of the white divine (Ava)

Killed his father and exiled to another island on Poseidon.

Started his own Zulu race. Father to many, husband to eight wives. Sorcerer of the ancient black magic originated from Africa.

Actor: Ken Gumpo

Thandiwe

Youngest Queen of Zulu king and witch doctor. Talisman to the Zulu king's foreseeing magic. Helps Ava escape. She too has a destiny of her own. Age 15.

Actress: Jessica White

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See anything that caught your eye? If so, you can find out more about Carlyle and Broken Destiny at:

Carlyle's Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Or you can check out the full tour schedule where Carlyle's giving away copies of Broken Destiny!:)

Full Blog Tour Schedule

Indie Authors Spotlight (4) + Big Giveaway!

2012-02-27T21:32:00.000+08:00

Indie Authors Spotlight is a weekly meme that will be held every SATURDAY. It is hosted by Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment & CYP @ A Bookalicious Story. The idea of this meme is to promote indie authors and to help them and their books get recognized. This will be a great way for book bloggers to take part in helping these authors be spotlighted for their hard work. Below you will find a list of rules to follow to be able to take part in this meme.

This week, ABS will be featuring...

T.L. Clarke!

About T.L.

T.L. Clarke(TLC) is the author of Blood Oath, the second book in the Gabby Girls Adventure novels. A lifelong reader, TLC has always had a particular fascination with mysteries, adventure and mythology. When she is not writing, she can be found watching bad movies, listening to music, and traveling. Originally from New York, TLC now lives in the Washington, DC area, where she is hard at work on the next installment of The Gabby Girls Adventure novels. --Cited from T.L.'s Blog

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

And her novels...

The Secret of the Scarlet Stone
A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel #1

The Blurb

Can you help the Gabby Girls solve the clues?

The Gabby Girls are drawn together by the only thing that they have in common, which is the mysterious scarlet pendant they each possess. But things seem even stranger when they find a clue that tempts them with the answer to the question they have longed to know.

After all, Gabby Girls always stick together, and every day is a…Gabby Girls Adventure! YA/MG

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
(TL's having a US giveaway for this book on Goodreads!)

Blood Oath
A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel #2

The Blurb

Welcome to the dark and powerful world of the Eternals.

Gabrielle Martin discovers that she was born into a secret society called the Eternals—Warriors sworn through blood to annihilate dark and evil creatures that walk the shadows of the earth. Everything she has known to be true is a lie…just smoke and mirrors to disguise a deadly world filled with half-human, half-vampire Underworld Warriors with one goal—to kill all Eternal Warriors.

The battle against pure evil begins. Friendships are betrayed. Rivals bond…and powers collide.

Expected Publication Date: March 6th, 2012
Goodreads
(TL's also having a US/CA giveaway for this book on Goodreads!)

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Since this is the last week of Febuary, it is also....

Giveaway Time!

Lol, yes. Every month, there will be a big giveaway for the books of the authors that have been spotlighted in that month. No following is required, just fill in the Google Docs form below, and your name's in the ballot!:) Giveaway is international and will last for 2 weeks, ending on March 11th, 2012. So, without further ado, here are the prizes:

Prize 1:

Paperback of Blood Oath by T.L. Clarke (US/CA only)

eBook of Splitting Adam by John R. Ford

eBook of Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Prize 2:

eBook of Splitting Adam by John R. Ford

eBook of Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Prize 3:

eBook of Splitting Adam by John R. Ford

Review: Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

2012-02-26T23:14:00.003+08:00

Published Date: January 31st, 2012
Finished Date: Febuary 6th, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 516
Series: Angelfire #2
My Rating: 4.5/5
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Author's Website

Blurb from Goodreads:
Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.

Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.

Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.

Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

My Review

Disclaimer: If you haven't read ANGELFIRE yet or are averse to spoilers, please DO NOT read this review.

WINGS OF THE WICKED is one awesome emotional roller coaster ride - so full of action, tragedy, and romance. A great sequel to Angelfire that I loved. Every part of it was so intense and utterly memorable and I loved them all.

My Brief - albeit with a lot of spoilers - Summary
We return to the world of the reapers where Ellie, who is really the archangel Gabriel in the flesh, is still trying her best to maintain a balance between her reaper life and high school-normal teenager lifestyle. Things are getting tougher for Ellie, with Bastian becoming more aggressive and sending higher-level reapers after her - namely, Merodach and Kelaeno, two of the oldest reapers recorded in Nathaniel's history texts.

Add into the fray Cadan's shifting loyalties and frequent visits, the arrival of an old friend - and maybe ex-lover - of Will's, and the many deaths that always seem to shroud Ellie's future, she's still got to find a way to save the day. Cause, as the synopsis says, if she doesn't, there really will be hell to pay.

My Thoughts
I thought that WOW was written really beautifully - vivid, suspenseful scenes, thrilling action, forbidden romance, and to top it all up, an exciting plot with lots of curveballs. The anticipation for the release of WOW, personally, was all hyped up way before its expected publication date because of Moulton's amazing 10 weeks countdown at her blog. So naturally, my expectations were pushed way up the bar, and I wasn't disappointed. I just loved the way Moulton described each scene and her writing style. I loved the suspense and surprises - both good and bad - that were thrown at us throughout the book; It kept me on tenterhooks, and it kept the pages turning swiftly.

As for the characters, I must say that I could've done without all the parties and pink dresses on Ellie's part. I know she's trying her best to keep her normal, teenager life, but I think that that's going a little too far. She's a tough-assed heroine who still attends high school and who loves to shop, and I think that that's plenty cool already. Will is still his usual brooding self, but we get to see more into his past life as he opens up to Ellie and as she starts remembering her previous incarnations. (I love that Will likes it when Ellie combs her fingers through his hair!:P Just saying.)

Another bone I had to pick with Ellie is that, she's supposed to be the best fighter amongst her little group of friends. Like the ultimate, archangel, in-a-league-of-her-own best fighter, but Will seems to be the one who's saving her ass in every fight she gets involved in. I'm not a fan of weak heroines who depend on their oh-so-strong hero to come saving their day, so this part didn't sit that well with me.

There were more secondary characters that were introduced - Ava, Marcus, Merodach, and Kelaeno. Marcus is awesome, period; Ava's.....she's still on probation for me; Merodach's awesome too, in his own mysterious, powerful-villain way; Kelaeno's seems like the crazy-witch villain to me. Ok, she's beautiful and all (like every other reaper), but my subconscious just have this cackling-witch image whenever her name pops up. I wonder why...

Anyway, as for the ending, I wasn't a big fan of it. I'm just going to go ahead and reveal the big spoiler (not all the way, of course) - someone died. Someone who's very much an integral part of the story died, and I didn't like it. Not one bit. I know that there will always be casualties in war, but ARH. He's not supposed to go so suddenly!! And..ARHH! Ok, I'm incoherent, but you get the point. Not only that, it ends with a cliffhanger.

I will reiterate this again - WINGS OF THE WICKED is one awesome emotional roller coaster ride packed with a larger dose of action, tragedy, and romance. If you're still hesitating on picking this up, wary that WOW will not be as good as ANGELFIRE, then rest assure, WOW is as good as ANGELFIRE, and with more high-level-reaper fighting, sexual tension between Ellie and Will, and emotional scenes that will render you speechless.

*Won this book at a giveaway at CAM's blog.

My Rating

Blog Tour: Promo for The Guardian's Wildchild by Feather Stone

2012-02-26T00:51:00.000+08:00

Introducing...

Feather Stone!

About Feather

I am a Canadian. Okay, so you get a vision of a peacekeeper, right? Mountains and wheat fields. Correct! Oil rigs and Inuit communities. Rivers and cold winters. Give yourself A+. To describe myself, I would have to say I'm as diverse as my beautiful country and its people.

I grew up on a cattle farm in Genesee, Alberta. It was there I developed a love for outdoors, and my horse, Dusty. In 1965 I graduated from Warburg High School and went on to nursing school.

Later, I discovered my passion in emergency medicine and become a paramedic in 1983. I worked for the City of Edmonton's emergency medical services until 2008.

My husband gets a tad testy at times as I have several projects in varying stages of completion all the time. These range anywhere from digging up my flower beds, training my sheltie, knitting another afghan, writing another novel, photography, geneology, the list goes on. I'm never bored - and I don't think my husband is. Oh, did I say that I also like to play poker, pretty good at it too. With all that activity, I also love quiet time, sit in silence in a forest, meditate, and slide into a shamanic dimension.

I have experienced the paranormal since I was a child. Therefore, I don't think of these events as odd. They're gifts and I treasure and hold them as sacred. I met my spirit guide when I was about seven. Later, when I was drowning in a lake and laying on the sandy bottom, accepting death. My guide whispered, "If you stand you can breathe." I did as he beckoned and survived, obviously (LOL). Many times my guides have spoken to me, including my father a few years after he died. Now that was unexpected!

I believe everyone is visited by his/her guide though we are often too busy to notice the stranger offering a moment of comfort or assistance. We are all capable of experiencing the paranormal, if you so choose. Sit in silence once each day, even if only for five minutes. Empty the chatter in your mind. Enjoy the bliss.

I enjoy talking to all people from all cultures and religions. There is a magical tapestry to the human race, exciting and vibrant. Everyone is special with talents, sometimes yet to be discovered. I like to bring out the best in everyone I meet. Though we have challenges in accepting peoples differences, I hope we will learn to celebrate how much we are the same, and that all people have a place on this jewel of a planet.

Feather --Cited from Feather's Website

And her novel...

The Guardian's Wildchild!

The Blurb

Sidney Davenport is known as Wildchild to her Guardian mentor, Greystone. She rebels against rules. Wildchild is gifted in the paranormal, but carefully conceals her powers from the world. Even in the crises that threaten her life, she refuses to use her powers of telepathy, telekinesis, space/time travel. If her enemies discovered the truth of who she is, her Guardian people would be destroyed. She calls upon her spirit guides, Seamus and Celeste, to guide her through a mine field of the insane - Madame and Captain Butchart.

Sidney leaves her home on Hawk's Island to help the underground stop two people who are about to cause worldwide madness. Unskilled in esponage, she is arrested and sentanced to death. But, God help Sidney, she can't deny her attraction to the man who has orders to perform her execution - the tall, dark eyed Captain Waterhouse. He's meticulous, disciplined and lives by the strict rules expected of an officer of the American navy.

Captain Waterhouse is about to scrap his higher morals to bust out of his hell. When a female prisoner is delivered to his ship, he has no idea she is capable of turning his disciplined life into a storm of unimaginable experiences. His prisoner's enemies, he discovers, are also the ones who hold his life in the palm of their hands.

Through stunning imagery, an intricate and adventurous plot, and a strong cast of characters, Feather Stone gives readers a fast paced story woven with murder and magic.

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See anything that caught your eye? If so, you can find out more about Feather and The Guardian's Wildchild at:

Or follow the tour where you can win copies of The Guardian's Wildchild! (Hint: Look out for the * and **'s!:P)

I've Been Tagged - Your It!

2012-02-22T00:08:00.002+08:00

I've been tagged by Kerry-Ann over at Reading A Little of Everything! This is my first time hearing of this game, and so, here goes. :)

Rules

You must post the rules.
Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.
Let them know you’ve tagged them!

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Below are the questions Kerry-Ann asked me:

1. Who's your favourite Fictional Hottie?

That would be....CHRISTIAN GREY from the Fifty Shades series by E.L. James!! Seriously, he is hotter than hot, and he will forever be my number one. :P Second on the list, not far from Christian, is Raphael and Jason from the Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh. Seriously, if you haven't read either of the two, you're not a romance geekfan. Cause seriously, those two are the MUST-READS of this genre. :)

2. What is your favourite book that has made quite an impact on you?

Hm, I'd say Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan, Graceling by Kristin Cashore and The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran. PJ was the one that started my reading and Greek myth craze-slash-obsession. Graceling was the one that led me to realise that I should start writing reviews for every book I read to preserve my feelings as I do feel a lot for books. The Heretic Queen was the one which started my Ancient Egypt craze. I started recording and watching Egyptian documentaries and researching on their culture and Pharoahs. I mean, me and documentaries? So to have me start watching them surely constitutes as a BIG impact.

3. What are your top 3 dreams or aspirations?

To do well for my 'A' Level Exams next year, get into a good Uni course, and then get a good job. And maybe add in lots of books, reviews, and blogging....and maybe a boy? :D

4. How long have you been blogging for?

I've been blogging since mid-August of 2011, but started for real in September. So that makes it around 4 to 5 months.

5. What's your favourite colour?

White and blue. As you can see, my blog's mainly white. Purple cause the only acceptable banner picture I found was purple, so oh well. I'm still trying to find a blog template/background/theme that's white but not that plain. If anyone knows some nice xml blogger template, please share!!

6. Who's your favourite Author?

In terms of personality, the top of my list would be Jus Accardo (author of the Denazen series), Amanda Bonilla (author of the Shaede Assassin series), Christina Henry (author of the Madeline Black series), and Amber Garr (author of the Syrenka series). In terms of the novels they've written, then it would definitely be E.L. James (author of the Fifty Shades series), and Nalini Singh (author the Guild Hunter series). Long list, but oh well. :P

7. Favourite social networking site?

Twitter, maybe? Or Facebook. These two are the ones that I go to mainly. (Is Blogger counted as a social networking site? If so, then GO BLOGGER!:D)

8. If you could meet one author who would it be?

Hmm, I'd love to meet Michelle Moran! She's an archaelogist for Egyptian artefacts, and the novels she's written ARE DOWNRIGHT AWESOME!!!! I'd love to be able to spend just 10 min in her brain, and I can die a happy geekfan. :P (Haha, kidding!)

9. Favourite mythical creature?

Pegasi? Or maybe sea horses. The ones that were created out of sea foam by Poseidon. :D

10. Morning Bird or Night Owl?

Night owl, sadly. :(

11. What time it where you are?

I'm guessing what Kerry-Ann means is "what time IS it where you are", so it's 1.13am now here in Singapore. So, I'm going right to bed after this post. :P

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Here are my questions:

Which character would you most love to be?
Who is your Fictional Hottie?
Which character and author do you most want to meet?
Which is your favourite publisher?
Favourite mythical creature?
Favourite myth?
Most hated character?
Favourite movie or novel-adapted film or novelised movie? (Is novelised a word?)
What's your dream job?
What's your dream home like? Classic, modern, cosy, traditional, grand, or...?
Favourite blogger? (*hint hint* :P)

The bloggers that I'm tagging are:

Sam @ Realm of Fiction
Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment
Vic @ Always a Booklover
Arianne Cruz @ Arianna Cruz (lol)
Cassie @ Shadow Kisses
Dani @ Pen to Paper
Jenny @ Chocolate Chunky Monkey
Carina @ Fictional Distraction
MaryAnn @ Chapter by Chapter
Stephanie @ Misfit Salon

THANKS for dropping by the blog, and if you're participating, leave your links so that I can check them out too! It's ok if you don't want to cause this game is for fun. I think. Haha. :)

Cover Reveal: Inbetween by Tara Fuller

2012-02-20T18:26:00.001+08:00

Inbetween
Kissed by Death #1
By Tara Fuller

The Blurb

Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’slife has been a freaky—and unending—lesson in caution. Surviving“accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, soEmma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Fallingin love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper whomakes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option. It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fatehas put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give himhell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn't let her die before,and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he lovesfrom the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing theonly thing he has left…his soul.

Available for preorder at: Amazon
(Expected Publication: August 7th, 2012)
Find out more about Tara or Inbetween at: Tara's Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook
Tara's posted the first chapter on her website too, so head on down to check it out!:)

My Thoughts

Well, not a major fan of the cover, but I do love the model. She's really pretty!!:P And I love that green against the white, black and grey background. Lol, what do you think?

Review: Desperate Betrayal by Hildie McQueen

2012-02-19T23:12:00.002+08:00

Published Date: September 10th, 2011
Finished Date: Febuary 19th, 2012
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
Format: eBook for Tour
Series: The Protectors #1
My Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Author's Website

Blurb from Goodreads:
Cynden Frasier (Cyn) is a member of a group of immortal warriors, the Protectors, assigned to protect humans in Atlanta, Georgia, the epicenter of a major uprising in demon activity. When Cyn is approached by a beautiful woman in a dirty alley, he is intrigued by the fact that she can see him for what he is, a terrifying demon slayer, and still dares to approach him.

Emma Blake, a half-demon, has to convince Cyn to help rescue her sister from powerful demons. Terrified that the Protector will kill her if he realizes what she is, she still goes against every instinct and approaches Cyn for help. Despite knowing that she is leading them both into territory so wrought with treachery, neither of them may survive.

Can Cyn and Emma overcome betrayal, the ancient rules that prevent Protectors from taking a wife, unless she is his one true mate? And if they do, will it even matter?

My Review

My Summary
DESPERATE BETRAYAL is about a group of immortal men who took an oath to protect the innocent from demons who mean harm. They are all lethal, and highly-skilled in battle; They are all loyal towards one another and sexy-as-hell; They cannot marry unless it is a marriage arranged by their leader, Julian, or if it is with their life-mates; They are called the Protectors.

Cynden "Cyn" Fraser is one such man. Born three centuries ago in Scotland, he undergone the transformation and took the oath to become a Protector, and is now assigned to keep the demonic at Atlanta at bay. He was slaying a group of demons in an alley one day when Emma walked into the scene. She has been looking for him for quite some time now. Her sister's been held hostage by the Supreme demon, Gerard, and he wants Emma to lure Cyn into his den. Briana's all Emma has left, and so she agrees to this bargain.

Emma is a half-demon, borne of a high-level demon for a father and a human mother, and so naturally, she keeps her heritage a secret when she first confronts Cyn, afraid that it will incite a negative response from him. Cyn refuses to help her the first time, something about his senses tells him that something about her is amiss, and his immediate attraction to her isn't helping matters either. But the second time Emma manages to find him, he caves in to her request.

As Cyn and Emma sets out to track her sister down, sparks fly, but many treacheries and betrayals abound at the same time. It's hard to trust each other, but it's hard to refuse each other too. Worse still, survival at this point is not certain, put into account all the other lives that they are risking... They're in it big this time.

My Thoughts
Well, that was an awfully long summary. Lol, that aside, I must say that DESPERATE BETRAYAL's main fous seemed to centre around the romance between Cyn and Emma. Not that it was a bad thing, far from it, being the romance-junky that I am. In a way, the PROTECTORS series resembles the BDB series by J.R. Ward. Each instalment in the series is the story of one of the "brothers". Lots of action, but with a larger dose of romance.

Emma is the type of woman everyone wants to be - smart, loyal, beautiful (apparently, this is a prominent trait of hers as many of the boys seem to take note of this point), courageous, stronger than and not fully human, but not fully demon with a compassionate heart. She gave her all in saving her sister, even gave up her love life. Cyn on the other hand, is a tall, intimidating Protector who was fiercely protective, and not only was he skilled on the battlefield, but in bed too. He may appear cold and indifferent on the outside, but he's actually quite the passionate guy when they get down and dirty. Even though it was more of a lust-at-first-sight relationship, they did make a really cute and sweet pair.

As far as the plot goes, it was not bad. One thing I can say about it is, it doesn't drag. The first part of the book flowed smoothly, and I thought the character development and all were done really well, but it detoriated a little as we get to the end. There was one part where the whole scene got rather confusing, and the sentences became a little abrupt. Even though McQueen's style of writing changed at the end, I was still hooked to its pages. I think I can safely say I finished DB within two sittings. :)

I actually got the review copy of DB for its blog tour late, so I'm only reviewing it now, but it was really good! I'm tending more towards romance than action now (but not so far as to go for contemp romance with no action at all whatsoever), so if you're like me, you may want to try DB out. I'd say that DESPERATE BETRAYAL is a mix between the BDB series and the Curse of Gremdon by Ciara Knight. So if you're a fan of either one, you might like to try this out too. :)

My Rating

Indie Authors Spotlight (3)

2012-02-19T22:42:00.000+08:00

Marie Landry!

About Marie

Marie Landry has always been a daydreamer. She has created imaginary worlds for as long as she can remember, so it only seemed natural that she would become a writer. With a passion for words that started in early childhood, Marie has written a varied range of works, and has been freelance writing since 2009. She resides in Ontario, Canada, and most days you can find her writing, reading, blogging about writing and reading, listening to U2, or having grand adventures with her two precious nephews.

--Quoted from Marie's Goodreads Author Profile
--Photo from Marie's Blog

And her novel...

Blue Sky Days!

The Blurb

A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother - studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing - and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn't have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn't know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn't helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it's time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time.

When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes - he's unlike anyone she's ever met before, the kind of man she didn't even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don't always need a plan - sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be.

Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

(Marie is so kindly giving away 2 ecopies of Blue Sky Days. The copies will be part of the big giveaway at the end of this month with the rest of the other spotlighted authors.)

*Thanks for stopping by! Anybody interested in helping to promote Indie/self-pub authors? Then help do a Spotlight post, and link up in the linky thingy!:)*

Review: Savor by Megan Duncan

2012-02-18T11:20:00.000+08:00

Blurb from Goodreads:
When Claire Miller turned eighteen all she wanted to do was celebrate her birthday, but after a night on the town with her best friend she awakes to a visitor she never expected. The rulers of her region, a vampire royal family, have chosen her to be turned as their new heir and vampire princess. Claire quickly discovers the royal family is not what they seem and that she has secrets in her past, she never knew existed.

My Review

I saw that Duncan was having a giveaway for Indulge (Warm Delicacy #2) at her blog, and it was an impulse decision to join that giveaway since I haven't read the first book yet, and when I won the giveaway, I requested a review copy for Savor. And damn if I regretted my choice; I was surprisingly hooked to Savor! I couldn't put it down, till it was 2 in the morning and I was afraid to die by my parents' hands! I genuinely liked this fairytale-ish novel.

SAVOR is about a girl, Claire Miller, who turned eighteen and had to officially start donating blood at the local hospital for the vampire population's needs. Nothing too exciting happened until the day after when a vampire under the ruling vampire family paid Clair and her mom a visit, claiming that Claire's blood is "perfect", and that she is chosen to join the ruling family as their daughter and heiress. Not given much of a choice, Claire packs up her bags and is whisked away to the palace.

I really liked the fairytale element in here. I've been fixating my reading preferences to Paranormal Romance and action for quite some time now, but once in a while, I do love a YA dreams-come-true, commoner-turn-beautiful-princess novel. Not to say that this book is all about the clouds and daisies, there are the dangers and conflicts that Claire has to face as a vampire princess, as the palace houses traitors and jealous hearts.

There was the subtle bits of romance in SAVOR that I thought was really sweet too. The first friendly male vampire that she saw, aside from King Nicolae Noire, Dmitri was friendly and helpful; Although he liked to tease Claire a lot, he's still a good guy. I wouldn't go on much about him, cause he's not the one that I'm rooting for. So the next love interest comes in the form of Arrick. Initially only a shadow in her garden, a mysterious stranger who looked out for her, now Claire's Blood Mate, the one who swears allegiance to her, and also her protector. Not only is Arrick hot, his fierce protectiveness and competence just ups the heat whenever Claire's with him.

Aside from the romance, there's also the twists in plots and curveballs thrown at us. I couldn't fathom who the betrayer was until quite late in the book, although the part where all wa revealed was a little overly-dramatic. However, I liked the second-guessings I had to do while reading SAVOR, and that the storyline flowed smoothly from start to end.

There are three things that I spotted in SAVOR which I found unpleasant:

Firstly is Claire's rather smooth transition from the day-is-night, night-is-day routine where the vamps functioned only at night. She was still a human, and she shouldn't have been able to adapt so quickly. Night time is when our body and our organs start to "recuperate", in a way, and she will tax her liver and other organs too much if she does that.

Secondly, there were the numerous puntuation errors! The first few times I encountered some minor ones, I overlooked it and continued reading. But as the story progressed and still there were errors here and there, I noted it down to be mentioned in my review. Hm, editor, what were you doing when this book was undergoing those proofreadings and editing?

Thirdly, Duncan's style of writing was a little teenager-ish. Ok, this book is under YA Lit, but I'd much prefer reading a more mature writing style.

Apart from those listed above, I thought SAVOR was a really enjoyable and light read that readers can try picking up if you think you're in need of a break after all the intense, dark thrillers or PNR books. Even though there were things that didn't suit my tastes, I was honestly hooked to its pages for most parts of the book.

Random Musings:

If you've read the book, then you'd be familiar with this phrase:

"My last thought of the night was how excited I was that I was finally eighteen and from here on out, everything would finally start going my way." --Chapter one, page 23 of eBook.

I found it so amusing and ominously obvious that after this phrase that things will most definitely not go her way. Just saying.

My Rating

Desperate Betrayal Blog Tour: Book Promo (Excerpt)

2012-02-14T21:20:00.003+08:00

Introducing...

Hildie McQueen!

About Hildie

I write Paranormal Romance, with a touch of Historical here and there. I am a member of Romance Writers of America, as well as Georgia Romance Writers and Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Chapters of RWA.

For fun I spend a lot of time with my girlfriends. My wonderful hubby is my partner in crime for traveling. We love to jump in the car or sometimes his motorcycle and head to the mountains, the city or the beach.

And her AMAZING novel:

Desperate Betrayal!

The Blurb

Cynden Frasier (Cyn) is a member of a group of immortal warriors, the Protectors, assigned to protect humans in Atlanta, Georgia, the epicenter of a major uprising in demon activity. When Cyn is approached by a beautiful woman in a dirty alley, he is intrigued by the fact that she can see him for what he is, a terrifying demon slayer, and still dares to approach him.

Emma Blake, a half-demon, has to convince Cyn to help rescue her sister from powerful demons. Terrified that the Protector will kill her if he realizes what she is, she still goes against every instinct and approaches Cyn for help. Despite knowing that she is leading them both into territory so wrought with treachery, neither of them may survive.

Can Cyn and Emma overcome betrayal, the ancient rules that prevent Protectors from taking a wife, unless she is his one true mate? And if they do, will it even matter?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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An Excerpt for Desperate Betrayal

“Turn around.” His smooth voice flowed over her like velvet.

Emma tried to swallow but her mouth went dry. She turned to find he stood very close.

God help her, she’d never seen a more handsome man than the one who stood before her now. Her body screamed for his touch. She wanted to be with him, her skin against his. But she wouldn’t sleep with him as a form of payment.

What if during sex he sensed that she was part demon and killed her on the spot? But, then again, maybe he would kill her just for saying no.

She forced herself to remain calm, and placed her hand on his chest only to draw it back when the urge to caress him became too strong.

“Listen Cyn. I know most women throw themselves at you. I mean you’re extremely good-lo… but, I, – I am not going to have sex with you, right now. What happened before between us, out there in the alley was because of the rush from the adrenaline after your encounter with the demon…,”She stopped babbling, at a loss for words.

Cyn stood back with his arms crossed while he stared down at her, one eyebrow cocked. His lips curved into a crooked smile.

“I was going move the chair for you and ask you to come sit by the desk, so I could get some more information from you. But I see your mind is on other things.” He leaned in closer to her and his smile widened. “You said ‘not right now’, does that mean we’ll have sex later?”

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Ahahahaha, isn't that excerpt just so, um, hot? I love Cyn and Emma already! :D

See anything that caught your eye? You can visit Hildie at:

Her Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Forged in Fire Blog Tour: Guest Post + Giveaway

2012-02-14T20:41:00.000+08:00

Introducing...

Trish McCallan has been writing for as long as she can remember.

In grade school she wrote children’s stories, illustrated them with crayons and bound the sheets together with pencil-punched holes and red yarn. She used to sell these masterpieces at her lemonade stand for a nickel a book. Surprisingly, people actually bought them. Like, all of them. Every night she’d write a new batch for her basket.

As she got older her interest shifted to boys and horses. The focus of her literary masterpieces followed this shift. Her first full length novel was written in seventh grade and featured a girl, a horse and a boy. At the end of the book the teenage heroine rode off into the sunset . . . with the horse.

These days she sticks to romantic suspense with hot alpha heroes and roller-coaster plots. Since she is a fan of all things bizarre, paranormal elements always find a way into her fiction. Her current release, Forged in Fire, was the result of a Black Dagger Brotherhood reading binge, a cold, a bottle of NyQuil and a vivid dream.

You can find Trish at www.trishmccallan.com.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon Kindle

Forged in Fire

The Blurb

Beth Brown doesn’t believe in premonitions until she dreams a sexy stranger is gunned down during the brutal hijacking of a commercial airliner. When events in her dream start coming true, she heads to the flight’s departure gate. To her shock, she recognizes the man she’d watched die the night before.

Lieutenant Commander Zane Winters comes from a bloodline of elite warriors with psychic abilities. When Zane and two of his platoon buddies arrive at Sea-Tac Airport, he has a vision of his teammates’ corpses. Then she arrives—a leggy blonde who sets off a different kind of alarm.

As Beth teams up with Zane, they discover the hijacking is the first step in a secret cartel’s deadly global agenda and that key personnel within the FBI are compromised. To survive the forces mobilizing against them, Beth will need to open herself to a psychic connection with the sexy SEAL who claims to be her soul mate.

Nominated For 2011’s Best Paranormal Romance by The Romance Review!

“Forged In Fire is a smoking hot adventure with an irresistible alpha hero. Danger, action, suspense, and a steamy romance make a story that’s impossible to put down!” –Patti O’Shea, National Bestselling Author of Through a Crimson Veil

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When the Muse Pulls a One-Eighty

By Trish McCallan, author of Forged in Fire

There I was back in February of 2010; hammering away at a manuscript I loved, laughing like a loon as I hit the midway point in revisions. I got a huge kick out of this book. It made me laugh. I could not wait to get this puppy revised, and out on submissions so I could start on the second book in the series.

And then I made a big mistake. The biggest mistake an author can make. Well, at least the biggest mistake this author could make. I read Dark Lover by J.R. Ward, the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I’ve since heard that the BDB books should be handled with extreme caution: with gloves, a full face mask, perhaps even a hazmat suit. Why? Because these books are the purest, most lethal form of book crack available. The characters and world can infect you through something as simple as skin to cover contact.

There is even a rumor (but don’t quote me on this) that the FDA is trying to force Ward to put a warning label on the cover of her BDB books. Something like: Warning this book will cause lack of sleep, walking around in a daze, unfavorable comparisons to your current male partner)

You’re laughing. But I’m not kidding. These books are addictive!

I picked up Dark Lover because I was curious. That’s all. I had no interest in reading the actual series. For God’s sake, I didn’t even like vampires. Blood drinking, biting…ewwwwww.

The only reason I picked the book up was because a friend had mentioned that J.R. Ward was Jessica Bird and I got all nostalgic. I used to love Jessica Bird books back when I read Category romances. After the nostalgia passed, I got curious. Was her dark paranormal voice similar to her category voice? Yep, I picked the book up out of idle curiosity. I had no intention of reading the rest of the series.

One page into Dark Lover I pried myself loose long enough to go online and order every single book in the series. I express shipped them so I’d have them the next day. I read Dark Lover that night, stayed up until 3am in the morning because I couldn’t put it down. And when I finally did finish and tried to get some sleep, alpha vampire warriors filled my dreams.

To say I loved the books is an understatement. To say I was addicted is an understatement.

For the next week—like any good crack addict—I existed without sleep or food, sustained by The Black Dagger Brotherhood. Once I’d finished the books, I immediately went back and reread them because I just wasn’t ready to let the brotherhood go. And every single night dreams of mountainous vampire warriors filled my sleep.

My own book suffered. Hell—my own book died. I had no interest in it anymore. It wasn’t funny, it didn’t tickle me, no sir—it was boring and bland and most definitely not the Black Dagger Brotherhood. This continued for weeks, it continued for so long I became convinced the BDB had ruined me for any other fiction. Including my own.

Then as lack of sleep, lack of food and severe blood loss and sexual exhaustion from hosting the brotherhood—(okay a girl can daydream can’t she?)—is wont to do, I got a cold. A bad one. I loaded up on Nyquil and slept the clock way.

And I dreamed.

Every. Single. Night.

About men who laid their lives on the line without hesitation, who protected those unable to protect themselves, and who loved with fierce determination. I dreamed about a brotherhood of alpha warriors who would step in front of a missile for someone they loved; without blinking, without thinking, on pure instinct. They were the quintessential hero.

Only these alpha warriors weren’t from the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

They weren’t even vampires.

They were navy SEALs instead. Officers of ST7.

A new obsession was born. As powerful, as addictive, as pervasive as the BDB had been. Only these were my heroes, my stories to tell. I lost interest in the Black Dagger Brotherhood and sank into my own world. My own heroes. My own brotherhood.

It took me a year to write Forged in Fire, the first book in the Forged series and my obsession never wavered. Instead, it grew stronger every day. It’s still there, a pressurized force inside me, urging me to get started on Forged in Ice, book number two in the series.

I don’t know what switch the Black Dagger Brotherhood flipped on inside me, but something happened.

And I couldn’t be happier.

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Giveaway Time!

1 lucky winner here at ABS will win a paperback copy of Forged in Fire. (How awesome is that?! Haha) Giveaway is for US mailing addresses only, and it'll last for 1 week on 2/21.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview with Coral Moore and Brand + Giveaway

2012-02-12T10:51:00.000+08:00

Introducing...

Coral Moore!

About Coral

Coral Moore has always been the kind of girl who makes up stories. Fortunately, she never quite grew out of that. She writes because she loves to invent characters and the desire to find out what happens to her creations drives the tales she tells.

Prompted by a general interest in how life works, her undergraduate schooling was in biology. She follows science news and enjoys conversations about genetics and microbiology as much as those about vampires and werewolves. Coral writes speculative fiction and is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Writing at Albertus Magnus College.

Currently she lives in Connecticut with the love of her life, who offers both encouragement and kicks in the tail when necessary. Also in residence are two mammals of the families Canidae and Felidae.

She released her first novel, Broods of Fenrir, in November 2011. Her next release, Elements of Rebellion, is due out in spring 2012.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+ | LibraryThing | Shelfari | Twitter

And her novel:

Broods of Fenrir!

The Blurb

Shapeshifter Brand Geirson was raised to rule the Broods of Fenrir, but he refused his birthright. Instead, he killed their brutal leader–his own father–and walked away.

For hundreds of years he’s avoided brood society, until a werewolf kills an innocent human woman and Brand finds himself dragged back into the violent politics of the shapeshifters. When the two brood women who mean the most to him come under threat, he must take up the throne and risk becoming the kind of vicious bastard his father was, or let the broods descend further into chaos–taking the friend he swore to protect and his lover with them.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
(See my review HERE)

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CYP: Hey guys, thanks for coming to the blog!

I'll interview your creator first, so you two can lovey-dovey together for awhile.:) Haha, *turns to Coral*. Coral, tell me about yourself, say, in 1 sentence.

Coral: I am an unapologetic coffee addict and science geek who writes speculative fiction.

CYP: All that caffeine!! Haha, what do you like to do when you're not hard at work writing the very exciting - albeit a little gory, brutal and romantic - life of Brand and Dagny? *snickers*

Coral: Mostly, I like to watch movies and read. I picked up crocheting recently which is interesting, but I’m terrible at it. I also like to bake and draw.

CYP: Hey, I got obsessed with knitting and crocheting a few years back, so I went on youtube to learn how. :D Bit you have so many hobbies! Has your dream always been to be an author?

Coral: No, I’ve wanted to be dozens of different things. When I first met my husband he joked about how I wouldn’t be happy until I had a different job every week. Choosing writing is good for people like me, I think, because you get to experience different worlds and jobs every day.

CYP: Lol, what were your previous dreams?

Coral: Architect, Veterinarian, Artist, Marine Biologist, Computer Programmer, Animal Trainer, wait how long a list did you want? *grin*

CYP: Err...... Lol, so many!! So what was the hardest part in your path to becoming an author?

Coral: Getting over the belief that everything I write is crap. It’s harder than you would think.

CYP: What age did you start penning down all those crazy ideas of yours?

Coral: The first time I wrote down a story was high school. I did a lot of dabbling with writing then, but I’d been making up stories in my head for a few years previous to that.

CYP: That's cool. It shows that this path has kinda always been there in your life. Is Broods of Fenrir the first novel you ever wrote? Any that didn't get published?

Coral: Broods is actually the third novel I finished. There is one I finished second called Elements of Rebellion that will be out this spring, and the first one will never see the light of day. It was really terrible. *shakes head* Really, really terrible.

CYP: Aww, better luck with that one! Maybe you could try other publishers? Don't give up! You never know what will happen if you keep trying. :) Anyway, I am quite curious, what is the inspiration behind those two's *nods at Brand and Dagny* creation?

Coral: The inspiration for Brand specifically I don’t remember, he was floating around in my head for few months before I ever wrote a word. I can tell you that the first words I ever wrote about him were a 1800s era story taking place in the Canadian wilderness. He was escaping from a party of humans who had discovered he was a werewolf and wanted to hunt him down because they thought he’d killed a woman in their town. I still hope to publish that story at some point because I liked a lot about it.

Dagny’s introduction is even more convoluted. She originally started out as a minor character, but once I’d thrown her and Brand together in a tense situation, I realized they complimented each other too well for me to write her out.

CYP: Yeah, they ARE really compatible. Both strong in their own ways. Did you base any of your characters on real life people/experiences? Brand the big, menacing, intimidating alpha male; Dagny the strong and fiery heroine; Alice the weak, yet smart and very compassionate victim who's the best friend of our big alpha male over there; Erik the very testosterone-y best who almost fought with Brand when Brand saved him?

Coral: Not really, no. There are aspects of every character that are ‘me’ in one sense or another, but I don’t base my characters on people. I know my characters much better than I know any real life person for one thing, because I’m not only in the character’s head, I made their head.

CYP: Is what they are now what you originally thought about them? What changed?

Coral: Oh no. Brand’s been in my head for a couple of years now, and he started out quite a bit different. He was actually much more like Erik turned out at first, very over-Alpha and reactive. Over the course of writing I figured out a few things that happened in his past and how that would have shaped who he is now.

CYP: Mm, but I do like alpha males.. Haha. Why such a cold, brutal world? Why not hearts and daisies?

Coral: I’m glad you asked this! For me, I find a dark world more interesting than one that with hearts and puppies. I also like to make my characters overcome terrible things. The worse the world around them, the harder they have to try to win in the end. That makes a more rewarding story when the characters triumph in the end, I think.

CYP: Yeah, that makes sense. And yes, it was very sweet how Brand and Dagny were together in the end. *Turns to Brand and Dagny*

Hey guys, so how're you feeling today? About the interview? Did Coral drag both of you down today against you will? (haha, kidding!) How's Gunni and Erik?

Brand: Erik is a bit more testy than usual. He’s always had a short fuse, but these days he lashes out at everyone. Bera’s pregnancy is freaking him out, I think. Gunni I’m concerned about, he still hasn’t come out of wolf form.

Dagny: (takes Brand’s hand) He’ll be okay.

CYP: So, um, Brand, you're the star of Broods of Fenrir, tell me what's it about?

Brand: (shrugs) It’s about my life.

Dagny: (laughs) I think she deserves a better answer than that. Let me. (pats Brand’s leg) It’s about his struggle against the barbaric nature of our society and his attempt to convince the powerful among us that fear is not the only way to inspire leadership.

Brand: You’re giving me entirely too much credit.

CYP: So modest, huh, Brand? Haha, I'm just messing with you. Looking back, it's been quite a journey. So much blood shed and so much heartache, but with sprinklings of romance and joy. How do you feel about everything so far?

Brand: I’m angry.

Dagny: (sighs) Sorry, he’s not normally this difficult. (Brand grumbles and she turns to him) Well, you’re being snippy. We’re here to answer questions.

Brand: I’m no good at self-reflection. Why don’t you just take those questions?

Dagny: (nods and returns her attention to the interview) What makes him mad is that so many are depending on him and he feels like he’ll let them down.

CYP: What are your thoughts about your life being published, about people reading about you and yours and Dagny's stolen moments together? What about you, Dagny? What do you think?

Dagny: It’s tough for him. He’s very private. The idea that people know the turmoil he deals with bothers him more than anyone reading about what happens between us when we’re alone.

Brand: (grins) Actually, I think that part is kind of hot. Does that make me an exhibitionist?

Dagny: I think it does.

*Everyone LOLs*

CYP: I assume both of you have settled down already (considering all the bad boys have been eliminated), what are y'all doing with all your free time? And where do you plan on settling down? Wanna make a brood of your own with each other *wriggles eyebrows*?

Brand: I’d like to stay in Denver, but I’m not sure that’s practical. Erik’s brood is one of the best, and if I’m really going to change our society I need to go to the ones that are the worst. That means we might be traveling for a while before we can settle in one place. (turns to Dagny) You want to take the second part? (Dagny shakes her head) We both have ample reason not to want to bring offspring into the world we currently live in.

CYP: Aww, but imagine miniature Brands and Dagnys! Anyway, just for a brief introduction, Brand, heard you're quite the tough guy around here. Your wolf's pretty strong and you are constantly having trouble containing it. How does it work? I mean, is it like a separate entity? When it takes control, are you still in control of your body? What is it like for you, Dagny?

Brand: It’s a bit like what human psychologists call multiple personality disorder. There’s another being inside of me. He’s irritable and has poor impulse control. Most of the time the wolf just rides around in my body and I barely notice, but when I get scared or angry he tries to take control to protect me. I think that’s what humans have a hard time understanding. The wolf isn’t evil, he’s just instinctual.

Dagny: Females generally have less trouble controlling our wolves, but it’s really a factor of the strength of that wolf spirit rather than gender. I have more trouble with mine than most females. Usually when the wolf takes over I can still sense everything going on around my body, I just don’t have control of my body anymore. Sometimes when the wolf takes over we black out and can’t remember what happened, but that’s pretty rare.

CYP: Why do y'all usually fight in human form? Why not shift into wolves which have a lot of natural advantages like keener senses and sharp claws?

Brand: A couple of reasons. Shifting takes time. On the full moon it takes only a few seconds, but more than a few days away it takes longer and can be quite painful.

Dagny: The two of us can shift at any moon phase, but most of the brood can’t shift at less than half unless Called.

CYP: Woah, I never knew you could shift at any moon phase too! That's just too awesome...

Brand: (nods) The other issue is one of control. It’s much easier for me to maintain control in human form. In wolf form if I get upset it’s almost impossible to get control back. The wolf can fight, but he’s not much of a strategist. I’d rather be able to think my way out of trouble than rely on my claws.

Dagny: Those who have a hard time shifting can also get caught. If they get hurt as a wolf they can’t turn back until they’ve recovered somewhat. Nobody wants to get stuck in wolf form longer than necessary because you can lose yourself.

CYP: Let's move on to the fun part of this interview! What were your first impressions of each other? When y'all first met at such an unpleasant scenario?

Brand: From the moment I first saw her I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

Dagny: (blushes) Well, I wasn’t in a very good place when we first met. I thought he was a domineering ass, just like the other males I’d known. Now I know he’s a very sweet, domineering ass.

Brand: (laughs) She always talks about my ass, everywhere we go.

Dagny: It is your best feature.

CYP: Lol?-.-

CYP: What are the most memorable memories that both of you have? Does not have to be from Broods of Fenrir.

Brand: The night we were mated. We spent the night in the snow under the moon. It was as near to a religious experience as I’ve ever had.

Dagny: (smiles) That’s a good choice, but I think my favorite memory came later. The second time we shared a wolf dream. That time we didn’t hunt.

Brand: (clears throat) I’d like to change my vote.

*Turns to face Coral, Brand and Dagny* Now, it's time for the rapid fire questions:

Favourite food?
Coral: Pizza
Brand: Venison
Dagny: Peanut Butter (grins sheepishly)

Favourite movie?
Coral: True Romance
Brand: Fight Club
Dagny: Underworld
Brand: She has the worst taste in movies. I mean, vampires?
Dagny: Seline is a tough female. I like her.
Brand: I might change my mind if I get to see you in a pair of those pants. (winks)
Dagny: You’re impossible.

Belgium chocolates or M&Ms?
Coral: Belgian. Yum.
Brand: I don’t think I’ve had either one…
Dagny: You’re such a man. (swats him playfully) M&Ms, but they have to be the peanut butter ones.
Brand: You and your peanut butter. (moves away from another swat from Dagny)

Favourite color?
Coral: Purple
Brand: Gray
Dagny: Blue
Coral: (rolls eyes) I’m not sure if that’s sweet or nauseating. You do realize they just picked each other’s eye color, right?
CYP: I'd go with corny.

Favourite person in the world? (*Hint hint*)
Coral: My husband, Ryan
Brand: Dagny
Dagny: Brand (laughs) We’re just a bunch of saps, aren’t we?

CYP: Okok, enough with the teasings and cheesiness. Any parting words to all those good readers out there, you three?

Coral: I’ll let Brand have the last word. I do so much talking for them.

Brand: Take advantage of every minute with the ones you love. (pulls Dagny into a snuggle against his side)

Thanks again for coming!:D

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Giveaway Time!!

Coral is so kindly giving away 2 ecopies of BROODS OF FENRIR to two lucky commenters! Following is not mandatory, just leave a meaningful comment and your name's in the ballot. :) Giveaway is international and will end in one week's time on 2/12.

Indie Authors Spotlight (2)

2012-02-12T10:46:00.001+08:00

Indie Authors Spotlight is a BRAND NEW weekly meme that will be held every SATURDAY. It is hosted by Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment & CYP @ A Bookalicious Story. The idea of this meme is to promote indie authors and to help them and their books get recognized. This will be a great way for book bloggers to take part in helping these authors be spotlighted for their hard work. Below you will find a list of rules to follow to be able to take part in this meme.

Introducing...

John R. Ford!

About John

Writer of Christian fiction for people who don't like Christian fiction.
Gritty, realistic, and fully developed characters. Speculative stories told with a wicked and slightly warped sense of humor. If Kurt Vonnegut and Anne Lamott had a baby, this is the neighborhood where she would grow up.

And his novel:

Splitting Adam

The Blurb

Ever wonder what would happen if Frank Capra had directed Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Find out in Splitting Adam!

After a soul-crushing thirtieth birthday party, Pastor Adam Tyler, the hopelessly single son of a single mom, is given a chance to see what the world would be like without him. But surprisingly, rather than just an Adam-less world, he finds instead that he has been replaced by two others, each man his ″half-self.″ One, the child of his mother, is a wealthy and successful businessman. The other, the child of the father Adam has never known, is a movie-quoting, streetwise con man. It seems the only things these two have in common are Adam’s DNA, and that both are on a collision course for Deep Trouble. With a hand from his crusty guardian angel, it’s up to Adam to rescue them. But is he up to the task? And can he find his way home again?

This hilarious journey of half-self-discovery is the lovechild of Kurt Vonnegut and Anne Lamott, and is sure to delight all who enjoy a trip into the magical land of "what if?"

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Into the Light

The Blurb

A group of people with nothing in common ... except they are dead, find themselves on a voyage toward a mysterious mountain. They don't know where they are going. They may never arrive. They have to learn to work together or else they may all fail, and if they do so, they will be stranded forever in the darkness.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

(John is so kindly giving away 3 ecopies of Splitting Adam. The copies will be part of the big giveaway at the end of this month with the rest of the other spotlighted authors.)

*Thanks for stopping by! Anybody interested in helping to promote Indie/self-pub authors? Then help do a Spotlight post, and link up in the linky thingy!:)*

Review: Broods of Fenrir by Coral Moore

2012-02-11T17:27:00.002+08:00

Published Date: November 20th, 2011
Finished Date: January 27th, 2012
Publisher: Bared Teeth Publishing
Format: Paperback
Pages: 213
My Rating: 4/5
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Author's Website

Blurb from Goodreads:
Shapeshifter Brand Geirson was raised to rule the Broods of Fenrir, but he refused his birthright. Instead, he killed their brutal leader–his own father–and walked away.

For hundreds of years he’s avoided brood society, until a werewolf kills an innocent human woman and Brand finds himself dragged back into the violent politics of the shapeshifters. When the two brood women who mean the most to him come under threat, he must take up the throne and risk becoming the kind of vicious bastard his father was, or let the broods descend further into chaos–taking the friend he swore to protect and his lover with them.

My Review

My Summary
The world of the broods is a terrible, cold, heartless one, with leaders and earls who control their broods through fear. Brand was raised in such an environment, his father being the King of all the broods. His father was a heartless bastard who tortured his mother and friend, and for that, Brand killed him and left the world of the broods.

Now, Brand is working alone to keep his world secret to the humans and to silence all those shapeshifters who's as much a bastard as his own father was. He meets Dagny, daughter of an old friend now turned a little looney from all the torture that Brand's father put her through. She's tougher and braver than most males shifters out there, yet also very compassionate and sensual. And when Dagny is forced to return to the cruel earl of her former brood, Brand has no choice but to face his people again, enter their violent politics and acknowledge his birthright as King.

My Thoughts
BOF is a relatively short novel. It started out depicting the dark and bloody world that Brand lived in, but as the story progressed, the dynamics changed. I loved that subtle change as Dagny and his other friends entered the fray and we see small pockets of kindness, affection, and love. Especially in a such a violent world, any display of soft emotions is few yet all the more cherished and heartwarming.

We got to know more about the softer and more passionate side of Brand, his loyalty and devotion to his friends and loved ones. He was so sweet to Dagny even though they were amidst such gore and brutality. We got to know more about Alice, a weak shifter who was sold as a slave to a cruel shifter and then saved by Brand. She was very weak physically, but as events happened, Alice showed remarkable inner-strength. She's been Brand's closest companion for a hundred years and the way she and Brand talked to each other and teased each other even though one is a towering, mighty beast and the other a fragile female, they were really cute together. And then we got to know Dagny, fierce and courageous enough to butt heads with Brand's inner wolf. Together, Dagny and Brand made a formidable couple, and behind closed doors, both of them can really create some steam. More sexual tension though, since the action under their covers were not explicit and few.

I was expecting Alice to be Brand's mate, and was quite miffed when Dagny came into the picture. Lol, well, Alice is the gentle and kind heroine that's no longer common in Fiction novels nowadays, but thinking back, Alice wouldn't have been compatible with Brand cause he would have to be so cautious not to trample over her if they were indeed together.

The plot was well-planned and everything flowed out smoothly. Not to say that there weren't any curveballs thrown in, there were plenty, and I couldn't foresee anything that was to come. So much action, deception, and WOAH! The curveballs didn't only come in the form of betrayals and such, there was an unexpected side love story that was extremely heartwrenching. It pulled at my heartstrings, and I loved it so much. Then there was this totally unexpected death at the end that almost made me cry while I was reading it in public! I was waiting for my dental appointment and suddenly Moore came full-on with such a vivid, emotional scene! GAH, it was superbly well-written, I felt so keenly for the loss and actually teared. A very bittersweet ending. Amazing. (But I could have so done without it!!!! It isn't fair that _____ has to die!! D:<)

Just a few pointers that I picked out while reading BOF:

His calloused fingers moved over her cheek, rough, but gentle. --Pg 16 Um, rough but gentle?
Wolves drink blood. Ok, this is the very first time I've heard of that, but oh well.

Other than those points, I thought that BROODS OF FENRIR was a really nice Shapeshifter/Lycan tale, choked-full of action, suspense, romance, loyalty, and friendship. The beginning was a little too gory and dry, and I considered give the book a 3 star rating, but then as I continued reading it, it was a clear 4 or maybe 4.5. As I've mentioned previously, the change in dynamics was very subtle, but it made the book all the more engrossing. Every part of this book was intense, and I'd recommend this book to any reader who likes Paranormal Romance and a little Mystery/Thriller to go along with it.

Random Musings:

The book's paper quality is very good. It's thicker and smoother than most books'. Lol. And the BOF bookmarks are BEAUTIFUL, I tell you! I was so surprised by it when I received it in my mail.

My Rating

The Outsiders Trilogy Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway

2012-02-11T02:27:00.000+08:00

Introducing...

F.A. Hershey!

About FA

Of Italian background, I was born and raised in Brazil and had strong influences from my grandmother, who had always been an avid reader herself, and who first introduced me to the path of literature.

I created a lifetime bond with my great-grandmother, who gave me my first insights into philosophy (though neither of us knew there was a name for it).

The first book that made me officially an obsessive reader is called “My sweet orange tree” by Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos.

After that, I could not put a book down.

I only started writing when I came to London in 2003. Ever since High School back in Brazil, I’ve loved studying English like nothing else. But when I came to live in England there was that “click”, and I thought: why not?

I’m also studying for a BA Hons Degree in English Language and Literature (what a surprise…), while looking after my son of 6 years old, and my dear husband who always supports my ideals.

--Quoted from FA's Blog

And her creations:

Swirls!
The Outsiders Trilogy #1

The Blurb

Sixteen-year-old Julia finds herself leaving her London life behind to move with her parents to the Amazon jungle.

A native descendant, she becomes familiarized with her own roots for the first time in her life. However, she never imagines she is about to discover much more than her own past but also just how crowded our little planet is...

This is a present time sci-fi/ fantasy story about trust, friendship, love and self-discovery.

Threads!
The Outsiders Trilogy #2

The Blurb

Months after Julia Ixel first moved to the Amazon forest, she never thought her life could have become so messed up. She now faced the challenge of putting back together the remainder of her family even if it came with a heavy cost. …

As she follows her path to unravel the truth about old alliances, Julia will get deeper and deeper into the hidden world of the Guardians.

She will find answers whether she wants to know them or not.

She will hold on to love if it’s the last thing she does.

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Hi FA, thanks for coming to the blog today! Can you tell me about yourself, say, in 1 sentence?

I’m a young mother, writer, wife, lover of books with a teenager soul.

What do you like to do when you're not being an author?

I love reading (what a shocker!), watching TV (I have a few favourite TV series in many different genres that I like to see over and over again: sometimes I feel like watching Charmed, but I can be in the mood for Little House in the Prairie, then maybe House (note the contrast). I often feel like going back to the past an watch Bewitched or Get Smart (the OLD series...hehe), and when the weather is nice we all like go to the park to play with the dog (an Old English Mastiff named Conan, who stays inside the house way too long for his own good), or go out in a family-friendly restaurant.
But mostly, I like to stay in and spend time with my family.

(*Gasp* Yes, that reading part was a shocker! Haha.) But that sounds really nice and relaxing. Has your dream always been to be an author?

Nope. I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian, a lawyer, a judge, a fashion designer, until I realised my true passion: the English language. I’ve always been a nerd (as my friends from school frequently pointed out to me) and so studying has never been a chore to me. I’ve become a teacher of English as a Second Language and am pursuing my degree in English Language and Literature. It was only recently (about 3 years ago) that I had that “click”, and realised I had become a writer! 

Same! I have so many ambitions too! But I think I will stick to science though, cause I still think it's ultra fun. :D What was the hardest part in your path to becoming an author?

It does get lonely sometimes, and so it’s quite easy to get unmotivated and think about giving up altogether. I think this kind of feeling happens to most writers, but when you overcome it, it feels like a victory.

What age did you start penning down all those crazy ideas of yours?

I was 23 when I had this crazy dream (Julia’s dream) and decided to make a novel out of it. I had been jotting down a few short stories outlines about a ghost named Hugh, and I have also started to work on a “mini novella” called Ethan Trevena Chronicles, which is a ten-part short story about the life of a human turned vampire. I’m still working on it, but my focus has turned to The Outsiders Trilogy for the moment. The first 3 parts of Ethan Trevena Chronicles are available to download on my blog for free. They are also available through my Goodreads profile. 

Is SWIRLS the first novel you ever wrote? Any that didn't get published?

Yes. Swirls is my debut novel. I decided to go Indie from the beginning and I’m happy to have done so. There are so many amazing self-pub stories out there! This is a new era for Indie writers.

Agreed, man! There are quite some self-pub books which are indeed awesome. Like Promises by Amber Garr. Seriously, if she didn't tell me it was self-pubed, I wouldn't even have guessed! Anyway, can you briefly give the gist of SWIRLS?

Swirls is a story that follows the abrupt and unexpected changes in Julia’s life and the path she takes in order to understand her own existence as a human being.
There is a lot of the science fiction and fantasy genre in Swirls but the main thing here is to focus on the daily struggles of a very unique teenage girl of sixteen.
You can expect a spot of romance, of course, but not in a mellow kind of way, as this will be a very unique sort of romance. There might be a love triangle, but then, there might not... 
Julia’s relationship with her family is one of constant love and constant struggle. Her Grandma is her fortress, while her mother only holds the title as a technicality.
Strong friendship is what holds her together.
Julia is Kanuayed tribe descendant, so her going back to the Amazon – to her roots – will be the first step into understanding what’s changing in her.

OOHOOOH Amazon and love triangles!!!!!! My favourite.... Haha, what was the inspiration behind SWIRLS? Why the Amazon?

It all started with this dream I had of being abducted. It was the most vivid dream I have ever had and I will never forget it. When I decided to make a book out of it, I tried to think of the context in which this idea could successfully develop. As I grew up learning a lot about the native tribes of the Amazon since Primary school, the idea of adding the Amazon forest and tribe folklore into the plot just made perfect sense to me. The Kanuayed tribe is a fictional native community from the Amazon forest that I have created from scratch.

You dreamt of being abducted...Hmm, scary dream... Lol, did you base any of your characters on real life people/experiences? Which ones?

I like to think of my characters as a collage of traces of everyone I’ve ever met or maybe just passed by on the streets. But there is one character that is based on a real person. Halola is a lot like my best friend back from High School (who I still keep in touch these days) but she doesn’t know that she’s inspired me to create Lola. I have only great memories of her, and especially her bubbly and carefree personality.

Wow, you must've been really close! That's so cool. I wish I was written in a book... Hahaha, kidding! Which is your favourite quote from SWIRLS?

“The gift of protection has been given to the noble, brave and pure-hearted.
Generations to come will benefit from their leaders,
To find wisdom, harmony and togetherness,
And truly live in peace.”

(Inside info: This quote was taken from the folk tales of the Kanuayed tribe history book, written by one of the tribe’s most ancient and cherished leaders, Nahuatl. We’ll learn more about him in Threads (The Outsiders #2)).

Hm, that's really philosophical and deep... Which character did you enjoy writing about the most?

It’s hard to say. I love each and every one of them. I wish I could have said more about Gabriel. Back when I was planning the trilogy I even thought about telling Julia’s story through Gabriel’s perspective, but then I had a feeling that Julia could be seriously misunderstood, as she isn’t a very easy person to read. She can be quite whiny and introspective in a very unpleasant sort of way.
Halola is always light and fun. Sometimes I think that Julia and Lola are like two perfect pieces of a puzzle. Isn’t it amazing when you have a best friend that is more like a sister? It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, you know there will always be this person who will be there for you no matter what? That’s Lola. So I love writing about her.
Yoji is one of my best advisors. He is always overlooking my decisions, tsking and nodding, consoling me and scolding me whenever he sees fit. ;-)

Hahaha, it's like he has a life of his own!!! But he does seem very, um, of the intellectual type. :P Any parting words to the readers?

If you’ve read this interview so far, I want to say a big fat thank you to you for taking your time to find out more about this new trilogy and this new author that is only just beginning. And I hope that you will give Swirls a try!

Where can readers buy your books?

Here are the links to get your copy of Swirls: The Outsiders #1:

Amazon US – Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Swirls-The-Outsiders-ebook/dp/B0058EAGYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315395327&sr=8-1
Amazon US – Print: http://www.amazon.com/Swirls-Outsiders-F-Hershey/dp/1463652623/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1315395327&sr=8-2
Amazon UK – Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swirls-The-Outsiders-ebook/dp/B0058EAGYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315395256&sr=8-1
Endless digital formats!: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/86942
E-book: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/swirls-f-hershey/1104308450

Thank you, CYP, you rock! :-*

Thank you!!!! And, likewise. B)

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Fun interview!! Haha. Anyway, seen anything that caught your eye? If you'd like to find out more about FA, her books or the tour, you can visit her at:

FA's Blog | Tour Schedule | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway Time!

FA is so kindly giving away 1 ecopy of SWIRLS to one lucky ABS winner. Following is not mandatory - but it is highly encouraged :P - and this giveaway will last for 2 weeks, which ends on Feb 25th, 2012. Just fill in the Rafflecopter form below, and you're all good to go!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hiatus

2012-02-04T16:29:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, if you frequent the blog, you would've noticed I stopped posting a week or so ago. I've just enrolled into my pre-U/Junior College school, and will be busy as hell for the next two years. I'm still going to post all those blog tour posts which I have signed up for and maybe some memes, reviews and giveaways, but this blog will be quite barren for awhile. But after my hiatus, I will be back with MUCH more fun stuff. So if you want more current updates, you can follow me through Facebook or Twitter.

Thank you all for following, commenting and supporting this blog in one way or another! It really means a lot to me, and I hope to see you around again after my hiatus!:P

Till then, good luck and take care!

Curse of Gremdon Blog Tour: Review + Excerpt + Giveaway

2012-02-01T22:20:00.001+08:00

Introducing...

Ciara Knight!

About Ciara

Ciara Knight began her writing career in 2008. She writes to ‘Defy the Dark’ with her fantasy, paranormal, and dystopian books. Her first Young Adult Series, Battle for Souls, will be published by Turquoise Morning press, with her prequel novella, Love’s Long Shadow, releasing in October 2011. Followed by Rise From Darkness (Book I) in March 2012, Fall From Grace (Book II), and Ascension of Evil (Book III).

Also in 2012, her adult fantasy, Curse of Gremdon will be published by Crescent Moon Press.

When not writing, she enjoys reading all types of fiction. Some great literary influences in her life include Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, Francine Rivers and J K Rowling.

Her first love, besides her family, reading, and writing, is travel. She's backpacked through Europe, visited orphanages in China, and landed in a helicopter on a glacier in Alaska. --Quoted from Ciara's Goodreads Author Profile

And her novel in the spotlight:

The Curse of Gremdon!

The Blurb

In a world where marriage is forbidden, sex is only granted to male warriors, and the outer realm is full of murderous creatures, Arianna fights to protect the life of her only living relative, her brother.

Tardon, an elite warrior, is granted anything he desires by the Elders, but finds little joy in the voluptuous women presented to him. Born for the bloodlust found only in battle, complicated emotions emerge when he discovers his equal in the alluring warrior, Arianna.

Charged by the Elders with saving the castle from attack, Tardon and Arianna risk the curse when they traverse the vast outer realm to retrieve serum from the Tree of Life. If successful, the Elders have promised Tardon the right to marry and Arianna the cure for her brother’s death fever. Will their love carry them through or will the discovery of a great deception be their ultimate demise?

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An Excerpt:

Three guards pinned Tardon to the floor. He clawed at the damp stone but with so little space in the dungeon hall he could not free himself.
Tardon’s heart nearly burst from his chest at the sound of Arianna’s voice. Ten men wouldn’t be enough to keep him away.
A guard lashed him with his whip but Tardon continued to fight.
“Restrain yourself or the whip will be taken to Arianna’s cell.” The man in the Elder’s cape stepped in the direction he had heard Arianna’s voice.
Tardon’s back stiffened with concern. Yes, the whip stung and caused him to stumble, but the thought of it touching Arianna’s soft skin brought him to his knees. “I will obey.”

Screams rang from a nearby room and he instinctively tensed. Staring at the wall, he wondered what sort of torture occurred on the other side. And if, perhaps, a similar fate awaited him. Or Arianna
One of the guards cracked the whip in the air to regain Tardon’s undivided attention. “He is being punished for unspeakable crimes, so have no pity for the wailing of a madman when he brought it upon himself.”
He stopped fighting and allowed the guards, each holding one of his arms, to pull him down the hall.
“I am Saldor, an Elder advisor. On my honor, I assure you, there is no reason for you to worry. She will confess, and you will be free to return to your prior status.”
Tardon shouldered the guards in each of their ribs, sending both into the stone walls. Dirt and dust grew thick in the air.
Even if he had been chained like a beast he still could have snapped their worthless necks. Fire erupted inside him as he stood, his nose almost touching the man who had threatened Arianna, yet Saldor did not flinch.
The guards hit him from behind and he fell to his knees again. Heavy walls closed in on him. Iron cuffs snapped around his wrists.
“I see this does not please you. Every warrior wishes to maintain his status. You would risk your honor for mere pleasure?”
Tardon’s blood boiled. “She is not pleasure granted by the Elders—”
“You are right. She was a warrior that bewitched you.”
He shook off the swirling in his head and tried to stand, but the guards kept him on his knees.
“No magic,” Tardon said. “I am to blame for what the Elders thought they witnessed—”
“Thought? They found her almost naked in your chamber, yet you speak of no pleasure?” Saldor motioned for the guards to drag Tardon into a cell.
They dropped him on his side and the door clanked shut. He rose to his feet, smacking his head on a wooden beam. Still, he charged the iron bars and pressed his throbbing head against the cool metal.
Saldor still watched him, his lined face unreadable. “The Elders will not accept your explanation—”
“We are innocent.”
“You are not innocent.”
Tardon’s mind raced at Saldor’s accusations. He had done nothing to betray the laws he fought to protect. Yes, he had come close to breaking the law, but he had not committed the act. “You make false accusations about a warrior. You could be put to death for such lies. I have broken no laws!”
“You still profess your innocence?” Saldor’s brows lowered.
“Yes.”
“Here is the Elder’s proof.” Saldor summoned a guard; he took a large object from the man then tossed it at Tardon’s feet.
Tardon swallowed, staring in horror at the old book he’d hidden so carefully all these seasons.
The book, his grandfather’s book, the book of dreams, rested on the dirty ground as proof he had betrayed the Elders. Tardon fell to his knees and stroked the fading cover. The Elders would never listen to the truth now.
“Tell them I forced her.” He could barely choke the words out. He quivered inside at the notion of harming Arianna. Still, a confession would release her from a place no woman should find herself. If she stayed in the dungeon, it wouldn’t be long before one of the guards disobeyed and forced themselves on her. He swallowed down the rise of bile and impending doom. At least destroying his honor to save her life would allow him to die with purpose.
“You seal not only your own fate, but all of your family with a confession of such disgrace.”
“I have no family.” Arianna’s delicate features played in his mind. “I confess, I—”
Saldor clutched the hilt of his sword and studied Tardon for a moment. “The Elders will never allow this. People of the castle will demand the woman be put to death and the true male warrior returned to his calling.”
“I will confess in front of all the inhabitants. Take me now. No reason to prolong my fate or Arianna’s suffering.”
Saldor stroked his chin. “I will take this to the Elders if you answer a question for me.”
Tardon nodded.
“Do you love her?” Saldor’s words hung in the air for a long, breathless moment.
“Love is forbidden.” Tardon shifted his weight between his knees.
“No, sex and marriage with a female warrior are forbidden. That is all the written law states.”
Tardon’s mind reeled, wondering what possible tricks this man played, but nothing fit. Saldor spoke the truth.
“Yes, I love her.” Tardon cleared his throat and spoke with pride. “Yes, I love her, and if that is a crime it will be one more reason to throw me to the fires and spare the true warrior, Arianna.”
“Not when she loves you, too.” Saldor turned and walked up the steps to the castle, suddenly leaving Tardon to his writhing emotions.
The man spoke falsehoods. Arianna knew nothing of love or marriage. She’d only caught a glimpse of his book, and her parents died seasons ago when she was still a child. He dragged his fingers through his matted hair, trying to steady his mind. Chain links clanked as he sat on the hard floor, resting his arms on his lap. Dirt and dry blood covered his hands, the same hands that had caressed every inch of Arianna’s body mere hours before.
Light from the low morning sun seeped through the bar-covered hole at the top of the cell wall. Merchants’ slippered feet brushed the pavement outside, scurrying to open their shops.
Head hung low, he closed his eyes to better envision Arianna’s soft, auburn hair. He remembered the smell of mint mixed with warrior blood and sweat, and he longed to have her in his arms again. She was like no other, a fierce competitor with a gentle touch. Maybe the fires would be the only way to keep Arianna safe from him. Never had he wanted someone before with such intensity. Just to taste her lips one more time…
Boots thudded against the stairs, and Saldor appeared in front of his cell. “The Elders have spoken. A public trial and the people will decide.”
*Tardon choked down his grief. To stand as a criminal before the people he once protected was the only way to save Arianna. The people worshiped him, maybe even more than the Elders did.
Saldor narrowed his gaze. “I have assured the Elders that you will not make a spectacle. You will come without incident or Arianna will suffer the consequences.”
Tardon pushed from the floor. Once out of the cell, he straightened and stretched the stiffness from his back. Maybe death would bring peace. As he shuffled to the courtyard above he knew the transition to the next life would be painful, but the afterlife did not frighten him.
They exited the tunnels and, even with the overcast skies, he still shielded his eyes from the sun, the brightness a stark contrast to the darkness of the dungeon.
Voices echoed down the cobblestone path that led to center court. When he reached the opening, all the inhabitants of the kingdom’s eyes were on him.
Many chanted his name. A dirty-faced woman tried to touch him.
Shouts erupted.
“Burn the woman!”
“She’s a witch!”
Hatred spread faster than death fever through the crowd. How quickly the people betrayed a woman who had protected their families from evil beyond the walls.
Shouts continued from the nameless, faceless crowd. Guards guided Tardon through the mass of people and he stepped onto the center block where most sentences were carried out. He opened his mouth and the crowd fell silent in respect. As he stood there, needing to speak, burning to speak, no words flowed.
The inhabitants of the castle looked at him, waiting for his declaration of Arianna’s magical seduction. Arianna needs you. With a cough, he cleared his throat and raised his chin. “I speak to you today to clarify events, to answer the charges against myself and my fellow warrior, Arianna.”
“Send her to the fires!”
“She must burn!”
Tardon raised his bound hands to quiet the crowd, and he noticed fellow warriors lining the back wall. They stood with hard, blank stares as well-trained warriors should. His biceps strained as he pulled at the chains between his wrists. “I pray you, listen to my words. Arianna is a warrior and possesses no skills as a witch.”
“He lies,” a man’s voice carried from deep within the crowd.
“She still has him under her spell,” a woman shrieked.
“No! It was not Arianna who betrayed the Elders’ laws, but me.”
A hushed mumbling overtook the peasants, shopkeepers, and warriors. The ones Tardon had protected now stood in judgment over him.
“I…I confess to forcing myself on the innocent warrior Arianna.” Tardon choked on her name. The chains rattled but he steadied his shaking hands despite his longing to end this farce. Never had he witnessed so many faces contort in disgust at him. He’d been a person that others desired and idolized. Now he stood as a traitor to his people and a monstrous enemy to women.
“Burn him!”
Tardon sucked a welcome breath into his stale lungs. It worked. They believed him, Arianna would be spared.
“Burn them both!”
“Yes, burn them both! Neither is innocent.”
“Bring the woman out!” one voice rang loud. Then the words spread like fleas on a donkey, and the crowd chanted, “Burn them both! Burn them both!”
His gut twisted with grief. “No! I am to blame. Why do you not listen?” The chains clanked as he pushed toward the crowd.
Arianna appeared at the edge of the court in torn and dirty clothes, but at least they’d clothed her decently in a peasant dress. The Enforcer that had discovered them grabbed her now short hair and dragged her to the front. Tardon spotted raw, red swelling on her cheek and temple. Someone had struck her.
A desire to kill whoever had hurt her burned to the surface of his skin. Cracks sounded as he strained against the iron shackles. The guard next to him stepped back to summon reinforcements.
“Burn ’em both! Burn the warriors! They take our food and live like Gods while we starve!”
“More food fer us,” a tangle-haired woman called from below.
Tardon’s shoulder burned as he continued to fight against the shackles. “Warriors, take notice. These are the people we die protecting.”
Warriors stepped forward in defense against flying insults, but the Elders stood on the tower, motioning the fighters to remain at their positions. Tardon observed the other warriors’ disgust, but all he cared about was Arianna being pushed and shoved like a disobedient servant.
Arianna smiled at him as she stumbled up the wooden steps. No time for remorse at defying the Elders’ laws, the people called for blood, and they would both burn in the fires now.
Tardon shuffled to Arianna, knocking a guard out of the way.
Arianna lifted her bound wrists over him and let the chains fall down his back. “If we are to burn, let us give them a reason.” Her eyebrows rose, and a soft smile curved her lips before she opened them and pressed herself against him, her sweet mouth opening against his.
Screams of shock rang out from below, but Tardon ceased to worry about being branded a traitor and gave in to his passion, hoping it would follow him to the next life. The world spun and the screams diminished into a distant lull, while the sweet, berry taste of Arianna urged the passion inside him. Every hair on his body stood to attention. His hands roamed down her hips and squeezed them close to his. Their heartbeat became one pounding rhythm, echoing through their souls.
Hands wrapped around his bicep and throat to rip him away. Her chains pulled hair from his scalp as they raked across his head.
“Burn ’em, burn ’em now!” The chanting shattered his dream state as they were dragged from the town square to the inner fires.
He fought as they maneuvered the tiny cobblestone walkways, leaving a line of disabled guards in his wake. Warriors were ordered by the Elders to subdue him.
The group rounded the corner, bringing the wooden post of the Fire Pit into view. At least Arianna and I will die together. Warriors, his former friends, bound him to the wood.
“May the Elders forgive you in the next life.” The mumble came from his comrades while they removed his chains and tied his wrists together behind him.
Arianna’s soft hand found his and they interlaced their fingers.
An Apprentice shouted from the tower, “May this be a lesson to all who defy the Elders.”
Tardon’s pulse thudded and he squeezed his sweaty palm against Arianna’s. Fear threatened to take hold as he imagined Arianna suffering. Desperate, he addressed the crowd one last time. “She is innocent. Her blood will be on your hands if you do this.”
A guard approached with torch in hand and held it in the air, waiting for the Apprentice to give the order. Heat radiated from the orange flames dancing at the end of the stick.
Tardon held his breath, hoping the Elders would spare Arianna, but the Apprentice’s arm lowered and the guard stepped up to light the fire.
Smoke attacked Tardon’s lungs. Unable to shout his protests any longer, he tried to turn his head to see Arianna behind him. Even over the smoldering debris, he detected her unique scent. “I am sorry I brought this upon you. Die knowing this was not of your doing.” His lungs seized with a cough as the debris below the wood smoked, and his head dropped to his chest. “I failed you.”
The orange and yellow glow spread and crept out from below the wood. Arianna moaned from behind, and he stomped his feet rapidly to find relief from the burning.
His mind reeled, searching for a way to save her. As the flames grew and danced against the wood, he realized he was unable to save the most important person in his life.
Today, they would both die.

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What I had to say about The Curse of Gremdon....

THE CURSE OF GREMDON is a very unique mix of Fantasy and Romance that really captivated me. Usually Fantasy novels will focus less on the romance and more on the wars and conflicts going on in their respective worlds, but TCoG has equal portions of both, and that's what I loved about it. I'm a romance junky, but I'd occasionally also like to pick up a Fantasy novel. There aren't too many of them that have a good romance to back the story up, so I usually steer clear of it. That's why I'd rushed to grab the chance to read TCoG when I read the synopsis and it started going on a tour, and boy, was I glad I did. (See full review HERE)

See anything that caught your eye? You can find out more about Ciara and her novels at:

Author's Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway Time!

Each tour stop in The Curse of Gremdon's blog tour will be hosting a giveaway for an ebook copy of TCoG, so you can visit each stop to up your chances of winning it! You can see the full tour schedule HERE. For my stop, just fill in the Rafflecopter form, and you're all good to go! Giveaway is international; Following is not mandatory; Ends in 2 weeks' time, 2/16.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Indie Authors Spotlight (1) + Giveaway

2012-01-29T08:00:00.015+08:00

Welcome to the Indie Authors Spotlight, my good readers! Beckie, over at Bittersweet Enchantment, did a post about how she regrets having to reject review requests from Indie/self-published authors cause of our blogging/reading commitments as book bloggers, and so she and I came up with this new weekly meme to help promote these authors called Indie Authors Spotlight where we will feature up to 3 Indie/self-published authors every Sunday. You can find out more it at my Indie Authors Spotlight page.

So, this week, I will be featuring...

Michelle Isenhoff!

Michelle's Biography

I was born and raised in a not-so-busy corner of Michigan. I live there still, enjoying the changes that come with every season. In the spring and summer I like to swim, camp, and garden. When fall brings cooler days, I gather my writing tools and hibernate until spring softens my garden once again. I enjoy playing the piano all year long.

As a child, I carried a book with me wherever I went. Books with titles such as Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Engalls Wilder, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis, Big Red, by Jim Kjelgaard, The Black Stallion, by Walter Farley, and The Call of the Wild, by Jack London. Through books, I was able to visit so many exciting places!

After graduating from college, I worked in elementary education for several years and found I never really outgrew these wonderful tales. Today, some of my favorite authors include JRR Tolkien, AVI, Gary D. Schmidt, Elizabeth George Speare, Jean Craighead George and James Herriot.

The elements I love most in a good book are beautiful imagery and a strong hero who grows and changes. These, I think, characterize my own writing. I create characters who make wise choices or face honest consequences. Hopefully, they inspire kids to make thoughtful choices of their own. But most importantly, I write stories that kids can escape into, as I did growing up. As I still do now.

To date, I have published four children's novels and a couple short stories. Two more novels are in the works. (Keep watching my "Books" page!) When I'm not writing, I can still be found with book in hand.
--Quoted from Michelle's Website

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Michelle's novels:

The Quill Pen (Fantasy)

The Blurb

If you owned a pen that wrote the future, would you use it? What if the consequences spread like ripples in a pond? What if they raged out of control?

What if the pen demanded tribute...in blood?

Thirteen-year-old Micah has found such a pen. One that's ensnared him in a curse dating back generations. One that's devastated two families and now threatens his whole New England village. But how can Micah destroy the pen when it offers him his only chance at the future he dreams of? Ages 8+
Nook | Paperback | Smashwords

The Candle Star
Divided Decade Trilogy #1 (Historical fiction)

The Blurb

When Emily was a little girl, her father had taken her outside in each season and pointed out the pictures in the stars, explaining the ancient lore behind them. She wondered if he was looking up at the same stars right now.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Emily stared. She hadn't heard Malachi approach.

"Looks like you can just reach up and pluck one down, maybe set it in a ring," he said. "It'd be the most beautiful piece of jewelry you ever laid eyes on."

He pointed to the giant dipper. "See the last two stars in the bowl of the spoon? They line up just right and point the way to the North Star."

Emily had learned that when she was six.

"When I was little, I remember Mama setting a candle in the window on the nights Daddy would get in late. I slept sound on those nights, confident that beacon was guiding my daddy home."

He paused as he contemplated the night sky. "The North Star is sort of like a candle that God hung up special to guide His lost children. Lot of black folks looking up at it right now, directing themselves home to freedom."

Kindle | Paperback | Smashwords

The Little Brown Sparrow (Bible stories)

The Blurb

After a difficult day in the meadow, Keturah learns she doesn't need any particular talents to be special. She's valuable just as she is. A sweet retelling of a well-known Bible story, through the eyes of a bird who was there.

I wrote The Little Brown Sparrow years ago for a children's program at church. It's always been one of my favorites. Less than 950 words, I chose to make this one free. Enjoy!
Download it free

More about Michelle:

" I am a former teacher (now homeschool mom) and enthusiastic reader who never outgrew the children's genre. I knew I had to write in it. All my books are written with the classroom in mind. Historical fiction, especially, provides a wonderful platform from which to teach, so to help teachers get the most mileage out of my books, I provide free, downloadable study guides on my website. But my primary goal is to provide a well-told story that's fun to read. I've had lots of adults ask me, "Why is this just for kids?" My answer: it's not! "

See anything that caught your eye? You can find more of the books she's written HERE, or can visit Michelle at:

Her Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

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Giveaway Time!

Every last Sunday of the month, I will host a big giveaway for the Indie Authors that I've spotlighted, but since this is my very first meme, then there will only be one author's giveaway. So, Michelle is very generously giving away 3 ecopies of The Quill Pen to 3 winners. This giveaway lasts for 2 weeks till 2/12. Just fill in the form below, and you're all good to go!:)

Promises | Interview with Amber Garr and Evianna + Giveaway

2012-01-28T19:03:00.001+08:00

Introducing...

Amber Garr!

About Amber

Amber Garr spends her days conducting scientific experiments and wondering if her next door neighbor is secretly a vampire. Born in Pennsylvania, she lives in Florida with her husband and their furry kids. Her childhood imaginary friend was a witch, Halloween is sacred, and she is certain that she has a supernatural sense of smell. She writes both adult and young adult urban fantasies and when not obsessing over the unknown, she can be found dancing, reading, or enjoying a good movie. --Quoted from from Amber's Website

And her beautiful novel:

Promises
The Syrenka series #1

The Blurb

Sometimes following your heart can end up destroying the ones you love.

When seventeen-year-old Eviana Dumahl is faced with the responsibility of an arranged marriage and clan leadership, she is forced to choose between the life required of a mermaid and one of a teenage girl simply infatuated with the wrong guy. Kain, her devoted fiancé would make a wonderful husband except that she’s been in love with Brendan, a shape-shifting selkie, ever since they were kids. Choosing to abandon her family, her clan, and her life with Kain will have dire consequences far beyond anything she could have imagined.

A war is brewing amongst the clans and Eviana unwittingly becomes a pawn in the intricate schemes of a twisted mastermind. With Brendan’s life on the line, she has no choice but to involve those who she once considered friends. Amidst encountering senseless tragedies and immense loss, Eviana discovers that she is more valuable as a clan leader than anyone ever suspected. Her survival is not only dependent upon the loyalty of her friends, but also on her acceptance of a life that she had so adamantly tried to escape.

Promises is the first book of The Syrenka Series trilogy following Eviana and her friends through the perils of growing up in a discrete world that inherently threatens human society.

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Hey, you two, thanks for coming to the blog today!

Thank you for having us!

CYP: Can y'all tell me about yourself, say, in 5 words each.

Amber: A girl with a plan.

Eviana: A girl who needs a plan (I know, that’s six words…but I’m not one to follow all of the rules)

CYP: *Turns to Amber* What do you like to do when you're not being an author and crafting the very exciting life of Eviana and her two boyfriends? *snickers*

Amber: Well, when Eviana and the crew aren’t screaming in my brain, I spend my days working as a marine biologist. So I conduct experiments, write proposals, manuscripts…things like that. I also teach dance at a local studio, so sometimes I get to tell stories through movement instead of words.

CYP: Wow, that's awesome. A very fulfilling lifestyle, indeed.

CYP: What are both of your dreams? Has your dream always been to be an author, Amber? What about being a marine biologist? Which one came first? Which one comes first now? Haha.

Amber: Well, originally I was going to be a ballerina. And then I met some scientists when I was ten and I decided that I was going to be a marine biologist. I ended up going to school for both. I’ve always loved creative writing and thought it would be awesome to have something published…but my focus had consistently been on the science side of writing. So, I would say that I’ve really focused on fiction writing in the last few years and now I’m totally obsessed! When I’m not at work, I’m writing!!!

CYP: What about you, Eviana? Has your one big dream always been to marry Brendan and full stop?

Eviana: If you would have asked me this a few months ago, I would have told you that my dream was to have a perfect life with Brendan that most likely didn’t involve my family and clan. But now I’m not so sure. Too much has happened and too many things have changed. I suppose my dream at this moment would be for me not to fail. Yes, I know that’s dramatic, but I’m not quite sure what to expect anymore.

CYP: What were y'all's previous dreams?

Amber: Oops, I think I kind of answered this one. But to add to the mix…I wanted to invent gills for humans so that we could breathe underwater without wearing a tank! I should probably start working on that….

Eviana: I had always enjoyed mentoring the younger kids in my clan, so at one point I wanted to be a teacher. Although, in reality I knew that could never happened because of my birthright.

CYP: What was the hardest part in your path to becoming an author and you running away with lover-selkie (y'know, loverboy?)?

Amber: Getting over the fear of rejection (although I’ll never really be over it!). Wow! I sound like Eviana a bit! I don’t have a problem making the time to write all of my stories, but asking someone to critique them for me has really been my biggest obstacle. Accepting that not everyone will enjoy your story is a part of this process, and it’s still a work in progress for me!

Eviana: (sighs) Kain. I didn’t want to hurt him and I knew that it would. He’s such a great person and friend, but he isn’t Brendan. Believe me, I contemplated going through with everything and sometimes I wonder if that would have been for the better…

CYP: Oh man, I know what you mean. I could feel your pain even when I was reading your "autobiography". He really is a very good friend. But anyway, Eviana, from here, I'll interview y'all separately, so I'll post my questions to Amber first, k?

CYP: What age did you start penning down all those crazy ideas of yours, Amber?

Amber: You know? I’m not really sure. We had a lot of artists in the family, so I remember telling stories through drawings or putting on plays. Of course I also danced a lot and made up a ton of stories that way. I did have a journal when I was a kid, so that would have probably been where all of my written ideas were stored.

CYP: Is PROMISES the first novel you ever wrote? Any that didn't get published?

Amber: No, it was actually the second novel. I have an adult urban fantasy under review right now that I’m thinking about publishing later this year. After I finished that, I took a short story (pretty much the first chapter of Promises) and just kept on writing. It quickly turned into a trilogy! I’ve written three complete books so far, and a bunch of random short stories.

CYP: What is the inspiration behind PROMISES? Eviana the mermaid with a big destiny, Kain the man with a big heart and tragic love life (lol, ok I'm exaggerating) and Brendan the selkie loverboy?

Amber: Well, of course I always wished that I could be a mermaid *Eviana sighs…and Amber rolls her eyes*, so I often wondered what that life would be like. Would I live in the ocean or walk amongst the humans? And what kind of responsibility would that entail? So the story kind of developed from there…a secret society of mermaids and a girl who feels like the she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Because, who hasn’t felt that way at least once in their life? Kain’s character is a combination of all of us who have ever loved unconditionally or without it being returned. It is tragic! Kain represents the good in people. And the selkie…well, I was just really fascinated with their mythology and wanted to incorporate that into my mermaid world. I mean, why would there only be one water creature out there? Brendan really loves Eviana, and he would have been a good match for her…if only he had been a merman. I think Brendan represents those “if only” type moments.

CYP: Wow, that's very deep. And there's so much symbolism in your PROMISES it's amazing! Oh man, now I feel so shallow after reading it and not being able to point those out..-.-

CYP: Did you base any of your characters on real life people/experiences? If so, which ones?

Amber: Ha! It’s funny you ask this because the first thing my mom asked me was if I based Marisol on my own sister. And the short answer is YES! She’s not so bratty anymore, but we didn’t always get along well as teenagers and you can tell that it stuck with me! (Love ya, Aimee!)

CYP: Why a love triangle? Haha. And why YA? Why not adult fiction? Thinking of it, I've never seen an adult fiction novel about mermaids before...hmm..

Amber: You know, that’s a good point. An adult mermaid story…sounds like the next project! And the dreaded love triangle…I think I needed to include that because I remember having feelings all over the place as a YA (be it with boyfriends, friends, or family) and I thought that it is a very real situation. Having to choose and knowing you may hurt someone’s feelings in the process is not an easy thing to do. Even as an adult (sigh, yes I’m no longer a YA). I also have parts of those inner struggles in my adult novels too. One is an urban fantasy dealing with grief and the other one tests the boundaries of choosing right and wrong.

CYP: What do you plan to do now? Sequel to PROMISES, more diving, more experimenting?

Amber: All of the above! Betrayal, the sequel to Promises will be out in February and I am a third of the way done with the final book of the trilogy. I also want to finish my adult books and hope to see those on the shelves within the next year. I always love diving, so that’s on the table, plus I’m gearing up to finish my doctoral studies in May! So that means more experimenting, more writing….

CYP: What is the one question that you would like to be asked in interviews and what would your answer be?

Amber: This is tough. I think one that I’ve been asked by some of the readers quite a bit is who would be cast in these roles if this were turned into a movie. And to be honest, the only person I currently have cast in my mind is Kain – and Alex Pettyfer would be my pick! One of my dancers wants to be Eviana, so we could give her that role! Ha! And as for Brendan…I’m not sure. I’ll have to think about that some more.

CYP: AHHH, Alex Pettyfer! Yes!! Hahaha. *Turns to Eviana* Hey, sorry for the cold treatment. Haha. So, looking back, your life's been quite the adventure, huh? Tell me, which was the most memorable one of them all? Can either be the saddest, most touching, or happiest.

Evianna: Yeah, and it feels like all of those adventures have happened in the last couple of months. Unfortunately, most of them have been sad (like my parents) or scary (Lucian). But probably one of the most touching memories is that despite what I did, my friends didn’t abandon me. I needed them and they were there.

CYP: Actually if you think about it, the root of your problems stem from being the princess of a mermaid clan. Would you have traded your mermaid's life for a selkie's to be able to marry Brendan without all that fuss?

Evianna: In a second…if only that would make a difference. I’d always been envious of their solitary lifestyle and the ease in which they transition. But Brendan and I still would have had issues to deal with when it came to following the call. I’m not quite sure how that would have worked out for us…

CYP: What is the best thing about being a mermaid?

Evianna: The water. There is nothing like feeling the freedom of being under the water and leaving the human world behind. It’s exhilarating and if it were possible, I would probably live in the ocean forever.

CYP: Yes! I love swimming, and I wished I could stay in the water and drift for as long as I liked..:( But sadly, the limitation of lungs will always plague me sad body.. Hehe X)

CYP: How do you feel now that your novel is released and you know that everyone - and that includes Brendan, Kain, your parents, and your other mermaid friends - will be privy to your innermost thoughts and those secret moments you had with Brendan AND Kain?

Evianna: Hmmm…I haven’t thought about that before. I guess that it’s a little scary, because ultimately someone is going to be hurt by my actions or my thoughts. But I can’t really change the way I feel, so I just hope it helps them understand why I chose to make the decisions I did.

CYP: Tell me about your other friends besides Brendan and Kain. Any close ones?

Evianna: Well, I met a few at Cotillion earlier this year- Daniel, Lily, and Carissa – who have become really good friends. Although we all live in a different state, we talk to each other on a regular basis. Daniel and I are probably the closest and he’s supposed to come and visit me soon. At my school, I have three close human friends – Kristy, Carlee, and Mia who help me forget about my other life for a while. But sometimes it’s hard because I can’t tell them all of my secrets.

CYP: What was life like, back before you were betrothed to Kain?

Evianna: Simple. Although, I’ve been promised to Kain since we were little, I guess I never thought that would actually happen. So before I had the reality of a wedding and a future clan leadership to worry about, I would say that I was a pretty “normal” girl. School, babysitting, swimming all night long…easy things.

CYP: Huh..that must've been nice. Relaxing. But when it's boring, you'll wish for adventure, and when you get adventure, you wish for simple. Haha, it's always the case, right? There's that saying, "the grass on the other side is greener". Lol. *Turns back to face both Amber and Eviana* Any parting words to the readers?

Amber: Just a BIG thank you to those who read Promises and I hope that you enjoy they story!
Eviana: I’d tell them to hang on for the ride, and when times seem like time are tough, we will find a way to get though it.

CYP: Where can readers buy PROMISES?

Amber: Both paperback and ebook formats are available and readers can buy them at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Thanks again for coming, both of you!

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If you're interested to find out more about Amber or Evianna or Promises, you can visit them at:

Or, you can read the first chapter of Promises HERE!

Amber with Conch!

Giveaway Time!

Amber is so generously giving away three (3) ecopies of Promises to three (3) international winners! Following is not mandatory, and this giveaway will last for 2 weeks till 2/12. Just fill in the Rafflecopter form below, and you're good to go!:)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Review: Halflings by Heather Burch

2012-01-28T15:04:00.001+08:00

Published Date: January 17th, 2012
Finished Date: January 26th, 2012
Publisher: Zondervan Publishing/Zonderkidz
Format: eARC via Netgalley
Series: Halflings #1
My Rating: 1/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with.

A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in a scientist’s dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world.

My Review

I didn't enjoy HALFLINGS. There, I said it. I'll try to keep this review short and as objective as I can.

My Brief Summary

Nicole "Nikki" Youngblood is an artist who has a black belt in karate. She's a T-shirt and jeans kind of girl, and one who doesn't like to dress up much. She was in the woods one day when she was attacked by hellhounds. Therein enters our three heroes: Mace, Raven, and Vine - Halflings with a mission to protect our young damsel in distress.

Halflings and humans can never have a relationship, or the halfling in the equation will have to risk eternal damnation. But the moment Mace and Raven looks at Nikki, there's something about her that attracts them, and with the devils in hell targeting her, Nikki's in for a lot of trouble, drama, and heartache.

My Thoughts

Nikki didn't really make an impression on me; She's a very typical YA heroine who's apparently so beautiful that she looks like an angel, but obviously is too oblivious to know it herself. She is also very stubborn, so much so that she demands to know some answers when it's not her place to know, and when the truth gets too much, she says stop. Let me say this out front that I don't like impossibly gorgeous heroines who are overly-obstinate.

She and Mace were the first ones to confess their feelings for each other, but when Raven turns on his charm and brings her to a forest in Arkansas to teach her how to fend for herself, she ends up flirting with him. Another reason why I didn't like her.

Now comes our two love interests, Mace and Raven. Mace is the serious, stick-to-the-rules kind of person who started going against said rules to be with and protect Nikki. Nothing very special, actually, apart from his stunning looks, that is.

Raven. He is the brooding type of males, who is the most experienced of the three halflings sent to protect Nikki, and the one with the most inner-demons to contend with. I was actually rooting for him for the most part of the first half of the book which I read, and after some time when there was evidently going to be minimal action scenes, he was my motivation to forge on reading. I wanted to see him fight Mace for Nikki - not literally, of course - and I want to see him in action in all his lean, graceful glory. (Ok, I'm the fairytale type of girl, what are you gonna do about it?) But the part where I stopped, at the 70% mark, Raven did something that turned me off big time. When Nikki and her pet dog were again attacked by hellhounds and a demon, Mace, Raven and Vine swooped in to save her in the nick of time, but after the imminent danger was over, Raven carried Megan over to a hill and since this is the first time Megan's seeing them with their wings, he asks her what she thinks of it. I mean, seriously? Her dog lay dying in the forest and she's probably in some kind of post-traumatic stress and all he can think about is impressing her with his wings? This is really the epitome of self-centeredness. One thing I cannot stand is arroant, selfish men, and so when I reached this part, there was obviously not much action to keep the adrenaline-junky in me satisfied, and since I couldn't stomach Raven any further, the book was immediately sent flying into the DNF pile.

Burch's writing style is a little confusing. There was a lot of bandwagon jumping, and most of the time, her jumps were big leaps and then there will be a random revelation somewhere without showing the process of how the subject person got to his/her conclusion. For example, one minute Nikki still thinks the three halflings were human, and suddenly she bursts into their house and goes all, "I know what you are. Don't deny it! You're angels." Yep, perfectly sane and normal. And there was this other part where a student was quarrelling with a teacher and when the discussion got heated, the student pulls out a knife and almost killed said teacher. Raven moves with inhuman speed and grace toward the scene and knocks the knife out of the student's hand and voilà! The day is saved, and only Nikki was there to witness the unnatural phenomenon that was Raven. There is so much wrong in that one scene that I rolled my eyes like probably more than a dozen times.

Other than that, there were the multiple cheesy romance scenes in here, more so than the number of fight scenes, as can be seen from my summary that romance takes precedence over action in HALFLINGS. Another weird thing is that Nikki's parents somehow disappeared after the quarter mark, and Nikki somehow could do whatever she liked like storming into someone else's house and proclaiming that they're angels.

However, the two things that I liked about HALFLINGS was firstly, how Burch described Mace's and Raven's relationship with Nikki. Mace "embraced her destiny, saw her as a future warrior, and swore to see her through"; Raven was "the one who embraced the person she was right now. Odds were, he’d likely stand beside her and die to protect her as well, if she gave him the chance." There's a subtle difference, and one that makes their feelings for her unique from each other.

The other thing was Vine. He is one of the main characters, but more a younger brother persona. He's a little immature, but when it somes to morals, this guy's the one that has the most. And when it comes to fighting and looks, he doesn't lose out to Mace or Raven either. He's fun, and he keeps the tension out whenever Raven quarrels with Mace or Will, their caretaker.

All in all, HALFLINGS isn't the book for me. It has been quite a while since I've chucked a book into my DNF pile. The feeling's not great, but things just has to be done. I am a fan of love triangles, but in this case, it just didn't work for me.

*eARC courtesy of Zondervan Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Random Musings - which you will not get if you haven't read the book:

Y'know that part where Nikki and Mace went to that burning building? The one where Nikki was sketching out the building using this artist's technique by drawing in the negative spaces to see a picture? That one was just plain confusing to me. You don't have to draw out a building to see that it's ON FIRE. And you certainly don't need a sketch to see that THERE IS A PERSON DYING ON THE FLOOR in the burning building. The idea was cool, but not properly utilized.

My Rating

Jeffe Kennedy Blog Tour: Review + Excerpts

2012-01-25T12:00:00.001+08:00

Introducing...

Jeffe Kennedy!

About Jeffe

Jeffe took the crooked road to writing, stopping off at neurobiology, religious studies and environmental consulting before her creative writing began appearing in places like Redbook, Puerto del Sol, Wyoming Wildlife, Under the Sun and Aeon. She has been a Ucross Foundation Fellow (2001), was a Wyoming Arts Council roster artist, when she lived in Wyoming, and received the state’s 2005 Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Award for a woman writer of exceptional talent in any creative writing genre and the 2007 Fellowship for Poetry. Jeffe has contributed to several anthologies, Drive: Women’s True Stories of the Open Road. (2002), Hard Ground (2003), Bombshells (2007) and Going Green (2009). Her first book, Wyoming Trucks, True Love and the Weather Channel was published by University of New Mexico Press in 2004. An erotic novella, Petals and Thorns, came out under her pen name of Jennifer Paris in 2010, heralding yet another branch of her path, into erotica and romantic fantasy fiction. Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and frequently serves as a guinea pig for an acupuncturist-in-training.

Who Is Jennifer Paris?

I was doing the “Jeffe Kennedy writing as Jennifer Paris” thing, but Angela James, my editor at Carina, said no, no, no. Since I really don’t want to “flesh out” Jennifer Paris and tweet or blog as her (she was only a cardboard cut-out anyway), I decided to retire her. However, I have one book “Petals and Thorns” that is by Jennifer Paris.

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Feeding the Vampire
Blurb from Goodreads:

Through good luck and healthy cowardice, Misty has survived the earthquakes that have torn the world apart, but has no skills to speak of. Or so she thinks. She does have blood, and someone must feed the vampire who has offered his protection and strength in exchange for sustenance. Feeding Ivan is a priority, and Misty finally serves a purpose.

But when she awakens tied to his bed, an unwilling gift to Ivan from the townspeople, she discovers he has hungers other than blood. Hungers he expects her to satisfy in the most carnal manner. Under his seductive persuasion, Misty discovers she has the power to sustain Ivan in all ways-while experiencing unspeakable pleasure herself.

Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Ellora’s Cave, ARe

What I Had to Say:

FEEDING THE VAMPIRE was a surprisingly short and enjoyable novella with mild BDSM.

...considering how short this novel/novella is, I thought that the world building, albeit still have rooms for improvement, was considerably well done. I know what poor condition the world was in, and I know what it's like to live in her city, what the people are like, and details like that were all covered and explained. Which is really amazing.

...All in all, FVP is an average vamp novel perfect if you want a quick, light and mildly erotic read.

(Read my full review HERE)

Excerpt

I was compelled to feed him. I had no choice, really.

Earl cleared his throat. “Thank you.” Our town administrator looked around for agreement, but they weren’t meeting his eyes either. Like kids ducking the teacher’s gaze. “Thank you, Misty. We all appreciate your…” He trailed off uncomfortably.

Sacrifice? Surely no one wanted to hear that word aloud. Martyr to the cause? No, not much better.

Earl shuffled the papers in his lap. Waiting for me to get to it, I supposed. Well, he had just said that feeding Ivan ought to be the first order of business. We couldn’t very well make plans for our community while the guy in charge of our defenses wilted before our eyes, especially since we needed him alert and focused. Me? I was pretty damn expendable. I hadn’t brought much to the table so far, except my survival, which really was accidental. Right place at the right time. Turns out stolid New England was just the right place to be for the particular form this apocalypse took. Granite bedrock and all that.

My boring hometown was a safe haven and everyone wanted in on our resources. The people turning up every day were let in or turned away depending on what they offered. I counted my lucky stars I’d been grandfathered in simply because my neighbors didn’t have the heart to kick me out. Excellent keyboarding skills and a customer-friendly personality didn’t count for much in this economy. Especially without, um, customers or working keyboards.

I couldn’t afford to be a useless mouth to feed. Their hearts would harden—they already had. Tonight was pivotal. We’d acquired a vampire of our own for defense. Everyone felt better about our future—if we could keep him happy. At least I knew how to make blood. You could say I was a natural. And yet, the certainty that had propelled me to my feet seemed to be bleeding away, frightened off by Ivan’s fixed intensity and everyone else’s obvious relief. They waited, restless, for me to just get on with it. Uncomfortable silence.

Hi, I’m Misty and I’m a Fool. I haven’t done anything really unwise in twenty-seven days. Kind of a record for me really. Apparently I was due.

The vampire just stared at me.

I set my yellow pad on the chair and made myself walk across the circle to where he sat in the tacky folding metal chair. My sandals slapped lightly on the tiles, making tinny echoes. Ivan’s roving gaze sent tremors of anticipation up my thighs.

A few murmured conversations resumed. They probably didn’t like the creepy silence any more than I did. I appreciated their polite attempt not to gawk. I’d never seen a vampire feed—probably none of them had either. I stopped in front of Ivan. He leaned back, long legs sprawled out in careless indolence. He tilted his head at my hesitation and held out his hands as if to help me down from a carriage.

“Perhaps we should step out of the room?” I tried.

“I haven’t the strength to stand.” His grave eyes watched me with avid intent.

If I ran, he would definitely find the strength to hunt me down. After all, he’d walked into this room. Heck, he’d arrived at the bridge leading to our sleepy town only last night, offering his protection in return for our shelter and sustenance. He had to have gotten there somehow.

He wrapped his long fingers around my wrists, cuffing them with bands of steel. Exerting steady pressure, he drew me closer, parting his lips. White fangs gleamed with fluorescent highlights. My heart thumped in panic, hot fear filling me.

“Will it hurt?” My voice sounded thready, weak.

Hunger flared in his eyes at the question. “It always does.”

Ivan snapped me against his hard body. The sharp movement splintered any second thoughts. He pulled me astraddle his lap. My cheap cotton dress hiked up alarmingly. The chafe of his dark denim jeans sent tremors up my fully exposed thighs. Shame and terror flashed through me.

Then all thought and emotion burst in flame, immolating me through the fierce violence of his teeth sinking into my throat. The agony of the deep puncture, fear feeding pain, fired through my blood. I struggled like a wild thing, without thought. Animal instinct screamed at me to flee, to escape by any means possible.

The vampire held me trapped. There was no escape for me, the mouse flailing under the cat’s paw.

My will, never my strong point, snapped. The fight ebbed away with the tide of my blood. The steady drop of pressure left me enervated, without resistance. Darkness filled my brain, prickled with sparking stars. I wilted, becoming a bit of detritus washed upon the shore of Ivan’s body.

Pain filled my veins, pumped through my heart. It replaced my blood, spiraling through my body from the insistent penetration of Ivan’s teeth in my throat. Helpless against the crashing waves, I relinquished my last hold on consciousness and sank into the hot, tarry sea of oblivion.

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Sapphire
Blurb from Goodreads:

A successful executive, M. Taylor Hamilton is on track with her ten-year plan. Too bad her personal life consists of hitting the gym and grocery shopping. Enter the seductive Adam Kirliss. They may have a working relationship, but everything changes at an office party when he handcuffs her to the rail of a yacht.

Taylor writes off the adventure as too much champagne, but when Adam challenges her to a date, she agrees to meet up with him. And follow his rules. They share a night of exquisite intimacy, brimming with both pain and pleasure. But afterward, fearful of losing her heart, Taylor pulls back emotionally.

Adam is determined to prove that she longs for the loss of control he can give her—and the passionate release it provides. How can he make her see that he wants her, and not just her body?

Amazon

Excerpt

Kirliss captured her other wrist and held them close in front of her, his warm fingers massaging her skin, while he studied her face. The boat surged over a wave, disturbing her balance. Kirliss’s unusual eyes caught the light, boring into her.

“This is silly,” she tried.

“Do you want me to make you stay?”

“What?” Taylor choked. She couldn’t let him treat her this way. “No! You’ll do no such—”
She lost her breath entirely when he pressed up against her. Thinking he was trying to embrace her, she pulled away and found herself backed against the brass railing.

By the time she gathered her flustered thoughts, her wrists were handcuffed to the rail behind her. Mortified, a bit afraid and—worse—suddenly and wildly aroused…

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Petals and Thorns
Blurb from Goodreads:

In exchange for her father's life, Amarantha agrees to marry the dreadful Beast and be his wife for seven days. Though the Beast cannot take Amarantha's virginity unless she begs him to, he can and does take her in every other way. From the moment they are alone together, the Beast relentlessly strips Amarantha of all her resistance.

If Amarantha can resist her cloaked and terrifying husband, she gains his entire fortune and will be allowed to return to her family and a normal life. But the Beast seduces her at every turn, exposing, binding, tormenting, and pleasuring Amarantha until she no longer knows her own deepest desires.

Increasingly desperate to break the curse that chains his humanity, the Beast drives Amarantha past every boundary. But her desire for a normal life may jeopardize the love that will save them both.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play, BDSM theme and elements, dubious consent.

Barnes and Noble, Amazon

Excerpt

The wedding ceremony took place deep in the woods.

The chapel looked innocent in its white prettiness, as if a normal wedding took place there instead of this monstrous farce.

At first Amarantha had wept. When her father had arrived home on the magnificent stallion, his arms overflowing with luscious red roses and saddlebags full of gold coins, and told the wild tale of the Beast who wanted Amarantha and only her, she’d been at first astonished, then enraged. She’d thought of running away, but her father and sisters had talked Amarantha around. The Beast had promised wealth to restore her father’s fortunes and more. They assured her that the Beast wouldn’t kill her.

“He saw your portrait and finds you beautiful,” her father crooned. “It will be a marriage in name only. You need not lie with him” — he snickered — “if the creature is even able to perform as a man. Likely he is too deformed and wants only a pretty wife to look upon.

“Remember” — the merchant took his youngest daughter’s slender hands in his as they stepped down from the carriage — “if the marriage is not consummated within one week, then he has agreed to have it annulled and to settle upon you half of his fortune! All you must do is retain your chastity for one measly week, and any ninny can keep her legs closed that long. Remember it every day, and the week will fly by. Soon you’ll be at home again with us, our fortunes forever secured.”

“He only has to take her by force,” Anastasia scoffed.

“No,” a deep voice rumbled behind them. They started like finches when a hawk flies over. No one had heard the Beast arrive.

He stood back, tall and broad shouldered as her father had said, watching from the depths of his cloak. The winter wind caught the black folds, whipping them tight against his massive body, but never stirred around his face. Amarantha couldn’t make out his features, though she thought perhaps she caught the gleam of a white tooth. And was that the shadow of a muzzle?

She shuddered, looking away quickly.

“No, Amarantha,” the Beast said, “I will never take you by force. I will only take you when you ask me to. That one choice, at least, will always be yours.”

Amarantha stirred uneasily inside the confines of her corset. Something about his words seemed…unwholesome somehow.

Angelica laughed brightly and clapped her jeweled fingers together in a graceful flutter. “Then we are saved! For, Sir Beast, though we cannot see you clearly, we understand that you are so hideous that no woman would willingly have you. Perhaps your beastly exterior reflects a similarly feral and corrupt heart?” She waved a languid hand at Amarantha. “Else why resort to blackmail to obtain a bride?”

“Indeed” — the voice sank into a near growl — “sister of my bride. You are undoubtedly correct. But since blackmail has, in fact, won me a bride, I’m anxious to take possession of her. Shall we?”

Amarantha gasped and stepped back when the Beast moved toward her, dark and sinuous. But he only offered her his arm to escort her into the chapel. She took a deep breath, as deep as her tight corset allowed.

After the short ceremony, Amarantha kissed her father and sisters good-bye. She couldn’t seem to hear what they were saying to her, only that she had promised to obey this man. This monster.

“Do you take this man, Sir Beast… Do you promise to love, honor, and obey?” the chaplain had asked.

The word seemed to reverberate in her skull. Obey. Chased by the image of how his eyes had glowed at her sparking amber from the depths of his hood. Love and honor seemed to pale before the other word. Amarantha possessed enough cleverness to avoid shaming him, and she could pretend to love him. Obedience might not be so simple. She almost felt his sigh of satisfaction at her promise, as if something that had pained him suddenly eased.

Amarantha wished she could feel the same.

In his carriage, they rode facing each other, though Amarantha gazed steadfastly out the window as the forest deepened and thickened. The trees grew more gnarled, the roots thrusting up from the soil only to twist away again, diving into the moist ferns covering the soil. Still, it was easier to keep her eyes on the strange landscape than look at her husband’s shrouded form and wonder what horrors it might contain.

“Am I ever to see you?” she asked.

“Do you wish to?”

Amarantha glanced at his black silhouette. Looked away again.

“It occurs to me it might be easier to see you and” — get it over with — “learn to become accustomed to you.”

“Consider that I might be so frightening to you that you would be unable to bear coming near me again.”

Amarantha trembled.

“No” — the Beast chuckled darkly — “these things are best done in stages. I intend to win you over, lovely Amarantha.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible.”

“Because you are innocent,” the Beast said, his voice nearly a growl. “And you have not discovered how I can make you feel.”

“I have. You make me feel fear. And revulsion.” She looked out the window. “Despair, perhaps.”

“None of those are real, Amarantha.”

She forced herself to look at him. “I must tell you, I don’t see how I can ever be your wife in truth. I cannot imagine asking you to — ”

“To take your maidenhead? To rend you with my cock so that you scream in agonized pleasure?”

The shock drained Amarantha’s cheeks of color. Even as the image somehow stirred her.

“Sir Beast, you cannot say such things to me.”

“It seems, my bride, that we must stretch your imagination as well. The only thing I may not do is take you by force. Everything else is open to me.” He settled back in a very masculine satisfaction. “If you intend to keep the bargain that saved your father’s life, that is.”

Amarantha bit her lip. Her father had wept even as he handed her into the Beast’s carriage. Had he realized? Her virginity wouldn’t matter at the end of the week if she was dead.

“Amarantha.” The Beast leaned forward. She shrank back, but he only laid a gloved hand over hers. “I swear I will not injure you. Your beauty is precious to me. I would not see it marred in any way.”

She restlessly moved her hands out from under the black leather of his glove. A mistake, since his hand fell to her knee instead, a heavy weight through the thin cloth.

“I will wish to see it, however,” the Beast said, gravel in his voice.

Amarantha’s heart stuttered. “See it?”

“You, in your naked glory. When we reach the house. In exchange, I will not touch you just yet.” He leaned back again. “I mention it now so that you might mull the idea over.”

Amarantha drew in a breath. “I do not think I shall become peaceful with the idea in that space of time.”

“You mistake me, my bride. Peaceful is not how I want you.”

If he’d intended her to think about it, to imagine herself naked and vulnerable in front of his black-cloaked figure, then he succeeded.

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See anything that caught your eye? You can find out more about Ms Kennedy and her novels at:

Her Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Review + Giveaway: Shaedes of Gray by Amanda Bonilla

2012-01-25T00:23:00.003+08:00

Published Date: December 6th, 2011
Finished Date: January 21st, 2012
Publisher: Signet Eclipse/NAL
Format: Paperback
Pages: 317
Series: Shaede Assassin #1
My Rating: 4/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
In the shadows of the night, Darian has lived alone for almost a century. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin.

When Darian's next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she's taken on more than her conscience will allow. But a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished...

My Review

My Summary

Darian is a Shaede made by another - a past lover, in fact, one that abandoned her almost a century ago. She's the last of her kind, or so she was led to believe, and with only stealth in her arsenal, she trains herself to be one of the best assassins in the field. She can become incorporeal after twilight, and move in the shadows as nothing more than a ghost.

Tyler has been a long-standing friend (a friend who makes her body feel all warm and flushed) and agent who informs her of her new targets/marks. And this time, her mark happens to be a man named Xander Peck. Nothing special, just a name that isn't commonly heard of. Just another man that has pissed off someone with the goods to hire her services. But when she was about to deliver the killing stroke, Xander slips into the shadows. That's when her world tilts around and she finds out she's no longer the last of her kind.

Xander turns out to be the King of the Shaedes, and her assignment was actually a test. Now, Xander - or should I say, High King Alexander - is training her up for his real task, for her next target may just be one of the most powerful Shaedes alive. That, and someone whom she may have known quite intimately in the past...

My Thoughts

I have to say that SOG is really a "my" type of book - witty, kickass heroine who has awesome powers, a friend that has always looked out for her, another more powerful, high-ranking love interest comes along, and amidst the love triangle troubles, nothing's better than a big and complex plot to up the thrill and suspense. Typical for a PNR novel, but the idea of the Shaede, well that is very unique, and very cool. The only regrettable thing was Darian didn't pick the guy that I was rooting for! But that is for a later paragraph to elaborate.

Darian was witty, snarky, and a girl who sticks up for herself. She is the master of her own decisions, and she will allow no one to be her king, or to make her a pawn of some twisted game for power. I think that's what attracted the attention of the King of the Shaedes himself. Haha, she sure is one special and beautiful woman.

As far as the love interests goes..I'm a fan of love triangles. Not all of them though, cause some of them are just insufferably immature, and in a lot of cases the protagonists are highly self-centered as they get all frustrated with life when they have more than one person vying for their attention, and they go all, "Life is tough." Yeah, ok, have you seen what other people in Third World countries have to go through? That's tough, so suck it up. But as for Tyler, Xander, and Darian, they're all awesome. Tyler's sweet and fiercely-protective in his own silent way, but he is also funny and easygoing; Xander is intense, highhanded, powerful, but very romantic and male; Darian is scared to surrender to the fragile thing that is love, is unsure of what love truly is, or if the thing that she's feeling is actually love at all after what happened in the past. The confusion on Darian's part was very well-written. I used to think 'How can you be unsure if what you're feeling is love or not?', but after seeing what happened to her, it became believable.

The plot was good, not a "WOW!" kind of impressive, but not bad. There was quite some overlaying storylines, and the main point to the storyline only surfaced towards the middle of the book, but I had fun getting to know the characters. After knowing who's the read baddy in here, there was constant action, deceptions - and betrayals and lies..lots and lots of 'em - and the likes! And all that excitement escalated till the end where I just couldn't tear my attention away from the book; I HAD to know where the story went, and how it concluded. And now that the conclusion is read, damn if I don't want to get my hands on the sequel.

However, there were a few questions that I had when I was reading:

1) When Darian just met Xander and they were still strangers to each other, Darian divulged all her personal information to Xander when he asked for it without question. Maybe not all, but she did spill quite a lot. Which is weird, even more so since she's a skilled assassin who has lived in solitude for the past century.

2) It was mentioned that Lyhtans - the counterpart of a Shaede, which means they can slip into the light and be invisible as long as the sun shines, and also the enemies of the Shaede - are easily controlled. Well, if they were so easily manipulated, why aren't they under the control of the good people? Why are they, so coincidentally, under the influence of the bad Shaede?

3) Midway through the book, Darian was attacked by a Lyhtan and was lying in bed unconscious. But when she started to wake, she heard Tyler and Xander quarrelling and she referred to the two voices as "two of my favourite voices". Thing is, she keeps mentioning how much she dislikes Xander for lying to her, for treating her like one of his subjects, and now you're telling me his is one of your favourite voices? Really?

Actually, other than those, the book was very enjoyable. I loved Bonilla's humor and her writing style. She is consistent and I often find myself laughing along with the characters. There was only one sex scene in SOG, but let me assure all Romance-junkies out there - have no fear, the sexual tension in here is as good as any panties-combusting scene.

Overall, SHAEDES OF GREY is an amazing Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance novel packed full of fast-paced action, suspense, witty humor, sarcastic and kickass heroine, love triangle that'll leave you feeling so conflicted as to who to side with, a complex plot with curveballs at every turn, and betrayals and deceptions that will leave you reeling hours after you've put down the book. Even though the plot was a little typical, it was still fun, intense and never dull; A real page-turner, indeed.

Random Musings:

Don't you find it freaking cool that the word "Shaedes" in the title Shaedes of Gray is so unique that you don't even have to type the full title of the book in search engines or book stores or Goodreads to search for the book? It's the one and only one that shows up in the results.

My Rating

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Giveaway Time!

Ms Bonilla and NAL are so generously giving away a PRINT copy of Shaedes of Gray to an INTERNATIONAL winner. No strings attached, just fill in the Rafflecopter form below and you're good to go!

*Just a reminder: All ABS giveaway winners will be announced on ABS's Facebook page. So be sure to check back!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaser Tuesday (12)

2012-01-24T12:03:00.000+08:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Shaedes of Gray
Shaede Assassin #1
By Amanda Bonilla

The Blurb

In the shadows of the night, Darian has lived alone for almost a century. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin.

When Darian's next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she's taken on more than her conscience will allow. But a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished...

My Teaser

“You should be killed for your disrespect,” she seethed in my ear. “You are nothing—less than nothing—and I won’t need much of an excuse to cut your throat.”

“Try it,” Tyler’s voice came as a growl. “I’ll fuck you up if you draw even a drop of her blood.”

“That’s enough, Anya,” the high king said. “Let her go. I’d hate to see anyone . . . fucked up tonight.”

--Page 42 of eBook

This book was great, and I'm still writing up the review for it. So, what do you think of it? What are your teasers this tuesday? Link it up in the comments so I can go check it out! And thanks for stopping by!

ARC Review: Katana by Cole Gibsen

2012-01-21T12:00:00.004+08:00

Published Date: March 8th, 2012
Finished Date: January 15th, 2012
Publisher: Flux
Format: eARC via Netgalley
Series: #1 in series
My Rating: 4.5/5!!

Blurb from Goodreads:
Kill Bill meets Buffy in this supernatural samurai tale.

Rileigh Martin would love to believe that adrenaline gave her the uncanny courage and strength to fend off three muggers. But it doesn’t explain her dreams of fifteenth century Japan, the incredible fighting skills she suddenly possesses, or the strange voice giving her battle tips and danger warnings. While worrying that she’s going crazy (always a reputation ruiner), Rileigh gets a visit from Kim, a handsome martial arts instructor, who tells Rileigh she’s harboring the spirit of a five-hundred-year-old samurai warrior.

Relentlessly attacked by ninjas, Rileigh has no choice but to master the katana--a deadly Japanese sword that’s also the key to her past. As the spirit grows stronger and her feelings for Kim intensify, Rileigh is torn between continuing as the girl she’s always been and embracing the warrior inside her.

My Review

It was amazing! I think I have finally found the perfect novel with a Japanese martial arts theme. This book is phenomenal! I loved the flashbacks to 15th century Japan, I loved the undying love of the two samurais from the past, and I loved how that loved stayed true and un-cliche even till modern age. Wow.

My Summary

Rileigh Martin is a skater chick with a gay best friend, Quentin. They were shopping for a gift for the party they were about to attend when they were assaulted by three thugs. They thought they were dead for sure, until Rileigh hears this voice in her head, and her body seems to know how to defend itself - martial arts style. After fending those thugs off, she faints and is carted off to the hospital. Upon waking up, she meets a strange - and very handsome - Asian martial arts teacher who seems to know about the voice in her head. And if her life's not weird enough, she's having flashbacks of a female samurai back in 15th century Japan.

She finds out that those flashbacks are actually memories of her past life, and it's high time Rileigh embrace her identity and accept the help of Kim - said handsome Asian martial arts teacher, and who has a soul-deep connection to her past samurai life - and 3 other familiar faces from the past, or be killed by an old enemy who was reincarnated to the present.

My Thoughts

Again, WOWOW! You have no idea how long I've been searching for for a perfect samurai-martial arts novel. KATANA, though not perfect (that's where the 0.5 stars went), is amazing. I love the plot, I love the cast, I love, LOVE the heroine and hero, I love the romance between them, and all the fast-paced action and suspense!

Let me get the imperfect 0.5 stars out of the way first before I start gushing about the other 4.5. There were many stereotypes in KATANA. For one, there was the gay best friend with lots of hugs and pedis and manis even when "Ri Ri" was in mortal danger. And what's up with the incessant "Ri Ri" calling? The first time I saw Q call Rileigh "Ri Ri", I literally cringed! A little over-the-top. Why not Ri or something less....gay? Haha. Anyway, for stereotype number two, there was the fact that our lead guy is Asian. Not that I have something against that (Heck, I'm an Asian myself), but must the male protagonist in a samurai novel be Asian when all his other samurai friends were reincarnated as Whites? Gibsen already said that soul-mates will never be reborn far from each other, so why the big cultural difference? Another stereotype I read from a Goodreads review which said that biker chicks aren't all badass wannabes. We don't have biker chicks here in Singapore, so I'm not sure what they're like, but the ones in KATANA were mean-ass bitches who tried to beat the shit out of Rileigh.

Now on to the 4.5! I have always found the soul-mates reincarnating together and finding their love for each other again very cliche, but in KATANA, it is just so damn sweet. And romantic. Kim Gimhae (this is a Korean name, by the way, not Japanese) didn't force Rileigh to accept him when she went out on a date with some other guy from school, just watch over her as a silent protector. They felt the connection, but Rileigh's afraid of embracing her past cause she thinks that she will lose her modern self, so she constantly pushes Kim away.

I was a little turned off when I realise that the lead male in KATANA was named Kim (even if it's only his first name/surname/family name) - not to mention shocked out of my wits. But I started overlooking the fact as I got to know him. He's a tough warrior, through and through, he's a natural born leader, he's playful and witty when he wants to be, he's kind, and he's very sincere and tender towards Rileigh. But he resumes the tough warrior-natural leader persona during their warrior's training, even towards Rileigh. Rileigh feels pain in her chest one time but Kim signals everyone to continue combating and Rileigh shoots him a dirty look. All in a day's work. Haha. But yes, Kim is an enigmatic warrior who I am very much in *ahem* love *ahem* with. Not only is he hot and a warrior, he's the brooding type of male. Rileigh even made a hilarious comment about it:

"After studying him for a moment, I realized it was a good thing Debbie wasn’t here. She would have signed him to be a model in a second. The brooding types always sold the most underwear."

Rileigh's awesome. She's strong, she's brave, she's funny and sarcastic, but she can be feminine when she wants to be. She's so sarcastic that no-nonsense Kim picked up on it and cracked a few sarcastic jokes himself! When she first met Kim and the other warriors, she was very rude to them. That part was a little extreme, but I can understand cause they lied to her and tried to kill her. But still, it doesn't mean she has to be so rude.. But she's still awesome with all her cool moves.

I really liked that Kim and Rileigh had a deep connection in the past, and their story back then was heartwrenchingly sweet. And heartbreaking. They didn't die natural deaths (being samurai and all), but they died together with honor.

Another thing that I really liked about KATANA was Gibsen's phrasings. There were a lot of descriptions and metaphors that were unique and well, vivid. An example:

"It was too much. I was on sensory overload. My body felt like it held a Ferris wheel with anger, confusion, and fear spinning round and round, each taking their turn at the top. I couldn’t focus enough to organize my thoughts, so I did the first thing that came to mind.

I ran."

It did get a little immature at times, and there were a few errors, but overall I thought that Gibsen has a special way of writing, and one that I really appreciate. I will only list one of the errors I've spotted cause I know that since this is an ARC, the final copy will be edited. But this one error is a common misconception that people have:

"At the rate of speed I fell, everything should have been a blur. Instead, I saw it all with crystal clarity."

Spot the error? Rate of speed? Speed is a rate. You can't say the rate of rate of motion. But apart from this, the rest are more inconsequential. But there were some that were cheesy (which I think is inevitable for a novel which has romance):

I gave an exaggerated sigh. “It’s not that easy. Whitley is so nice and drama-free. But Kim, the way I feel around him … it scares me. It’s like gravity ceases to exist and he’s the only thing I can hold on to.”

Gravity ceases? Uh huh, ok.

But anyway, I really, really loved KATANA, and I'd recommend this to any fan of action and romance. The action, well the title is self-explanatory, and there's a beautiful romance in here. Even though there were errors and things like stereotyping that I am quite averse to, I think that the awesomeness of it all trumps the bad, so yes, I still like it. Very much. I look forward to its sequel, and there's no doubt that I will grab onto it the moment it - or its ARC :D - is out, and that I'll reread this several more times before that. I urge and beseech you to read KATANA when it releases in March. You will not regret the money, time, and brain space. :)

*eARC courtesy of Flux via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

PS. This is a looong review.:P

My Rating

Lifting the Wheel of Karma Tour: Guest Post

2012-01-21T10:36:00.000+08:00

Introducing...

Paul Magid!

About Paul

Paul H. Magid started writing his debut novel, Lifting the Wheel of Karma, twenty-five years ago while still in high school. It took him so long to complete because he tried repeatedly to abandon it, but the work refused to be forsaken. Eventually he realized that sharing this story with the world was, in fact, his Dharma.

Along the way he has worked as a Wall Street financial analyst, a waiter (not a very good one), a Hollywood Agent Trainee, a real estate developer, a summer day camp director, an award winning screenwriter, and independent filmmaker—including his autobiographical film, A Life Unfinished, which screened in The Hamptons International Film Festival.
--Quoted from the Novel's Website

And his novel:

Lifting The Wheel Of Karma!

The Blurb

Joseph Connell is a gifted high school athlete from Montana, loved deeply by his family, yet tormented by nightmarish visions he can neither explain nor escape.

He believes the answer to what threatens to crush him can be found in the knowledge possessed by a mystical old wise man, who lives deep within the remote Himalayas of India.

If Joseph is ever to find the peace he so desperately seeks, he must get this wise old man to reveal what he truly knows, but that will not be easy...for this sage knows far more than he admits.

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A Guest Post by Paul Magid

My novel, LIFTING THE WHEEL OF KARMA, is set predominantly in India. The story takes readers on a magical and mystical journey and you might say the fabric of the story is the history and culture of India. But while it would be fair to say that the story focuses on the culture of India, I think it would also be fair to say that it focuses on the universal concept of Karma.

Karma as an idea certainly originated in India, but it has been so universally disseminated to people and cultures around the world, that I would say, and I think the people of India would agree with me and be happy with me for saying so, that Karma is now a universal concept.

Each person is on a journey –of self-discovery, of purpose, of meaning, of understanding, and how a person conducts herself or himself will determine the direction that journey takes.

What makes my novel unique is the position that forces, well beyond our control, affect, guide, even determine the course of the events of our life, as needed, to continue to push us forward on our journey. Many times these forces and events are not pleasant, even painful –quite painful as the main character in my novel surely discovers.

But it is by going through these experiences that we progress, not just mentally and emotionally, but spiritually, which ultimately is what I believe each one of us is doing here.

My novel deals with many themes –healing, redemption, forgiveness, but also ones such as sacrifice and loyalty, all of which can lead to a fulfilling and spiritually valuable journey. I believe there are many paths to a spiritually fulfilling life and it was my goal in crafting this story to appeal to as many readers as possible by sharing with them a story that they could relate to their own lives.

It’s very interesting to me to hear different responses and emotional reactions that readers have had. One reader said it made her stop and think about not only the actions, good and bad, that she had done, but the bad ones she was thinking about doing.

Another said she was brought to tears by the love story –albeit an unusual one, at least in the way that the words “love story” are traditionally employed, between two brothers, in particular the unwavering love that an older brother has for his younger brother, no matter the commitment, because he feels it is his duty to protect his baby brother.

I have many goals I hope to achieve with readers of LIFTING THE WHEEL OF KARMA and so far, so good. As to the question of why I believe in Karma, real life experiences and all, it is because I have lived a life of, to be candid, incredible pain and suffering, and that has caused me to explore not only life and its meaning, but the questions of what we are supposed to learn while we are here.

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See anything that caught your eye? If you'd like to find out more about Paul or his novel, you can visit him at:

His Website | Tour Website | Facebook | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

You can see the full tour schedule HERE. Thanks for stopping by!

Interview with Tendai Huchu and Smokey + Giveaway

2012-01-20T11:20:00.000+08:00

Introducing...

Tendai Huchu!

About Tendai

Tendai Huchu was born in 1982 in Bindura, Zimbabwe. He attended Churchill High School in Harare and from there went to the University of Zimbabwe to study a degree in Mining Engineering. He dropped out in the middle of the first semester, found work briefly in a casino and from there drifted from one job to the next. Four years later he returned to university and is now a Podiatrist living in Edinburgh, Scotland. --Quoted from His Website

And Smokey from...

An Untimely Love!

The Blurb

Love can find us in the most unusual of circumstances. This is what happens to Khalid Patel, a terrorist, when he falls in love with Smokey, a feisty and independent young woman who was to be Britain's first female suicide bomber. On what is meant to be his day of martyrdom, his violent worldview is thrown into turmoil. We share his thoughts as Death and Duty become irrevocably and movingly entwined with Love and Life.

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An Interview with Tendai

Hi Tendai! Thank you so much for coming to the blog today!

1) Tell me about yourself?

Is this a chat up line, CYP? I was born in a small mining town called Bindura in Zimbabwe, way back in 1982, so 30 is round the corner and I’m dreading it. I now live in Edinburgh, Scotland.

2) Wow..Scotland!! I've always wanted to go there. Haha anyway, what do you usually do when you're not being an author?

I work part-time as a podiatrist. Play a bit of chess, watch a lot of movies, not much else really. I don’t think you ever stop being an author, there’s always ideas swirling in your head, no matter where you are.

3) Podiatrist.. Then how and why did you start writing?

I read an awful lot and the more I read, the more I kept finding ideas quite similar to mine in other peoples’ work so finally I put pen to paper and just wrote.

4) Was An Untimely Love the first novel you've ever written? If it isn't, then what are the others about?

My first novel’s called The Hairdresser of Harare. An Untimely Love is the second, the two are completely different.

5) Have you ever written a novels in other genres?

The Hairdresser of Harare is a contemporary novel. It’s the story of a young single mum called Vimbai who’s struggling to create a future for herself and her daughter amidst the economic, political and social turmoil in Zimbabwe. To cut a long story short, she falls in love with a charming man keeping a dark secret…

6) What's An Untimely Love about?

It’s about Khalid Patel, a first generation British-Pakistani is a suicide bomber who falls in love on the day he’s supposed to martyr himself. As you can expect his violent world view is thrown into turmoil and that’s just the start of a roller-coaster ride that pits him against his handlers and the intelligence services.

7) Did you base any of your characters on real life people/experiences? Which ones?

The book is an idea based on the story of the Black September group who committed atrocities at the Munich Olympics. It is thought one of the things that contributed to their disbanding as an effective terror organisation is the fact they were encouraged to marry and start families which decreased their appetite for violence. This is based on work by Thomas Hayden and Dr. Malcolm Potts in their book, Sex and War: How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism and Offers a Path to a Safer World. So I essentially took that idea and then linked it with contemporary issues around terrorism in Britain.

8) What is your favourite part in An Untimely Love?
So many to pick from. The book is divided into three parts, the first which is called, The Last Day of a Suicide Bomber which I love because it’s taken from Victor Hugo’s The Last Day of a Condemned Man.

9) Wow..you must read A LOT of these war/suicide bombing books. Do you have a favourite book or author?

When you read so much you stop having favourite authors and favourite books. Literature is a house with many rooms and so many of them linked together. My favourite is usually the book I’m reading at the time… if it’s good.

10) What was the hardest part in your path to becoming an author?

The long hours spent writing, never knowing whether or not my work would ever see the light of day. But I kept on anyway.

Haha, ok. I think Smokey's just arrived for her interview. Talk to you next time, Tendai!

An Interview with Smokey

*Smokey enters the scene, walks past the no smoking sign, cigarette in hand, eyes glazed, wearing red Converse trainers and a blue hoodie.*

Hi Smokey! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

1) Hey, how are you today? Where's Mr Patel?

First of all, I didn’t wanna do your shit interview but the author forced me so fuck it. Where’s Mr Patel? Out there, planning to blow your ass up. Can I go now?

2) Ok....nice to meet you too. If you're so disagreeable, then I suggest we start this interview proper and get it over and done with. You're the lead girl in An Untimely Love, what is it about?

Weird stage in my life. I was caught up in this terror network and we were planning to blow some targets up in London but things happened that we didn’t expect to happen.

3) Must've been quite a panic moment when you're planning something big and things don't go as planned.. The story's in yours and Mr Patel's point of view, isn't it? How do you feel, knowing that people will be privy to both of your inner thoughts? Haha, to those moments you had with each other?

He shouldn’t have written it. I mean we live in a world with shit reality T.V. shows, crass Tabloids, kiss and tell books from used up D-List celebrities. The last thing I need is for people to get all up in my business like that.

4) Aw, but a FEMALE, BRITISH, suicide bomber makes for a very good story. *winks* You're Britain's first female suicide bomber. Tell me, what made you decide to be one? It takes so much gut. What's the big reason for you to be willing to sacrifice your life like that?

Am I gonna get a medal or something? I wanted to change the world, like everyone else in their twenties. I thought we were at the vanguard of something special. Yeah, I was willing to die.

5) If you hadn't become a suicide bomber, what do you imagine yourself to be? Any dreams and ambitions?

I’d have been a doctor, I was at uni. Ironic ha, one day you’re treating sick people the next you wanna blow them up.

6) That's.....nice. What you think of Mr Patel? What was your first impression of him?

Good looking, a bit slow but then all men are. When I first saw him I knew there was something different about him. Kind, that’s it, he was kind, he cared.

7) What's your most memorable memory in An Untimely Love?

The bit when Khalid came to rescue me from the cops. I mean, I’d given up and there he goes with some Prison Break shit just to get me. That took a lot of heart.

8) Do you have anything you'd like to say to readers out there?

This Tendai Huchu guy should really stop ripping people’s stories off and selling them as his own. I mean there’s bits in the book I’d have taken out just because they’re so private you know. How come he gets his name on the front cover when it was Khalid’s story anyway?

9) Err, well, Tendai was the one who WROTE Khalid's story, so I guess his name's the one that's gonna be on the cover. Where can readers buy your "autobiography", of sorts? Haha.

That’s in the works but for now I just need to chill out and think about where my future’s headed. If you see me in a crowded train carriage or something… get the hell out.

Thank you again for coming to do the interview! Even if it was done so reluctantly.:)

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If you'd like to find out more about Tendai or his books, you can visit him at:

Author's Website | Goodreads

Giveaway Time!

Tendai is generously giving away 5 ecopies of An Untimely Love to 5 international winners! No requirements, just fill in the Rafflecopter form below and you're good to go! This giveaway will last for 2 weeks, which will end Febuary 4th, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway