November Rain (Bad Bloods #1) by Shannon A. Thompson Book Blitz (Excerpt + Giveaway)

   

November Rain 
Shannon A. Thompson
(Bad Bloods #1)
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: July 18th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Seventeen- year-old Serena isn’t human. She is a bad blood, and in the city of Vendona, bad bloods are executed. In the last moments before she faces imminent death, a prison guard aids her escape and sparks a revolt. Back on the streets determined to destroy her kind, Serena is spared by a fellow bad blood named Daniel. His past tragedies are as equally mysterious as her connection to them.

Unbeknownst to the two, this connection is the key to winning the election for bad bloods’ rights to be seen as human again. But Serena is the only one who can secure Vendona’s vote. Now, Daniel must unite with her before all hope is lost and bad bloods are eradicated, even if it means exposing secrets worse than death itself. United or not, a city will fight, rain will fall, and all will be threatened by star-crossed love and political corruption.

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EXCERPT:

“She used to tell me that a full moon is when mysterious things happen and wishes come true.” I stared at the little paper in my hands. “Do you think she tells my sister those stories?”

Daniel didn’t respond. He only listened. I had told him before I had a sister. He had probably assumed I lied, but I hadn’t. It was the truth, and it tumbled out like a story my mom created before bedtime. I tried to picture her telling stories to my sister, but nothing came. I only saw the little girl, with Mom’s hair and Dad’s eyes, standing in the road, saying my name.

“I’ve never met her,” I confessed, staring at the writing bleeding through the folded end. “I think her name is on this, but I can’t read.”

Daniel reached for it. “I can—”

“No.” I held the note against my chest. “I want to learn and read it on my own,” I explained, softer than my previous snap.

Daniel’s head tilted. “Robert never taught you.”

I wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement, but I responded anyway. “He can’t read.”

Daniel’s eyes swept over me. He took the time to rub his face before looking away.

“He can’t read,” I repeated, studying his reaction. “Right?”

Daniel’s hand lowered to his lap. “I can teach you,” he said, and when he faced me again, he was remarkably closer than I realized. His hand moved to rest on my knee. My heart stabilized. “What else do you want?”

It was a question I had never heard before, and the way Daniel stumbled over the sentence suggested he had never been able to say it before either. Bad bloods weren’t allowed to want anything. Not even life. So, when I was asked, my mind spiraled into obscurity, never actually solidifying an answer even though I searched for one.

“I’ve never been allowed to want anything,” I confessed.

“Me neither,” Daniel agreed, and for a brief second, I was oblivious to the fact that his lips were on mine.

Author Bio:

Shannon A. Thompson is a twenty-three- year-old author, avid reader, and habitual chatterbox. She was merely sixteen when she was first published, and a lot has happened since then. Thompson's work has appeared in numerous poetry collections and anthologies, and her first installment of The Timely Death Trilogy became Goodreads' Book of the Month. As a novelist, poet, and blogger, Thompson spends her free time writing and sharing ideas with her black cat named after her favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart. Between writing and befriending cats, she graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in English, and she travels whenever the road calls her.
Visit her blog for writers and readers at www.shannonathompson.com.

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#Swag (GearShark #3) by Cambria Hebert Cover Reveal

   

#Swag
Cambria Hebert
(GearShark, #3)
Publication date: June 10th 2016
Genres: Contemporary Sports Romance

These drivers got #swag…

Racing is in her DNA.
Right alongside money and power.
When you’re the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the country,
you have to work harder for success.
Joey Gamble’s a girl on a male-dominated track.
With a daddy who can buy whatever she wants.
But she doesn’t want anything… except to EARN her reputation.

Racing is his passion.
Trouble follows him everywhere. Some even say he invites it.
When you’re nipping at the taillights of the best driver in the new NRR,
you have to fight and claw for each and every success.
It’s never been easy for Lorhaven.
That’s why he doesn’t play by the rules.
He’s a man with a serious chip on his shoulder against the pro racing circuit.
We at GearShark want to know what’s up with that.

We’ve also been hearing rumblings…
of a pro who wants to go indie.

We’ve invited racing royalty and the driver from the wrong side of the tracks to sit down and talk to us about a possible crossover.
We expected sparks to fly when Joey and Lorhaven crossed paths.
Will those sparks ignite into a full-on inferno?

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Previous books in the series:
 

—

Author Bio:

Cambria Hebert is an award winning, bestselling novelist of more than twenty books. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair.

Besides writing, Cambria loves a caramel latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching movies. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chorkie (the real boss of the house).

Cambria has written within the young adult and new adult genres, penning many paranormal and contemporary titles. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic suspense. A few of her most recognized titles are: The Hashtag Series, Text, Torch, and Tattoo.

Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.

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Nora & Kettle by Lauren Nicolle Taylor Book Blitz (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Nora & Kettle
Lauren Nicolle Taylor
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: February 29th 2016
Genres: Historical, Young Adult

What if Peter Pan was a homeless kid just trying to survive, and Wendy flew away for a really good reason?
Seventeen-year-old Kettle has had his share of adversity. As an orphaned Japanese American struggling to make a life in the aftermath of an event in history not often referred to—the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the removal of children from orphanages for having “one drop of Japanese blood in them”—things are finally looking up. He has his hideout in an abandoned subway tunnel, a job, and his gang of Lost Boys.
Desperate to run away, the world outside her oppressive brownstone calls to naïve, eighteen-year-old Nora—the privileged daughter of a controlling and violent civil rights lawyer who is building a compensation case for the interned Japanese Americans. But she is trapped, enduring abuse to protect her younger sister Frankie and wishing on the stars every night for things to change.
For months, they’ve lived side by side, their paths crossing yet never meeting. But when Nora is nearly killed and her sister taken away, their worlds collide as Kettle, grief stricken at the loss of a friend, angrily pulls Nora from her window.
In her honeyed eyes, Kettle sees sadness and suffering. In his, Nora sees the chance to take to the window and fly away.
Set in 1953, NORA AND KETTLE explores the collision of two teenagers facing extraordinary hardship. Their meeting is inevitable, devastating, and ultimately healing. Their stories, a collection of events, are each on their own harmless. But together, one after the other, they change the world.

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EXCERPT:

I snort, push my sleeves up, and lean back on my forearms. She watches me, her eyes on my bare skin, and I wonder what she’s thinking. “Dances. Really? What’s to miss?” My experience with dances was one forced event in the camps where we watched the grownups awkwardly shift in lines to scratchy music. It didn’t look very enjoyable.
She releases the button she’s been playing with and smirks. “Says someone who’s clearly never been to one.”
“How do you know that?” I say, raising an eyebrow and touching my chest, mock offended.
She laughs. It’s starlight in a jar. I blink slowly. “Oh, I can tell just by looking at you, the way you move. You,” she says, pointing at me accusingly. “Can’t dance.”
The candlelight twinkles like it’s chuckling at me. “I can dance,” I say, not sure why I’m lying to defend myself. I’ve never danced in my life.
She stands up and beckons me with her finger, and I think there’s something wrong with my heart. It’s hurting… but the pain feels good.
She looks like a pirate’s cabin boy, shirt billowing around her small waist, ill-fitting pants rolled over at her hips to stop them from falling down. She points her bare foot at me. “Prove it!”
Shit!
I cough and stand nervously. I don’t know what to do with my hands, so I put them behind my back. She giggles. Touches me. Runs her fingers lightly down my arms until she finds my hands. She grasps my wrists and I gulp as she places one on the small dip between her hips and her ribs, extending the other out like the bow of a boat. Her hand in mine.
I follow her small steps and we wind in circles, avoiding the clumps of debris, painting patterns in the dust.
I stare at my socks and her narrow bare feet, listening to the swish of them across the dirt. “You know, this is pretty weird without music,” I mutter, looking up for a moment and suddenly losing my balance.
She exhales and brings us back to equilibrium. She starts humming softly. It’s a song I’ve heard before, but I pretend it’s the first time. Her voice is sweet, cracked and croaky, but in tune as she gazes at the ground and leads us up and down the back of the tunnel.
This moment is killing me. I don’t want it, but I do. Because I know it won’t be enough and it’s all I’ll get.
The end of the song is coming. It rises and rises and then softly peters out. We look at each other, understanding that something is changing between us, and we have to decide whether to let it. Please, let it.
She sings the last few bars. “And if you sing this melody, you’ll be pretending just like me. The world is mine. It can be yours, my friend. So why don’t you pretend?”
Her voice is like the dust of a comet’s tail. Full of a thousand things I don’t understand but want to.
She stops and starts to step away. She’s so fragile. Not on the outside. On the outside, her body is strong, tougher than it should have to be. It’s inside that’s very breakable. I’m scared to touch her, but I don’t want to avoid touching her because of what she’s been through. That seems worse.
So I do it, because I want to and I don’t think she doesn’t want me to. Her breath catches as I pull her closer. I just want to press my cheek to hers, feel her skin against mine. There is no music, just the rhythm of two barely functioning hearts trying to reach each other through miles of scar tissue.
She presses her ear to my chest and listens, then she pulls back to meet my eyes, her expression a mixture of confusion and comfort. She breathes out, her lips not wanting to close but not wanting to speak. She settles on a nervous smile and puts her arms around my neck. I inhale and look up at the ceiling, counting the stars I know are up there somewhere, and then rest my cheek in her hair.
I don’t know how she is here. I don’t know when she’ll disappear.
We sway back and forth, and it feels like we might break. That we will break if we step apart from each other.
I can’t let her go.
I think I love dancing.

Author Bio:
Lauren Nicolle Taylor lives in the lush Adelaide Hills. The daughter of a Malaysian nuclear physicist and an Australian scientist, she was expected to follow a science career path, attending Adelaide University and completing a Health Science degree with Honours in obstetrics and gynaecology.
She then worked in health research for a short time before having her first child. Due to their extensive health issues, Lauren spent her twenties as a full-time mother/carer to her three children. When her family life settled down, she turned to writing.
She is a 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semi-finalist and a USA Best Book Awards Finalist.

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Lumiere (The Illumination Paradox #1) by Jacqueline Garlick Blog Tour (Review + Giveaway)

Hey readers! Happy Friday! I have got one awesome post for you guys today. I am so excited to be part of this incredible review tour from Xpresso Book Tours. I won't like, I've had this book on my TBR forever so getting the change to finally check this one out made my day! What am I raving about? Lumiere by Jacqueline E. Garlick. Today's post will feature my review plus an awesome giveaway! Before we get to my thoughts, here's a bit about the novel and our author:

Lumière by Jacqueline Garlick
(The Illumination Paradox #1)
Publication date: December 12th 2013
Genres: Steampunk, Young Adult

Even in a land of eternal twilight, secrets can’t stay hidden forever.

Seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth is no stranger to living in the dark. She’s hidden her secret affliction all of her life—a life that would be in danger if superstitious townspeople ever guessed the truth. After her mother is accused and executed for a crime that she didn’t commit, the now-orphaned Eyelet has no choice but to track down the machine—her last hope for a cure. But Eyelet’s late father’s most prized invention, the Illuminator, has been missing since the day of the mysterious flash—a day that saw the sun wiped out over Brethren forever.

Alone and on the run, she finds the Illuminator—only to witness a young man hauling it away. Determined to follow the thief and recover the machine, she ventures into the deepest, darkest, most dangerous part of her twisted world.

          

Jacqueline Garlick

I'm Jacqueline Garlick, author of young adult and new adult fiction. I love strong heroines, despise whiny sidekicks, and adore a good story about a triumphant underdog. (Don't you?)
I love to read, write, paint (walls and paper). I have a love/hate relationship with chocolate, grammar, and technology and would rather hang out with a dog, than a cat. I prefer creating things to cleaning things, and believe laughter is a one-stop-shop solution to all that ails you. You will always find a purple wall (or two) in my house (currently in my writing room), and there may or may not be a hidden passageway that leads to a mystery room. (Okay, so you won't find a hidden passageway, but a girl can dream, can't she?) Oh, and tea. There will always be tea.

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Website

*****

My Thoughts:

About a year ago, I really dove head first into a genre that I didn't really know much about. A genre that had always intrigued me, but at the same time left me with a lot of questions: steampunk. What is it? How does it work? Who does it involve? Once I finally devoured my first steampunk read, I realized: steampunk isn't just a genre, it's a way of life. Steampunk people. It's incredible. Shortly after I devoured my first steampunk series, I set out on an adventure to find as many as I could get my hands on. I read so many incredible novels in such a short time before I got burnt out. There has always been one on the backburner, though. One novel who's cover long told me it'd quickly turn into a favorite of mine. That novel? Lumiere.

And well. I was right.

While I won't lie and say the plot for this one was completely unpredictable, I was still blown away by Garlick's execution. There were numerous plot twists that kept me intrigued and a gripping central story line that grounded the story in the greatest of ways. It was one read that once I started, I could not set it down. A fast paced plot led to one incredible reading experience for me. It's a lengthy read (clocking in at over 300 pages) but it doesn't drag at all. It's full of spoilery goodness on every page so I won't say any more, but the ending was phenomenal. It will definitely leaving you begging for the sequel!

The biggest stand out aspect of this series is the incredible setting that Garlick has crafted. Holy smokes. She took it to the next level. The steampunk goodness combined with the paranormal-esque settings made my hair stand on end. The eerie feeling crept from page to page and gripped into me in the greatest of ways. It was truly a fantastical world that I loved piecing together in my mind. From the very beginning the entire novel is a journey through a beautiful landscape that I pictured in the most vivid of lights. If you weren't taken on a visual journey like none other, you read this one wrong!

One of the most intriguing aspects of this read were the characters and their development throughout the story. This novel actually didn't have a huge cast like I expected so Garlick was really about to keep the plot and development tied around our main characters of Urlick and Eyelet. Eyelet was written to perfection in my opinion, many reviews have taken issue with some of her characteristics, but I found her to be both cunning and charming. She was wise beyond her years and exhibited great moments of bravery throughout the story. The real shocker for me was the transformation of Urlick's character. I'm not going to say much on that front to avoid plot spoilers, but I was dead wrong about him and I couldn't be more pleased.

When it comes to the writing style of Garlick in this novel, I will admit it was a little different than I am used to. She writes it as though it truly is a Victorian era novel, much like the steampunk genre in general. The word choices were somewhat bizarre at times, but Garlick has quite the expansive vocabulary that leads to a story written with eloquence and a unique flair that I haven't seen in quite some time. A deeply original tale, Lumiere was everything I wanted and more.

As you guys can see, this was definitely a read that I thoroughly enjoyed from cover to cover. I could rave about this one for days. I haven't had a chance to check out the sequel yet, but you can bet money that I'll be devouring it ASAP. I am so excited to be granting Lumiere by Jacqueline Garlick a well-earned 5-star review. I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome of this truly imaginative tale. I highly recommend this novel to all readers of young adult fiction. Don't miss this read! Add it to your TBR today!

*****

Giveaway

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Alright readers, that's all I have for you on the topic of Lumiere by the amazing Jacqueline Garlick. I highly recommend this read and can't wait to add this beauty to my bookshelf in physical form. Keep in mind that this is a series and you'll definitely want to continue the story with book two, Noir, available now. Thank so much to the incredible team from XPresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate! Until next time, Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Steam (The Legends Saga #3) by Stacey Rourke Cover Reveal

Hey readers! Happy Monday! Today is a BIG day for one of my favorite series. Today we're unveiling the cover for Steam, the final novel in Stacey Rourke's The Legends Saga! Without further adieu, I present to you the cover to Steam!

Steam by Stacey Rourke
(The Legends Saga, #3)
Publication date: September 14th 2015
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal

A journey through time.

A scarlet letter.

A soul crushing betrayal.

The thrilling Legends Saga concludes in a mash-up of literary all-stars. The works of Washington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe, HG Wells, and Nathaniel Hawthorne come to life in an intricately weaved backstory of love, lies, and deception. The driving force of all involved? Passion. But when that passion is cloaked in darkness, madness reigns.

Stacey Rourke

RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel

Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012
Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013

Stacey Rourke lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant, dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. She is currently hard at work on the continuations of this thrilling Legends Saga, as well as other literary projects.

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Alright team, that's all I have for you on the topic of Steam by Stacey Rourke, but don't worry, I'll be posting much more about this novel closer to release date. I'll also be re-reading the series and posting my reviews as I go. This series is a favorite of mine and after meeting Stacey Rourke at UtopYA, it definitely tops my charts! Special thanks to the team at XPresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate. Don't you guys love this cover? Add it to your TBR! Until next time, Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Victim Souls by Andrew Terech (Review + Giveaway)

Hey readers, Happy Tuesday! On top of today being full of awesome, I'm hosting a stop on the blog tour for Victim Souls by Andrew Terech, a thrilling YA Horror that was right up my alley! Here's a bit about the novel before we get to my thoughts!

Victim Souls by Andrew Terech
Publication date: November 8th 2014
Genres: Horror, Young Adult

Sometimes, only bad guys can beat the Devil…

The plan is simple: get the money and deliver the car. What could possibly go wrong?

What can’t?

Things start to go south when Sam Drake realizes that his brother Johnny is hiding something, a secret about Sam’s troubled childhood that goes beyond his most feverish nightmares…

Then Johnny’s girlfriend, Ash, starts sending Sam the kind of mixed signals that can only lead to big trouble…

As the trio of small time crooks falls deeper into an abyss of betrayal and violence, they will discover that the greatest danger they face is not of this world.

With everything he believes about himself and the world around him shattered, Sam will become the unlikely champion in a battle with true evil, a fight to save a soul that has already been forfeited to darkness.

His own.

Andrew Terech

Andrew’s a horror fiction writer who is also a massive fan of the genre. He’s been writing short stories and working on his novel for over 5 years. He has several short stories published, as well as some editing credits. He moderates a writing workshop in Phoenix, AZ where he’s been exposed to many different forms of fiction, which have broadened his influences. He aims to write stories that creep out his readers, while offering well-developed, rich characters they can sink their teeth into. He’s also a fan of experimenting with form and structure to create something uniquely my own.

Andrew grew up on Long Island in New York, and has lived in Arizona for the past 7 years. His professional background is in psychology where he’s carved out a nice career for himself. However, writing has always been his passion.

Currently, he’s hard at work, developing additional content to publish. He hopes to find an audience that loves the genre, and is up for a good scare.

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE

*****

My Thoughts:

When it comes to the YA world, this is one genre that I am always begging for more of: horror. Writing horror for a young adult audience isn't easy. Many elements to a true horror novel just do not belong in YA literature, so writing a thrilling spooktacular tale for the young adult masses, isn't an easy feat. More often than not, when an author tries to accomplish it, their works ends up sounding satirical in nature. It takes a special writer and a special novel to combine horror with supernatural elements in a battle for the good of mankind. Thankfully, with Andrew Terech at the helm, we got just that.

I will not say that Victim Souls was completely without its' faults, but what I will say is that I was very impressed with the final product. Well written characters, a plot line that was not only interesting, but kept me itching for more, and just enough mystery to keep your eyes peeled, this novel has it all.

As I said before, writing a horror novel isn't easy in the YA genre, but Terech does a great job of it. Nothing is too scary, but it definitely keeps you on your toes. While this novel isn't full of the gruesome, nail biting horror that one may find from Stephen King, it definitely left me with an eerie feeling of 'what was to come'. This novel presents a lot of 'what ifs?' that also help to move the story along in a horror direction. Sometimes in a novel, the scariest thing is the unknown!

Terech's writing style was simple enough to follow and wasn't bogged down by an overabundance of the literary devices often implemented by horror writers. It was a quick, fun read, that I am glad to have had a chance to read!

All-in-all, I am granting Victim Souls by Andrew Terech as well-earned 4-star review. It was all I was looking for, and more! Appropriate for all YA readers, this novel covered all the bases and left this reader satisfied! Kudos to you Mr. Terech, I can't wait to see what's next for you!

*****

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Alright guys, that's all I have for you on the topic of Victim Souls by Andrew Terech, what do you guys think? Sound like your kind of read? I know I definitely enjoyed it! Be sure to add it to your TBRs and enter this awesome giveaway before you go! Until next time, Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Orenda by Ruth Silver Book Blitz (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Orenda by Ruth Silver
(Orenda #1)
Published by: Booktrope Publishing
Publication date: December 5th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Join forces with a parallel universe.

Dark forces, magical creatures, and the world Lil thought she knew collide when a dream transports her to the strange world of Orenda. Stunned and terrified, Lil comes face to face with her doppelganger, Willow, who possesses the ability to travel between the two worlds. Everything Lil knows logically says that Orenda can’t exist, but a small clue may be proof that it was more than an ordinary dream. With the threat of her sister in danger, Lil crosses dimensions but it may cost her even more than she bargained for.

A sword wielding girl, the eternal suit, and a parallel universe come together in this action-packed Young Adult fantasy adventure that will keep readers of all ages turning the pages.

Ruth Silver

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

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

Her love of writing, led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia. Silver enjoys reading YA novels and sharing her favorite books with other readers. She runs her own book blog and also enjoys photography and traveling.

Author links:
http://writeawaybliss.com/
https://www.facebook.com/writeawaybliss?_rdr
https://twitter.com/writeawaybliss
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7022586.Ruth_Silver

Excerpt

Willow scoffed at the idea, grabbed his arm, and pushed him down onto his knees, her hand tight behind his back. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. Don’t touch me, creep.”

“Got it.” Bray winced, relieved when she let go of him. He rubbed his sore arm where she'd death-gripped him. “Who's Eilith?”

She stepped toward the stone door and bent down to examine the keyhole. “Of course, it's made of dead pixies!”

Bray watched, but he refused to approach her after what she'd done to him. “Dead pixies? As in fairies?” he asked, walking to the side window. He glanced outside to see the pink sun gradually setting.

“When silver touches pixies, they die. Their remains, in the form of dust, become a weapon that shields us from using our power. To answer your question earlier, no, pixies are not the same as fairies. It would do you well to learn that, should you ever come across one.”

“This isn’t funny, Lil.”

“I don't joke, and it’s Willow,” she said, correcting him. There was no hint of humor in her voice. “Pixies and fairies do not get along. Come over here,” she commanded him.

“No way.” Bray hesitated. “I'm not falling for that again.”

“Just do it.” Her voice held an urgency to it. “I saw you earlier at the door.” She gestured toward the lock. “You were able to touch it. You're not from here, which perhaps means your blood is immune to dead pixies.”

“The name's Bray, by the way,” he said as he hesitated before he approached the door. “What do you want me to do?”

“Bray.” She paused, giving him a putrid look. “Put your palm to the keyhole and I can handle the rest,” Willow said.

Bray did as instructed and pressed his palm to the lock. He masked his fear behind his eyes.

“Good, you're immune. Now, let's try this.” She moved to rest her hand on his.

 “Is it working?”

Heavy footsteps erupted from just outside the chamber.

“Quick!” Willow pulled Bray away from the door. “Get back.” The door swung open and Bray stumbled backwards.

Bray glanced from Willow to the strange dark-haired woman looming over them in a black lace dress. Her fingernails were dark as night with a strange translucent appearance. Her lips were a deep fiery red, and her eyes held no hint of color or light. Her skin was incredibly pale. Had she ever been outside?

“What's going on?” Bray asked once he’d steadied his heartbeat.

“Silence!” the woman said. She held up her hand, making it impossible for Bray to speak again. He struggled to breathe. She not only sucked out his voice, but also the air from his lungs. After a moment, she lowered her hand and Bray fell to the stone floor, gasping. He didn't bother to get up again. “Come now. If you wish to live, you'll do as I tell you. Understand?” his tormentor said.

*****

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Until next time, Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Impervious by Heather Letto Book Blitz (Author Interview + Giveaway)

Hey readers, Ethan here with another awesome book blitz for you guys! This read sounds incredible and I can't wait to check it out myself! Here comes the info:

Impervious by Heather Letto
(Ascension #1)
Publication date: April 29th 2014
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

The residents of Impervious are the remnant, the survivors of the war of Annihilation. And though the city is chockfull of pleasures to tantalize and entertain, a beast lurks in the corners, haunting the residents with its presence. The Beast, a mysterious and terminal illness killed off most of Generations One, Two, and Three. And as Gen-Four prepares to take the stage, a provocative, yet questionable, new method to avoid an untimely death incites a cultural rage. But Fran lives counter-culture, off the grid in true rebel fashion. With a life far from opulent, she scurries through dark tunnels, searching for hot meals with Pete while ditching the holographic security team. To her, it's a healthy trade-off. Unaccountability means The Council can't steal her sliver of hope, a belief that she'll see The Epoch arrive before The Beast can pull her into its Fetid embrace.

Heather Letto

I’m a book-writing, selfie-taking, latte-drinking, social media gal. I’m living a good life on the road as a full-fledged Bedouin (Well, except, my tent is actually a fully-equipped RV.) Me and my partner-in-crime (Benj) tend to hunker down wherever the skies are clear and the temps stay in the 70’s. We call ourselves Gypsy Nerds because we aimlessly wander the U.S. with glasses perched upon our noses and faces jammed into computer screens (for the first half the day... The second half of the day is typically devoted to playing because we’re also somewhat immature.)

Like most authors, the characters I create are my extended family. And like most readers, when the story ends, I get a little sad. In real life, I have two handsome, hardworking, grown-up boys who know how to make their Mama proud! *Waves to Joey and Mike!*

The Ascension Series is my debut into the world of YA fiction.

I’m living what I love and loving what I live!

Website | Twitter

*****

Author Interview

Hey there! Thank you, so much, for including me on your blog today and getting the word out about the re-release of Impervious. (Book 1 of The Ascension Series.)

You said re-release? Tell us about the Impervious journey.

Impervious first launched last year (almost to the day… wow!), by Bookfish Books. (Waving to friends at Bookfish!) They were a great team, and I’m so grateful for the springboard they lent me last year. However, we did part company in the fall of 2014 when we realized we were heading in different directions with The Ascension Series. So, after kicking around the idea for a bit, I decided… “What the heck..let’s go indie!”

Indie, huh?  What do you think of independent publishing.

Although Indie publishing wasn’t originally on my bucket list, I can now say I’m happy to have gone down this path. The experience wasn’t as technically challenging as I feared it might be, and to be honest, learning to manage the ‘guts’ of the biz has given me extra nugget of satisfaction in my book. 

One thing, I must admit, however… Sailing the immense Literature Ocean in a tiny self-made boat is a bit daunting (and lonely?) Therefore my advice to anyone seeking this path would be surround yourself with professionals and pick their brains… a lot!

Be honest… is there any Heather Letto in your main character?

Sighhhhh. Yes. Fran is snark. And being that I’m all grown up, I probably should have surpassed this particular quirk. However, I must admit, snarkdom is in my bones.  I want to be nice, really I do…

But in all seriousness, Fran’s journey of discovery from Impervious to the Open Air was very similar to my own Christian journey. Whether you call Impervious an allegory (Like Narnia) or perhaps my testimony, both Fran and I have walked (or crawled?) a similar path.

What’s next?

Well, God-willing, the sequel to Impervious (Implanted—Book 2 in The Ascension Series) will be on the shelves June 1^st! (Just in time for that poolside read). I’m hoping to have the final book in the series available for a spring 2016 release.

Last but not least, we need some dirt on you… Give us something weird!

Okay, weird or not, I’ll let you decide, but here’s a secret: My husband and I have run away from home! Seriously. Last year, we packed up our house (well, more like gave away half our belongings and stored the other half), and became full time RV’ers!  Therefore, we live in a constant state of flux (and we love it!!) We call ourselves Gypsy Nerds. (He programs software, I write books… total nerds!). (If you care to follow along in our travels, feel free at www.lettotravels.wordpress.com)

So there you have it! 

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Alright everyone, that's all I have for you on the topic of Impervious by Heather Letto! Can't wait to get my hands on this read. Don't forget to enter the giveaway! Until next time, Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Biggie by Derek E. Sullivan Blog Tour: Guest Post + Review + Giveaway

Hey readers! Hope you guys are gearing up for an awesome weekend! I will be traveling to Austin, TX for the Austin Book Bash, but before I go, I have an awesome book tour to share with you guys. I've been pumped to share my thoughts on this read with you guys. PLUS I have an exclusive guest post from our author. Thanks for stopping by, let's talk about Biggie by Derek E. Sullivan:

Biggie by Derek E. Sullivan
Published by: Albert Whitman & Company
Publication date: March 1st 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Henry “Biggie” Abbott is the son of one of Finch, Iowa‘s most famous athletes. His father was a baseball legend and his step-dad is a close second. At an obese 300+ pounds though, Biggie himself prefers classroom success to sports. As a perfectionist, he doesn’t understand why someone would be happy getting two hits in five trips to the plate. “Forty percent, that’s an F in any class,” he would say. As Biggie’s junior year begins, the girl of his dreams, Annabelle Rivers, starts to flirt with him. Hundreds of people have told him to follow in his dad’s footsteps and play ball, but Annabelle might be the one to actually convince him to try. What happens when a boy who has spent his life since fourth grade trying to remain invisible is suddenly thrust into the harsh glare of the high school spotlight?

Derek E. Sullivan is an award-winning reporter and columnist at the Rochester Post-Bulletin in Minnesota. As a reporter, he has written more than 1,000 stories about the lives of teenagers, which he attributes to helping him find his YA voice. He has an MFA from Hamline University and lives in Minnesota with his wife and three sons.

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS | WEBSITE

*****

Guest Post

"Online friends vs. school friends" 

I wrote BIGGIE as a coming-of-age story. My goal was to take 17-year-old Henry “Biggie” Abbott on a nine-month journey, during which he goes from being a lonely, paranoid overweight teen to a happier, active one. Since I finished BIGGIE, I have had some great discussions on whether Biggie’s life actually improved at the end of the book.

I guess the answer to that question depends on your opinion of online relationships. When we first meet Biggie, his social needs are met by talking online with girls around the United States. He has more than 100 female friends, who chat and text with him regularly. When he comes home from school, he, in a comfortable element, is able to not only flirt with girls, but also listen to their problems and be the “quiet supportive guy” they need. Biggie feels important. More importantly, Biggie feels cool.

At school, Biggie feels like a loser. He doesn’t excel at athletics like his father and mother. He is overweight and struggles in face-to-face conversation. He has no friends at Finch High School. Biggie is in no activities. Each day, he only wants to arrive at school before the first bell and leave minutes after the last one. Once in his room though, he has comfortable conversations. He and his long-distance friends talk for hours.

It’s a life. It’s a fun, interesting life, but is it real life or fantasy?

Things change for Biggie, which his real-life, hometown dream girl Annabelle calls this online life “weird.” After she tells Biggie what his classmates think of him, Biggie decides to change his life. He spends less time with his online “girlfriends” and more time with boys on the school’s baseball team. Along the way, they make fun of his music, his clothes, his shyness with girls and even made him vomit on purpose. Yes, these are cruel acts, but I still feel like a life spent off the laptop and outside of the bedroom is better than one spent all alone.

It took Biggie 248 pages, but he finally realizes that not only did his friends play some pranks on him, they also supported him. When Biggie meets a new girl, his friends talk him up. When Biggie says he is going to play baseball, they agree he should and offer support. Biggie expects to get laughed at, but instead makes real relationships.

While all of Biggie’s relationships are rocky, during his journey, Biggie finds real connections with his family and friends. Helped by the fact that he lost 70 pounds, Biggie starts to feel comfortable in society. While still quiet, Biggie starts to fit in with others.

Yes, I believe Biggie’s life is so much better at the end of the book than the beginning, even though he has fewer friends and more anxious moments. At the beginning he is going through the motions, by the end he is living life.

*****

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*****
My Thoughts

Biggie was one of the most interesting novels I have read so far in 2015. Through both this blog and my agency internship, I read a lot of YA material. I have to say that none of them have hit me quite like Biggie has so far!

At its' core, Biggie follows the story of Henry Abbott, an overweight high school boy, and his journey to both fitness and happiness. I was definitely able to relate very closely to this message. As a guy who has always struggled with my weight, this book was a little too real for me at times. I'll be honest, I kind of had a love-hate relationship with this read.

While extremely well-written, I'm not quite so sure I agree with all the statements the author was trying to make. I was a little put off by the fact that it was made blatantly clear that Biggie was never going to be happy if he didn't lose weight. Overweight people can be very happy in life, even in high school. Sure they get bullied a bit more, but they just have to have 'thick skin'! Henry had much larger issues that were keeping him down that was not his weight. I don't want to hate on a book that I really did enjoy overall, but I feel it is important for me to point some of these things out. Henry has a plethora of emotional issues, primarily dealing with some 'Daddy-issues'. They were extremely emotional, but I just feel like too much of everything else was going on with Henry to be like "Henry, you're fat. Lose weight, get friends. Get the girl. Be an athlete. Be happy." Oh, but let's not even talk about your EXTREMELY unhealthy cyber-stalking and overall lack of social skills. Why? Just why? While Henry seemed like your average high school boy on some levels, on other levels I was really creeped out by his actions.

I'm not going to spoil this novel for anyone, but I can just say that I, personally, did not find Biggie's story to be very believable. The outcome was too perfect and all the pieces just fell into place far too well for him. That being said, Biggie does have to deal with some serious emotions in this novel and for the most part I feel like the author handled them pretty well. High school isn't easy for anyone, much less the overweight nerdy, un-athletic crowd in a small town high school. Sullivan did both a great job of capturing the high school feel and the maturity level of the characters. These characters are clearly teenagers.

It was so interesting for me to see Henry's character development throughout the novel. I was expecting the end game to be a little different, but I was still thrilled to see a happy ending for Henry. This is definitely one of those novels I could see being turned into a Nickelodeon or Disney Channel TV movie and the young-teens would love it!

While this was definitely not my favorite read, I still, overall, found it to be favorable and am glad to have read it. I am thinking that this novel really just hit home and hit more than one sore spot for me to truly fall in love with it, but I am still giving it a positive 3-star review. Story line aside, Sullivan has written a touching story with some incredible character development thrown in. That in itself makes it a win for me! While this may not be the read for everyone, I think anyone with a soft spot for the underdog will find Biggie to their liking!

*****

Alright guys, that's all I have for you on the topic of Biggie by Derek E. Sullivan. What did you think of that guest post? I was so glad to feature Sullivan here today and am honored he chose to write on one of the topics I had already mentioned in my review of the novel. Have you guys read Biggie? If so, let me know what you thought in the comments below! Special thanks to the author and the incredible team at XPresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate! 

-Ethan

PS. To any readers/bloggers who may also be attending ABF this weekend, come say hey!