May 19, 2013

Looking Back.... and Forward #1

Okay, so I've been thinking of starting a new weekly thing here on Marked By Books. Just kind of something that will remind me that posting every so often really isn't too much to ask of myself even when I am really busy. Even better, I can schedule these posts in advance. Really, I don't have any excuse not to.

Oh, trust me, I'll find one.

Basically, what I hope this will turn out to be is me spotlighting some of the books that were released in the past week that I obviously missed out on, and then choosing the one that I'm most excited to see in the next seven days. Doesn't sound too bad, does it?

Yeah, yeah, I know that it's not terribly original, but it's my first shot at being organized here, so I'd say that I have some room for error. I'm going to try to get one of these up every Sunday, but don't be surprised if it's a little late or I completely forget. It's bound to happen.

As for the name.... well I'm working on that one. My best option that I've come up with so far seems to be "Looking Back.... and Forward," but if I'm being completely honest here, it seems pretty cheesy. I'll probably end up changing it at some point in time, but for right now, it's all I've got.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

***


Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.




Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.




She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.

But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.




After a bizarre accident, Ingrid Waverly is forced to leave London with her mother and younger sister, Gabby, trading a world full of fancy dresses and society events for the unfamiliar city of Paris.

In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house Ingrid’s twin brother, Grayson, found for them isn’t a house at all. It’s an abandoned abbey, its roof lined with stone gargoyles that could almost be mistaken for living, breathing creatures.

And Grayson has gone missing.

No one seems to know of his whereabouts but Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant at their new home.

Ingrid is sure her twin isn’t dead—she can feel it deep in her soul—but she knows he’s in grave danger. It will be up to her and Gabby to navigate the twisted path to Grayson, a path that will lead Ingrid on a discovery of dark secrets and otherworldly truths. And she’ll learn that once they are uncovered, they can never again be buried.

***


And here's the book I'm most excited to see released next week!


With her weak eyes and useless lungs that often leave her gasping for air, Nere feels more at home swimming with the dolphins her mother studies than she does hanging out with her classmates. Nere has never understood why she is so much more comfortable and confident in the water than on land until the day she learns the shocking truth—she is one of a group of kids who have been genetically altered to survive in the ocean. These products of the "Neptune Project" are supposed to build a better future under the waves, safe from the terrible famines and wars and that rock the surface world.

But there are some big challenges ahead of her: no one ever asked Nere if she wanted to be part of a science experiment; the other Neptune kids aren't exactly the friendliest bunch, and in order to reach the safe haven of the new Neptune colony, Nere and her fellow mutates must swim across hundreds of miles of dangerous ocean, relying on their wits, their loyal dolphins and one another to evade terrifying undersea creatures and a government that will stop at nothing to capture the Neptune kids ... dead or alive.

Fierce battle and daring escapes abound as Nere and her friend race to safety in this action-packed marine adventure.



So what do you guys think? Is this going to work?




May 13, 2013

The Photo Traveler Blog Tour: Review & GIVEAWAY




Welcome to our stop on Arthur J. Gonzalez's tour for his debut novel, The Photo Traveler! Arthur is so unbelievably incredible. You should all bask in his glory. Do you know what my first interaction with him was? Okay, so I had just seen this tour put up on Xpresso Book Tours, and I knew that even if I didn't get on it, I should still try to read it. So I go onto Goodreads and see that there is a giveaway up there for the book. I sign up and assume that's the end of that.

Nope.

I don't even think it was an entire day later before I got a message on Goodreads from a very excited Arthur J. Gonzalez, thanking me for signing up for his giveaway. Don't believe me? Here it is.



Seventeen-year-old Gavin Hillstone is resigned to being miserable for the rest of his life. Left alone in the world after his parents died in a fire when he was four, he was placed in foster care, which for him meant ending up in an abusive home with an alcoholic adoptive father.

Gavin’s only escape is in taking and creating images. His camera is his refuge from the unending torture and isolation of daily life in his  “family.”

Until he learns by accident that he isn’t alone in the world after all. His father’s parents are still alive and living in Washington DC.

When he takes the plunge and travels 3,000 miles to find his grandparents, he learns that they—and he—are part of something much bigger, and more dangerous, than he could ever have imagined. Something that has always put his family at risk and that will now threaten his own life, while forever changing it.

He learns that he is one of the last descendants of a small group of Photo Travelers—people who can travel through time and space through images. But his initial excitement turns to fear, when he soon discovers that he and his grandparents are being pursued by the fierce remnants of a radical European Photo Traveler cult, the Peace Hunters. What Gavin has, they want!

His adventure will take him to past eras, like The Great Depression and the Salem Witch Trials. Gavin will have to discover who he really is and must make choices that spell the difference between life and death for himself, for the relatives he now knows and loves, and for the girl he will come to love.

For Gavin Hillstone, life will never be the same.

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My name is Arthur J Gonzalez.  I’m 28 years old, born and raised in Miami, FL.  I graduated from the University of Florida.  I am currently releasing my debut novel, The Photo Traveler.  The premise surrounds 17 – year old Gavin, who discovers he is part of a small group, called Photo Travelers, who can time travel through photos and images.

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I would just like to point out that his website is really, really cool. You should go look at it.



My Review

The concept for this book is pretty incredible. A group of people called photo travelers have the ability to travel through time and space via images that they find. So let's say that you have this newspaper clipping with a picture on it. You say a few fancy words, and then suddenly you're sucked into this vortex-like thing, and next thing you know, you're standing right in the middle of the image you were looking at in the time it was created. Sounds pretty cool, right?

Well, yeah. That's because it is.

This is the life that Gavin suddenly finds himself in after he leaves his abusive foster home in search of the grandparents he never knew existed. His original plan is to figure out why they never took him in after his parents passed and to hopefully stay far, far away from his "family" and all of the pain it causes him.

I feel kind of awful saying this, but the Hillstone family was one of my favorite parts of the novel. Yeah, yeah, the ones that are left are pretty awful human beings (though Dina's not really that bad once she comes to her senses), but I found the mechanics of this extremely screwed up family to be very interesting. They are so much a part of Gavin already, even in their worst moments, that he would definitely not be the same person without every single one of them.

I also really liked his new family, Bud and Estelle. They were great people, and it was obvious how much they both cared about him, even when they weren't able to be anywhere near him. Out of all of the characters, they probably felt the most real to me.

In general, this book ranks pretty high on the adventurous scale, considering that there are no limits to any sort of setting for the novel. Except, apparently dinosaurs. Darn. Just so we're clear, though, I would have tried it too, Gavin.

Really the only things that I wasn't immensely fond of were the rhymes that they had to recite before they could travel anywhere. Seemed a little too much like magic words to me. Kind of cheesy. Also, the story tended to seem rushed at times, and it would have been nice if Gavin was willing to stop and smell those proverbial roses. Wherever they are.

Aside from that, this book left me in a pretty good place. I obviously had a lot of questions (gee thanks, cliffhanger!) like what happens to a certain few somebodies that I'm not allowed to mention for fear of ruining everything for you guys. Sorry!

Something that I was interested in figuring out is what it would look like to an outside observer when the photo travelers do their thing. Do they get sucked into the image? Or is it just more of a poof! and they're gone kind of deal? That might be fun to explore.

One more thing, though, and this is really just out of personal curiosity. I understand that when you go back in time to the same picture twice, the people there won't remember the first visit because it technically hasn't happened. Well if that's true, then why don't the photo travelers just go back again every time they screw up the timeline, so it would be like their mistakes never happened? I don't know, would that work?

Rating: 4 stars




Here's my favorite quote, only because it brings up an interesting topic:

""Whoa!" Estelle exclaims. "Slow down, sweetie! What's the rush?"

I spring up and sprint past them. "I'm going to be upstairs. Need to take care of something-"

"Have you even eaten?" she persists.

"Pizza."

"Pizza's not real food," she counters."


Oh no she didn't.

I really like Estelle, but that's just not okay with me. Pizza is definitely real food! You know what, never mind. Maybe she's right. Pizza's not real food. It's better. It's like happiness baked into one incredible gift from the heavens. I'm standing by that one no matter what anybody else tells me.








The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway


A copy of the novel was provided for us in exchange for an honest review.


May 10, 2013

Escaping Darkness Book Blast: Excerpt & GIVEAWAY

Hello, everybody! Okay, so I just scanned over the list of posts I've written lately, and it's pretty pathetic. Sorry about that! The real world has kept me extremely busy lately, so I've kind of slacked off when it comes to writing here. My apologies!

But here, to pull me out of my funk, is the lovely Theresa McClinton! Does that name sound familiar to any of you? It should! She was over here a few months ago for book number one in The Stone Legacy series. You can see that post with her interview here. She was so much fun to talk to when I was getting ready for her tour and even afterwards when she stuck around to comment. It was great!

***


Okay, so the Escaping Darkness novella is book two in The Stone Legacy series, with The Stone Guardian being book one (you can find out more about that at the bottom of this post). From what I understand, this book focuses more on Tara than Ashley, but I could be wrong since I haven't read it yet. I will, though! I promise! It's right next up on the list!



She may have spent years in an asylum, but that didn’t make her crazy–just fearless.

Dropped in Moscow with her friends on an impossible mission against underworld forces, Tara is left to her feelings of overwhelming inadequacy. Her boyfriend is a healer, her best friend is “the Guardian,” and everyone else is a powerhouse of awesome strengths. The only thing she has been able to contribute are her memories, which has left her with nightmares of her time spent at the mercy of the evil Sarian–who everyone has gone to fight.

Alone with her emotions, Tara finds herself falling into a city of depravity and corruption. And amidst all this evil is a young man with an agenda of his own, who leads her down a road that will either prove she is a hero at heart, or drag her into a world she’s always feared.

He wants revenge, she wants redemption. And in an underground rings of missing girls and bloody sacrifices, only the fearless can survive…

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The Paranormal Romance Guild gave Escaping Darkness 4 stars! You can read their review of the novella and book one here.


The Excerpt

"Rays of morning sun crept through the windows of Tara’s hotel room. She was already awake, frozen in bed and staring at the entrance. Harsh whispers echoed from the hall paired with rushed footsteps on the carpeted floors beyond the door. She gripped the blanket, her heart pounding in anticipation.

She flung the covers aside and hurried across the room. The knob rattled followed by several sharp pounds. She peered through the peephole before swinging open the door. Renato rushed in with a limp Hawa hanging in his arms.

“Oh my god! What happened?”

Renato laid Hawa on the bed. Black hair spilled over her face as she moaned.

Peter stumbled into the room, his eyes glossed over with sleep. Renato glanced over his shoulder and waved him over. “We need your help.”

Tara’s chest tightened while she stared at them. “Where’s Ashley?” Renato glanced at her and then back to Hawa without a word. Tara stepped forward, a knot forming in her stomach. She gripped the bedpost, her legs beginning to feel like mush. “Mr. Renato, what happened to Ashley?”

“She’ll be fine,” Peter said while examining Hawa’s bandaged leg. “I don’t sense any breaks or fractures. No lesions.” He stared up at Renato. “What the hell happened?”

Renato paced, rubbing the five o’clock shadow that darkened his chin and jawline. “Sarian was much stronger than we anticipated. When Ashley tried to retrieve the stone, he somehow sensed her, even with the masking spell.”

Figures. Tara knew it was bad news when that witch offered to help. She hated the idea from the start, but being outnumbered and a girl with no abilities to contribute, she thought it better to keep her mouth shut and let Renato and Ashley make the final decision. The masking spell could have been a dud. For all they knew, Contessa might have wanted Ashley dead to take her stone. The witch only helped to get revenge on Sarian in the first place. Who knows what other motives she had. Tara still wasn’t sure of the extent of the stone’s power, but since every underworlder seemed to want to get their hands on it, it had to be capable of some unworldly things.

“Who healed Hawa?” Peter asked.

“Contessa. At her home.” Renato glanced at his watch. “We arrived back less than an hour ago.”

“Well, it looks like she did a decent job.” Peter laid the back of his hand against Hawa’s forehead. “No fever. I think she’s just exhausted. We should let her sleep.”

Tara let go of the bedpost, anger peeling away her layers of patience. There was no way she’d let them keep ignoring her. With her fists perched on her hips, she glared at them. “If someone doesn’t answer me in the next two seconds, I swear I’m going to flip the hell out.” They both stopped and stared at her. Tara swallowed. “Where’s Ashley?”

Anger was as good as any other emotion right now—better even, since it kept her blood rushing fast enough to prevent her from passing out if the news was grim.

Renato gave a deep exhale. “Tara.”

The way he said her name sucked the heat right out of her body.

She wound her fingers into her mess of red curls. “Oh God. What?”

“Please don’t panic,” he continued. “She is not hurt.”

Tara exhaled a calming breath and gestured toward the door. “I’m gonna go talk to her.” When she took a step forward, Renato stepped to the side, cutting off her path. She stared up at his tight face. “I’ll be right back. I just want to go see how she’s holding up.”

“Tara.” But when he said her name the second time, his tone hadn’t changed, and the look in his eyes told her something was wrong. He ran his fingers through his hair, smoothing it down. “She’s not here.”

“What do you mean she’s not here? You said she’s all right.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Tara shifted her weight. “Well, where is she?”

“She and Arwan left to get Jayden back.”

“Back?” Tara scanned the room. In all of the chaos, she hadn’t noticed Jayden wasn’t there. “Is he pulling another stunt to win Ashley over?”

“I don’t think that’s what’s going on this time,” Peter said.

“Sarian is stronger than we realized.”

“But…” Tara shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Jayden was killed in battle.”

She felt like someone had kicked her in the chest. “What?” She gasped, her bottom lip quivering with her voice. She had known Jayden almost as long as Ashley, and even if they weren’t as close, he was her friend. She swallowed past the ache in her throat.

Peter took her hand.

“She and Arwan rushed to Guatemala,” Renato continued. “To the caves of Naj Tunich.”

She tightened her grip on Peter’s hand while suspicion crawled over her. “Ashley hates caves. Why would she want to go there?”

“Ashley was determined. I attempted to convince her it was a dangerous, reckless idea, but she insisted. She and Arwan traveled to the caves to find Houn—the Guardian of Souls. She has the insane thought that they can get Jayden’s soul back in time.”

Tara pulled away from Peter, grabbed Renato’s collar, and jerked him forward. “Are you trying to tell me that my best friend is going to meet up with the Grim Reaper?”

Renato stared down at Tara’s fingers clenching his shirt.

She let go of his collar. “I want proof. Ashley wouldn’t just take off like that. Not without telling me first.”

Renato straightened his posture while smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes. “I managed to rent a cold chamber for Jayden’s body in the local morgue.” He paused, watching her skeptical stare. His lips pressed tightly together. “If escorting you to see his body is the only way to convince you I am being honest, that is certainly an option.”

Tara took a step back. “Oh my God. You’re serious.”

“Unfortunately, yes. If Ashley and Arwan cannot retrieve his soul before Houn places it, the morgue is where Jayden’s body belongs. Either way, we need to preserve it the best we can.”

“Preserve?” She choked on the word and slowly lowered herself to the mattress beside Hawa’s feet.

Peter tucked a curl behind Tara’s ear. “It’ll be all right.”

She wanted to believe him, but something in her gut told her it wouldn’t be that simple. “Jayden’s dead and…Ashley didn’t even say goodbye. What if—” Her breath caught in her throat. “What if I never see her again?”"



A long time enthusiast of things that go bump in the night, Theresa began her writing career as a journalism intern—possibly the least creative writing field out there. After her first semester at a local newspaper, she washed her hands of press releases and feature articles to delve into the whimsical world of young adult and new adult paranormal and contemporary romance.

Since then, Theresa has been married, had three terrific kids, moved to central Ohio, and was repeatedly guilt tripped into adopting a menagerie of animals that are now members of the family. But don’t be fooled by her domesticated appearance. Her greatest love is travel. Having traveled to over a dozen countries and explored dozens of U.S. states—including an extended seven-year stay in Kodiak, Alaska—she is anything but settled down. But wherever life brings her, Theresa will continue to weave tales of adventure and love with the hope her stories will bring joy and inspiration to her readers.




And here's a little bit about book one! You can read my review of it here.


When myth becomes reality, reality becomes a nightmare.

Like any other teenager in America, Ashley just wants a normal life. But growing up in an orphanage for the insane is anything but normal. After endless therapy and increasing medication, her nightmares have only gotten worse.

Probably because they’re not nightmares.

When Ashley’s mysteriously abducted, she finds a reality even less normal than the orphanage. And she discovers something else—she’s no ordinary orphan. Faced with enemies thought to only exist in fairy tales, Ashley discovers she possesses a powerful Maya bloodline. She’s the daughter of an ancient Maya Guardian, whose duty is to protect the Stone of Muuk’ich, an enchanted relic blessed by the gods. But first she must get it back from Sarian, a power-hungry demigod who slaughtered the last guardian—Ashley’s mother. Without the stone, all will be lost.

When she meets Arwan, a hot Belizean time bender, his delicious olive skin and dark eyes make her feel a little less alone. But his gentle whispers and reassuring touch might not be all they seem. How can she balance love and duty when it’s up to her to prevent the rising of the underworld? Especially when the guy she loves might be its crown prince…

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The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway




May 6, 2013

Losing Francesca Cover & Trailer Reveal




I'm so excited to be part of this cover reveal! I fell in love with the story right when I read the synopsis, and as soon as I saw that the cover was being designed by Claudia from Phatpuppy Art, I jumped at the chance. This artist.... there are no words. Absolutely incredible doesn't even come close to describing her talents, and this cover is only a small part of what she does. Make sure you check out her website, everything there is amazing!



Francesca Sabatini came to America to take in the sights, celebrate her high school graduation, and have fun wasting time before college starts in the fall.

That’s not what happens.

Fresh off the plane and barely on American soil more than a handful of minutes, Francesca’s face is recognized by TSA scanners to be a match for a child who was kidnapped twelve years ago.

Brody Mason remembers the day Fiona Sullivan went missing during a family vacation in Italy and it’s haunted him his whole life. So when Francesca shows up at the Sullivan farm down the road, he’s compelled to figure out if this girl really is his long lost friend.

But Francesca knows she’s not Fiona Sullivan. She knows exactly who she is. At least she thinks she knows – until Brody Mason relentlessly pursues her and she begins to have feelings for him. Maybe being Fiona isn’t so bad?

Reality becomes blurred, secrets are revealed, and life will never be the same when the final questions are answered: is she Francesca or Fiona? And where does she really belong?

Losing Francesca releases July 1st!



For When Words Just Aren't Enough





J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).

She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.

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The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway





Apr 29, 2013

Water's Blood Blog Tour: Review & GIVEAWAY




Just look at this cover! Do you see how awesome it is? That blue is so vibrant and beautiful, I just can't take my eyes off of it.


Nature’s Elementals—Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water—have lived for countless millennia. Disguised as humans, they are charged with one mission: protect the innocent from fallen angel clans, who reap human souls and force them to do their bidding.

Brooke, a Water Elemental stationed in New Orleans, broke the rules once—she mated with a human. For her indiscretion, she is forbidden to share a life with her loved ones: NOPD officer Alex and their half-breed daughter, Ella.

Now Ella is about to turn sixteen, and the local clan of fallen angels is determined to snare her soul by Halloween.

Brooke broke the rules once by allowing love to interfere with her mission. Now she and Alex must put consequences aside to break the rules again—if they wish to save their daughter’s soul.

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Elaine Calloway is originally from New Orleans and can still do a decent Cajun accent upon request. She is currently writing the Elemental Clan Series, a series of paranormal tales set in iconic cities such as New Orleans. Book One, WATER’S BLOOD, is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Book Two, RAGING FIRE, will be released summer 2013.

For more information or to connect with Elaine online, visit her web site at www.elainecalloway.com

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The Excerpt

"“Hell is empty; all the devils are here.” ― William Shakespeare, The Tempest


CHAPTER ONE


Brooke gripped the bar’s wooden edge until her knuckles turned white. Nausea and trepidation washed through her human form. Not now. Please. Not when her New Orleans pub, Armand’s, was filled with Friday night locals. She couldn’t keep walking away from her cover job. And she definitely couldn’t tell her customers the truth.

Her mission was critical: protect innocent humans from the Minare, a local clan of Fallen Angels. Who knew dealing with a teenager would be the more difficult job?

The nausea grew stronger, churning in the depths of her stomach. For one hopeful moment, she wondered if the Shrimp Creole she’d eaten for lunch could be the culprit. A sense of uneasiness snaked through her veins. No such luck. All signs pointed to the distress call.

Images in her line of vision began to spin. Gold, purple, and green Fleur de Lis emblems on the bar walls blurred into a kaleidoscope haze. Oh, yes. She recognized this feeling—the ole Tilt-O-Whirl-from-Hell. She shut her eyes, wanting her equilibrium to stabilize, but the famed Mardi Gras colors danced behind her eyelids.

Breathe. She inhaled deep. Beer, tobacco smoke, and lemon polish overpowered her nostrils.

The impending doom intensified. Your daughter is in danger. You have to go.

Panic churned inside her like a tornado. She’d been afraid this would happen.

What was she supposed to do? Family and her mission were mutually exclusive in her world. She couldn’t kick her customers out. Her only option was to leave someone in charge. Someone trustworthy.

Quinn, one of her favorite regulars and a self-professed hippie, approached and plunked his shot glass down. “Refill when you get a chance. Life treating you okay?”

Perfect. Quinn and his wife had helped her rebuild the pub after Hurricane Katrina. They were good folks, the kind of humans Brooke could trust her customers with.

She tilted the amber whiskey bottle and poured. “I’ll make you a deal. Watch the place for thirty minutes, and you can have all the refills you want.”

“Works for me. What happened to John?”

Brooke grabbed her keys and jacket. She didn’t have time to get into the particulars. “Quit on me yesterday, said he’s moving back home to care for his parents. I haven’t had the chance to place a want-ad for someone new.”

“I’ll hold down the fort. Go do what you need to do.” Quinn strolled behind the bar, his body moving in tune to the Zydeco music coming from the speakers. On any other day, she liked the New Orleans locals and their leisurely way of life. Just not now. She needed to go.

She sprinted for the back exit. “Thanks. I’ll be back soon.”

“Is everything okay?” he called after her.

Not really. She didn’t turn around, only said, “I won’t be gone long, thanks,” and ducked out the back door to avoid further questions.

Brooke ran down the crooked sidewalk. Live oaks draped with Spanish moss lined the narrow street filled with shotgun houses. Fortunately, Alex only lived two blocks away. The short walk made it easy to keep watch over him and Ella.

Darkness covered the sage-colored home with black shutters, but the full moon’s beams slanted through a rear side window. Brooke crept alongside the long narrow house, which extended back for almost a city block. These old Mid-City homes had more rooms than she could keep up with. Over the years, she’d learned which ones she could easily peer through.

Peeking inside, Brooke saw Ella tiptoeing across the study, headed straight for the cabinet.

Brooke’s neck went tight. Holy hell, this was no false alarm. Ella was a mere twenty steps away from the cabinet. Or rather, from disaster. "


My Review

I wasn't really sure what to expect out of Water's Blood. There weren't that many reviews of it that I could find when I started reading it, but the premise itself was interesting. I assumed that it was either going to be a hit or a miss kind of a book and decided to suck it up and take a chance. It turns out that I was wrong. It was somewhere in the middle.

Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of things I liked about this book. I thought that Mercury and Cristos were fantastic characters, and I really enjoyed the scenes from Soren's point of view. I've always thought that it's interesting to see things from the villain's perspective.

My favorite thing about this book, however, was how easy it was to see how much Brooke and Alex loved their daughter, Ella. Elaine really nailed the relationship on all parts there.

One thing that I wasn't too fond of was the occasional lack of explanation. In certain areas, it wasn't really a problem, but sometimes it felt like there wasn't enough time devoted to explaining how things worked in their world. Especially some of the finer details regarding the back-story and extent of the Fallen Angels' abilities. Yeah, I get that they can do some really cool stuff, but I was always interested in finding out why.

Rating: 3 stars



My favorite passage was pretty near the beginning of the book:
"The ache in her chest grew stronger when she saw them embrace in a long hug. Alex, love of her life, and Ella, the daughter she could never know as her own. Their arms outstretched and formed a family bond, a human circle. One Brooke could never enter."







The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The Tour

April 29

fuonlyknew - Spotlight & Review
Marked By Books - Review


April 30

Urban Fantasy Investigations - Guest Blog & Review


May 1

Unputdownable Books - Spotlight


May 2

Arianne Cruz - Interview


May 3

Eclipse Reviews - Interview


May 6

Book Liaison - Spotlight


A copy of the novel was provided for us in exchange for an honest review.



Apr 23, 2013

daynight Blog Tour: Review & GIVEAWAY


On Tour with Prism Book Tours...


Man, I love this tour so much. Not that I'm shamelessly promoting/fangirling over the tour that Laura and the author put together, but really, how can I not? First off, the book is fantastic (yay for Megan!), and secondly, this tour is amazing. Not only did I get to read the fabulous book, but I also got to read a fabulous short story, which is also fabulously free during this tour!

Has anybody noticed yet that I'm a little sleep deprived while writing this? Eh, what the heck, I'd choose books over sleep any day. Or should I say night? Ooooo, I just made a completely tactless and unsubtle pun. I must really need some sleep.





Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance™. Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex. Punishment for disobeying SCI edicts? Immediate Exile or death.

Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead.

Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan.

Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.

Full of competing agendas, romantic entanglements, humor, twists and turns, daynight is Megan Thomason’s debut young adult dystopian novel and first in the daynight series.

Amazon          B&N          The Book Depository



My Review

I'm not going to say that this book was perfect. I had my problems with it, like I do with pretty much everything I read (what can I say, I'm picky!). Namely, how easy it was for Kira to accept that she was no longer living on Earth. Did she question it? Heck yeah, which was why it wasn't that big of a deal for me, but I just felt like there should have been a little more drama behind her figuring that she just got handed over to a bunch of wackjobs. 

But like I said, that wasn't a huge deal for me, so I'm not going to focus on it.

What I am going to focus on are the things that I did like. Because no matter what may have irked me a little bit at times (hi Jax), there would always be something following not so far behind that would either make want to laugh or cry. Only one of which I did. I'll let you figure out which one it was.

I loved the multiple perspectives. Sometimes it was a little confusing how they were laid out because there were a few repeated events and some funky chronological order, but it was all worth it. There's nothing that I appreciate more in an author than being wiling to explain why her (or his) characters think and act the way they do. If you ever want me to emphasize with or even like them, you have to get me to understand them. Which definitely happened here.

So I guess now I can talk about Ethan! I really liked Ethan. Don't get me wrong, I think that Blake is a pretty cool dude too, but I really really liked Ethan. You can't possibly understand how incredible I thought he was until you read the book, but perhaps I can give you a little glimpse from his perspective:

"I didn't think it was possible to love someone so much, but she is the smartest, most beautiful, most kind, most loyal, most caring, most fun, most incredible girl in the universe. When I'm with her I just want time to stop forever and when I'm not I can't even think straight. My heart pounds, I'm antsy, and I can't get her out of my mind. She's in my every thought, every moment, so much so that I have trouble getting my work done. I constantly wonder what she's thinking and if she feels a fraction for me the way I feel about her." 

Awwww!!!!! How sweet is that?! And he's so shy around Kira that pretty much everything he does makes me laugh.

It's one thing to try to make me understand the protagonists, though, and quite another to branch off into the extremely barren territory of explaining the so called "bad guys." You literally have no idea how happy I am that Megan Thomason did this. It's pretty much the reason why I'm giving this book such a high rating.

You see, I have a bit of a hard time believing that people are inherently born "good" or "evil." Life is so circumstantial, and everybody usually has some sort of a reason for the things they do, even if it may not make sense to anybody else. I don't necessarily think that the SCI is evil, even though I may believe that some of the things they do are. They have a reason for doing what they do, and I'm so thankful to Megan for daring to explain those "whys."
  

Rating: 5 stars



Alright, time for the short story. Which, as I already mentioned, is free right now! (edit: Okay, so as far as I know for right now, it's just free on Smashwords, but that may change soon!)



Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Worldwide non-profit and do-gooder organization. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Life(TM). Reality: hidden behind every kind act is a dark agenda designed to gain control and force societal and moral extremes. Currently, the SCI’s pushing Project Liberate, a program to woo the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes—where “everything is provided” from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there’s a catch…

Meet Alexa Knight. Feisty, tough and currently homeless in Los Angeles, Alexa agrees to help the SCI in return for medical care for her sick mother. When she starts to suspect there’s more to the SCI than meets the eye will she believe Adam—the boy who saved her life and the SCI’s biggest champion, or Joshua—the attractive enigma who sings about conspiracy theories and pretends to be someone he’s not?

Full of action, humor, romance, twists and turns, clean slate complex is a companion story to the highly-praised dystopian novel, 'daynight'. It can be enjoyed before or after reading 'daynight'.

Smashwords          Amazon



My Thoughts

Okay, since this was a pretty short read, I'm going to be much briefer than with my daynight review and not give it an actual rating. Just my thoughts.

I read "clean slate complex" when I was about a 10th of the way through with daynight, and I feel like I was still able to understand things pretty well. Yeah, some things would have been easier to grasp if I knew everything already, but it didn't kill me. In a perfect world, if you plan on reading both (and you should because they're fantastic), I'd suggest reading the full length novel first, but if you just want to try out the series with the short story first, I wouldn't sweat it too much. Some things will be a little fuzzy, but you'll be fine.

Character-wise, I thought the book was great. Alexa reminded me a lot of Kira with the whole over-protectiveness and self sacrificing thing they've got going on, even if I felt like Alexa was initially better equipped to deal with everything. Adam and Joshua were both pretty cool too, even though I do have a favorite. Sorry Adam, being Alexa's cookie pimp (which I thought was hilarious) just wasn't enough.

Overall, I was really surprised with how much character and plot development I read in the few pages there were. It's pretty hard to go that in depth in a short story, but someway, somehow, Megan managed to do it!




And here, just for the heck of it, is what she said when I asked her to tell me a little bit about the story:
  • I came up with the idea for clean slate complex while writing daynight's sequel, arbitrate. Alexa was a planned character in arbitrate from the beginning, but I couldn't figure out a way to tell her story (how she became the face of the clean slate campaign for the SCI) without using her voice. And since I already have three voices going in the daynight series I couldn't realistically add another one. 
  • I got invited to participate in a "Best of YA dystopia" anthology (to be released this summer) and that's what finally pushed me to take the time to write clean slate complex. The entire story was in my head, so it was just a matter of putting it down on virtual paper (via my 11" MacBook Air & Scrivener).
  • Because I knew the story had to be concise I contracted a professional content/copy editor I knew and she happily signed onto the project. This added time and stress (deadlines...not something I am accustomed to!), but it was well worth it. 
  • I asked some author friends (who are excellent writers in the genre) to beta read clean slate complex and their feedback was invaluable.





Megan Thomason lives in paradise aka San Diego, CA with her husband and five children. A former software manager, Megan vastly prefers writing twisted tales to business, product, and marketing plans. When she isn't typing away on her laptop, she's reading books on her phone—over 600 in the last year—or attending to the needs of her family. Megan’s fluent in sarcasm, could potentially benefit from a 12-step program for road rage, struggles with a Hot Tamales addiction, loves world travel & fast cars and hates paperwork & being an insomniac. Daynight is Megan's first published novel, but fourth written one.

Goodreads          Blog          Facebook          Twitter









daynight Second Chances Giveaway

Choose what you enter to win wisely. Your stay on Thera may be extended indefinitely.




Highlighting a different giveaway every daynight of the Tour... International Winners will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate and US Winners may choose $25 GC in lieu of Prize Package.

US only. International winners will receive $25 Amazon gift certificate. US winners can opt to receive $25 Amazon gift certificate in lieu of any prize package.Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced on Rafflecopter and Grand Finale posts as well as emailed and the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Burgandy Ice @ Colorimetry and Prism Book Tours and sponsored by Megan Thomason. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Tour

Become an SCI Recruit
The Second Chance Institute (daynight's Dystopia)

April 22nd

My Seryniti - Review
Little Library Muse
       

April 23rd


Welcome to Thera!
Building Thera

April 24th

Snuggling on the Sofa - Review
 

April 25th

All Fantasy Words - Review
 
 
Kira * Blake * Ethan
Character Backgrounds & Posters

April 26th

My Passion for Books - Review; Ethan
Bookaroo-JuTeaser

April 27th

Bookworm Lisa - The Characters


Cleaving
daynight's Controversy of "Cleaving"

April 28th


April 29th

Books Mystify - Review
Mel's Shelves - Review


Vacation on Earth!
Escapism

April 30th


May 1st

Fuonlyknew - Teaser
Jack's Junk Drawer - Review
 

Risking Exile
Dystopian Survival 101

May 2nd


May 3rd

Backing Books - Teaser
Book Snob - Review

May 4th

Living a Goddess Life - Review; Recipe


Clean Slate Complex

May 5th

Deco My Heart - Review

May 6th

May 7th

Grand Finale Blast!!


A copy of the novel and the short story were provided for us in exchange for an honest review.


Apr 22, 2013

daynight Blog Tour Launch












On Tour with Prism Book Tours...

Happy Earth Day everybody! Today is the first day of the daynight blog tour, and even though I won't have my official post up until tomorrow, here's a little something from the author to tell you what we have in store:

***


It's time to leave Earth and cross over to the other side... it's not as far away as you think!!

Megan Thomason
Megan Thomason lives in paradise aka San Diego, CA with her husband and five children. A former software manager, Megan vastly prefers writing twisted tales to business, product, and marketing plans. When she isn't typing away on her laptop, she's reading books on her phone—over 600 in the last year—or attending to the needs of her family. Megan’s fluent in sarcasm, could potentially benefit from a 12-step program for road rage, struggles with a Hot Tamales addiction, loves world travel & fast cars and hates paperwork & being an insomniac. Daynight is Megan's first published novel, but fourth written one.



Welcome to the "Second Chances" daynight blog tour! Over the next few day/nights I am really excited to share with you:


  • Over $300 of daynight-related prizes as a giant THANK YOU to the thousands of daynight early adopters and those who have yet to enter the twisted world of The Second Chance Institute and Thera. Want to prepare for Exile? Or an overday date with Ethan? Have breakfast for dinner? Glam it up in Garden City? There are *12* prize packages to be won! We'll introduce a new package every day of the tour so you'll have a second, third & so forth chance to win.

  • The launch of clean slate complex (a daynight story)... For those who have read daynight you can learn more about what the SCI is up to on Earth (surely nothing good). For those who haven't read daynight this is a great way to get your feet wet...test the waters so to speak. I warn you though...the SCI's like Jaws Jr and the giant school of barracuda I encountered on my recent vacation--pretty from a distance, but up close they've got a lot of bite ;).

  • Posters, teasers and guest posts about the themes of daynight and clean slate complex... Plus, I'm fully prepared to sneak in some nuggets about what to expect in the daynight sequel, arbitrate.

Thanks again for joining us on the tour and for your support of daynight. I'm grateful for all of you and humbled by your support.

- Megan Thomason
author of daynight



Daynightdaynight
by Megan Thomason
Paperback, 324 pages
Published November 26th 2012 by Creatspace

Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance™. Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex. Punishment for disobeying SCI edicts? Immediate Exile or death.

Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead.

Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan.

Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.



Introducing...  the new Novella:  FREE for the Tour!
On Smashwords!


clean slate complex
by Megan Thomason

Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Worldwide non-profit and do-gooder organization. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Life(TM). Reality: hidden behind every kind act is a dark agenda designed to gain control and force societal and moral extremes. Currently, the SCI’s pushing Project Liberate, a program to woo the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes—where “everything is provided” from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there’s a catch…

Meet Alexa Knight. Feisty, tough and currently homeless in Los Angeles, Alexa agrees to help the SCI in return for medical care for her sick mother. When she starts to suspect there’s more to the SCI than meets the eye will she believe Adam—the boy who saved her life and the SCI’s biggest champion, or Joshua—the attractive enigma who sings about conspiracy theories and pretends to be someone he’s not?

Full of action, humor, romance, twists and turns, clean slate complex is a companion story to the highly-praised dystopian novel, daynight. It can be enjoyed before or after readingdaynight.




daynight Second Chances Giveaway

Choose what you enter to win wisely. Your stay on Thera may be extended indefinitely.




Highlighting a different giveaway every daynight of the Tour... International Winners will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate and US Winners may choose $25 GC in lieu of Prize Package.

US only. International winners will receive $25 Amazon gift certificate. US winners can opt to receive $25 Amazon gift certificate in lieu of any prize package.Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced on Rafflecopter and Grand Finale posts as well as emailed and the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Burgandy Ice @ Colorimetry and Prism Book Tours and sponsored by Megan Thomason. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


The Tour

Become an SCI Recruit
The Second Chance Institute (daynight's Dystopia)

April 22nd

My Seryniti - Review

April 23rd



Welcome to Thera!
Building Thera

April 24th


April 25th



Kira * Blake * Ethan
Character Backgrounds & Posters

April 26th

My Passion for Books - Review; Ethan
Bookaroo-JuTeaser

April 27th

Bookworm Lisa - The Characters


Cleaving
daynight's Controversy of "Cleaving"

April 28th


April 29th

Books Mystify - Review
Mel's Shelves - Review


Vacation on Earth!
Escapism

April 30th


May 1st

Fuonlyknew - Teaser
Risking Exile
Dystopian Survival 101

May 2nd


May 3rd

Backing Books - Teaser
Book Snob - Review

May 4th

Living a Goddess Life - Review; Recipe


Clean Slate Complex

May 5th

Deco My Heart - Review

May 6th


May 7th

Grand Finale Blast!!