Tuesday 31 July 2012

The Kiss by Joann H Buchanan Blog Tour and Giveaway

I'm so very excited to be hosting the Blog Tour for Joann H Buchanan!! This is her second book in the Children of Nox Series.
I loved the excerpt so much that I HAD to share it too! :D

Excerpt from THE KISS


Twilight slashed the horizon like a blade, reaping the magnificent, radiant day. Darkness bled, seeping, sharing the true abyss hidden by the light. Time—past, present, and future—all converged at this moment. Twilight—not dark, not light, but shades of grey that exist in all. Twilight—the reaper of dusk and dawn. Blood and water, myth and legend—clichés full of stories that back the very nature of life. It was in this moment where Cleo found herself. This was her own twilight—the stripping of the past and embracing of the future. Whatever that held.
Pinned, thick hair, lined with smooth edges, moved like a single entity in the breeze, not allowing a single strand to waver out of place. Her skin, fragile and delicate like that of a china doll, rippled with goose bumps on her taut body. Heart pounding, palms sweating, and a small brain worm wriggled its way through her mind. What if I don’t want to be chosen?
Like a veritable prism of color, silent, reverent, stiff robed Elders stood eyes closed, at each of the four corners of the sand garden containing three boulders and two smaller ones centered within the perfect proportionally-raked lines. Palms flat against one another and their elbows straight, the Elders took on a statuesque sight.
A gong sounded. It echoed like the past, bouncing off the present surrounding hills. Just behind the Elders, the rest of the already chosen took their place. They were the Shakya Clan. The defenders of justice. Completing the scene was the rest of the villagers. Those not chosen, who were merely witnesses to the grandiose ceremony, lined the outer edges of the courtyard. The gong sounded again. A line of possible chosen moved in a steady rhythmic cadence. Step together, pause together, step together, pause together, they walked. Each member took their position between the already chosen Shakya and the Elders. Another gong and they disrobed, allowing the delicate clothes to drop to the ground.
“Isn’t this exciting?” Joy whispered to Cleo.
“Shh…not really. I’m cold,” Cleo whispered back.


 Guest Post
Thank you for being part of my blog tour for the release of The Kiss, book 2 in the Children of Nox series.

What makes a villain real? What makes you love to hate him and want to hug him at the same time? A two dimensional villain has no depth. We get they are the bad guy and they have no redeeming qualities. The fun villains to read are those who have a certain vulnerability in them. It’s what makes us love Magneto, cheer for the bank robbers in Ocean’s Eleven and even why we all love to read about vampires, werewolves and things that go bump in the night. So what makes a villain fun to read?
For me, it’s all about those simple redeeming qualities all good bad guys have. In I Am Wolf, the bad guy was Ralph. He was a schizophrenic poacher who was bit and from there exploded with evil. What made him fun to write was that his hallucination was a bimbo named Gracie. He is a tragic villain who was abused as a child and never really had any real love in his life. In turn he didn’t know how to love or how to give it. Is that redeeming? No, but it provides an understanding into his psyche. It allows the reader to understand why he is who he is.
What about that so called redeeming quality? In I Am Wolf he wanted to save the world from “aliens” he was sure invaded the planet. Yes, it’s funny but at the same time, he had a heart and every desire to call out what he thought were aliens. He went about it the wrong way, but he did try.
True villains are just as read as you and I. They may not all have the capacity to love, but they do have that one thing they care about the most and that’s what makes them real.

In The Kiss, the villain is Ash, a demon who has been caged under a mountain for centuries. His whole motivation is to escape his cage and get revenge on those who trapped him and those who killed his newborn son. Some would say, “Demons can’t love” and they would be right. However, obsession, something that is often mistaken for love in the twisted minds of our villains—is something they can feel. So there in rests his redeeming quality. The actions of a villain are what make him a villain. They are the ones who don’t care who they hurt. They are also the fun ones to write because we get to do things we have never been able to do out of our own morality.
Villains live on a different moral compass. They are the ones who do things we would all love to do. They are the ones who say what we, the morally in control, wish we could say. Think about this, how many of you have longed to tell your boss they are stupid idiots who don’t know their heads from a hole in the wall? How many have wanted to tell your friends the clothes they wear suck and most people view them as a joke? How many of you have wanted to walk up to a parent on the playground and say control your child or I will? All of us have thought things we have never said.
A villain will say and do those things without giving it much thought. That’s what makes them fun to write and fun to read. We love to cheer when the “asshole” is trampled by life. We love to hate that guy. We love to hate the one who cheats on the character we love the most. We also love to see that villain get what they deserve.
In The Kiss, the other bad guy is a girl. How many of us have had our boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, cheat on us? How many of us hated the person they cheated with more than we hated the one we loved? So in something like this, who is the villain? Is it the cheating lover or the one he’s cheating with? What if the villain thinks what they are doing is right? Now how does that make you feel?
The truth is, any villain worth reading is going to make us think. He or she is going to make us want to hate them even when we understand them. We all want to see him or her get what’s coming to them because we can relate to the wrongs they are doing.
There was a Mel Gibson film called Payback in which he plays a bad guy. What made us cheer for him was his simple directness. All he wanted was his money back. The people he was going after were worse than he was, so we cheered for his character. The depth of the character was cool because we knew we were cheering for a bad guy and that didn’t matter. A good villain will make you feel something for him. In The Kiss, Cleo is such a person I hope you will love to hate but feel for at the same time. She is the bad guy, or girl I should say. She is also being manipulated by an evil. So does that make her bad or do you feel for her? In the end, I felt sorry for her. That doesn’t mean I make it easy on her. She will ultimately get what’s coming to her. Just not the way you think.
The cool thing about writing a villain is it allows us to all touch the dark side. I mean really when you think about it, we all love to be scared, that’s why we go to horror movies. We all like to see Karma take action on the person we love to hate. And we all want without a doubt, for that person to make us feel something for them, no matter the outcome.
What about emotions and villains? Can they love, laugh or even feel joy? For me the answer is yes and that’s what makes them real. Emotions play an even more intricate roll in creating a good bad guy. They are the heart of what makes them tick. They have a twisted moral compass and that’s what makes them more real than some of the good guys in books. No one person is perfect. The more flawed a villain has, combined with a redeeming quality, the more likely he or she will be real to the reader.
That’s my take on villains. They are complex beings who are fun to write. I can’t wait to hear what people think of Cleo. She, the vulnerable twisted soul who makes life a living hell for the Youngling Pack, was fun to manipulate into doing another’s bidding. Will you feel sorry for her or will you just hate her? That is something I’m dying to find out. J


And now what you all were waiting for! The GIVEAWAY!! :D
Here is what you could win!! :D


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Till later!
oxox

Friday 27 July 2012

Flutter Of Luv Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway!!


I'm so excited to be hosting the blog tour for Flutter Of Luv by LM Preston!

Now on to the Guest Post!

~Guest Post~

RULES FOR YOUR FIRST CRUSH
A crush. What does that mean exactly? Well it’s when you see someone and become immediately
obsessed with them. So much so, you usually miss the opportunity to actually charm them into wanting
you back.
REALIZE WHEN IT HITS
You ever get hit by a lightning bolt? Well that’s kinda what it feels like when you first lay eyes on your
crush.
I remember my first crush. I was eleven and the boy had a huge blonde afro and dark brown eyes. I
know, don't laugh outloud. Now I laugh at my choices but hey, I was only eleven and the afro was in at
the time. It’s coming back though. There are a few boys now that sport them that my daughter thinks are
hot.
Anyway, when I first saw him. I think I felt a sharp bolt in the pit of my stomach and butterflies in my chest.
It’s a little different for everybody. Just realize that you are struck when you feel something different after
your first look at your new crush.
PLAY IT COOL
Okay, this is where I messed up a lot in the beginning. When I got around my crush I could never speak.
I would stutter, mumble, or just couldn’t get any words out at all.
I didn't know how to play it cool. Therefore – I avoided one on one contact with my crush. Truth is, I
was more than happy to sit back and just stare at them. Dreaming up my own fantasies about how they
wanted me much more than I wanted them. Hey, a girl can dream can’t she?
DON’T OBSESS
Now this is where the person with the crush tends to really scare off their target. We get a little obsessive
– alright, a lot obsessive. No one is immune from this. Especially with your first crush. You try to hide it,
but you and I know that when you are alone, you daydream over and over about the person.
Then, girls, admit it – we start writing the crush’s name and our name in all those game patterns to make
sure we are a good match. And if we find through the match up game that we aren’t – we rig the darn
game. Then start to write our first name and the boy’s last name with a heart drawn around it.
Hopefully, when you get older, you learn to conceal and control these urges. I did. Lucky for me though,
I married my crush. He didn’t realize I had this major crush on him – until – he revealed he had one for
me too. That skill comes with age.
BEFRIEND THEM - YOU MAY FIND OUT YOU DON'T LIKE THEM
Well remember that boy I mentioned. The one I had a major crush on? Well I crushed over him for about
six whole months. Until…..I got to know him.
Let me tell you. I didn’t like him one single bit. He was arrogant, mean (he liked to pull my hair and tease
me), and he beat me up (we took karate together and the nutso went Bruce Lee on me!).
After getting to know him, I realized that he wasn’t worth my obsessing – and I turned my crushing ways
to someone more worthy – Michael Jackson and Prince (smile).
MOVING ON
Crushes are usually over quickly. Wasting time salvating over someone that doesn’t like you back is a
total waste of energy. I prefer to have someone like me, just as much (if not a little more) than I like them.
Why? Well because, I like being someone’s crush. Just as much as I like crushing on someone else.
by LM Preston, www.lmpreston.com

My Review of Flutter Of Luv:
(Since this is a short story its difficult to write a review without giving out spoilers! Anywhoo...)
Flutter of Luv is a short story about two friends falling in love. Dawn is not the typical girlie girl. She’s more of the tomboy type. She falls for Tony – the new kid on the block and a handsome jock.
Dawn’s character is so relatable. She has problems with friends, money, being able to tell what she feels. I love the fact that Dawn was shown as a strong girl who could play football better than some guys but it also showed a feminine side of her.
The way the scenes were broken down sorta reminded me of reading a play! :P Hehe...
A sweet little read. :)



Blog Tour Stops:
Mini Blog Tour:
LM Preston’s Ramblings - 7/13/2012
http://lmpreston.blogspot.com
Indies Unlimited - 7/13/2012
http://www.indiesunlimited.com/
A Little Bit Of R&R - 7/13/2012
http://www.alittlebitofrnrreviews.com
Doreen McGettigan - 7/17/2012
http://doreenmcgettigan.com/
Writer’s Alley - 7/17/2012
http://writersally.blogspot.com/
I Want To Read That - 7/18/2012
http://www.iwanttoreadthat.com/
Cheryl Rainfield - 7/18/2012
http://cherylrainfield.com/blog/
The Daily Harrell - 7/19/2012
http://jessie-harrell.blogspot.com/
Word Forge Books - 7/20/2012
http://wordforgebooks.com/blog/
Searching For An Escape - 7/21/2012
http://www.officialmhafh.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/MHAFH
The Write Game - 7/23/2012
http://writegame.blogspot.com/
Stephen Penner - 7/24/2012
http://stephenpenner.blogspot.com/
Black Words White Pages - 7/26/2012
http://www.blackwords-whitepages.blogspot.com
Curiosity Key - 7/27/2012
http://www.curiositykey.blogspot.com/
SomeoneWhoActuallyCares - 7/27/2012
http://someonewhoactuallycares.blogspot.com/
LM Preston’s Ramblings - 7/28/2012
http://lmpreston.blogspot.com
Tribute Books Reviews & Giveaways - 7/23/2012
http://tributebooksreviews.blogspot.com/
Tribute Books Mama - 7/24/2012
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/
The Character Connection - 7/25/2012
http://thecharacterconnection.blogspot.com/
The Plot Thickens - 7/26/2012
http://theplotthickensbookblog.blogspot.com/
City Girl Who Loved To Read - 7/27/2012
http://citygirlwholovestoread.blogspot.com/


Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Flutter-Of-Luv-ebook/dp/B0088ELXE2/ref=sr_1_1?
ie=UTF8&qid=1340973462&sr=8-1&keywords=flutter+of+luv#_

Be sure to join in the mega awesome parties!
Twitter Party:
Friday, July 27th, 5pm - 6pm, use hashtag #FlutterOfLuv and follow @Lm_Preston
Facebook Party:
Saturday, July 28th, 12pm-9pm EST
Party on Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/events/340720479326022/?context=create


GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Freebie Friday: Golden by Monika Pardon

Jump aboard Anchor Group Publishing's Friday Freebie. Check out Monika Pardon's book Golden. It is a fabulous read for Freebie Friday. Freebie Friday's are sponsored by Anchor Group. Also, while you're there to download the book, please remember to hit the famous Facebook like button by the author's name. Every little bit helps!
With her long golden hair and tragic run-in with three impossibly large bears in a remote cabin, seventeen-year-old Sonora Martin is a modern day Goldilocks. Yet her life is no happy, romantic fairy tale. Instead she finds herself thrust into a dark magical world of the fae and shape shifters and questions who she can trust. 


After the sudden death of her grandmother, Sonora is forced to live with an aunt that she barely knows, her cousin, and Luke, her aunt's reluctant boyfriend. A fight with her aunt sends Sonora running into the woods where she inadvertently learns a web of family secrets and of a startlingly pact for revenge with her as the target. Now with the help of a pair of unlikely allies Sonora must travel to the Shadow Realm in search of a way to survive.

Monika's debut novel is definately original. Csloat  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
There are some characters I love to hate, and that includes Sonora's Aunt and cousin. Lynn Worton  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement
Golden, for me, was one of those "Can't put down until you finish it" books. JaimeCr  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement Download your free copy: HERE.You can find Monika Pardon on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.


Till Later!
oxox

Friday 20 July 2012

Freebie Friday: S.P.I.R.I.T - Fire Storm by Dawn Grey

When Samantha Ricketts finds herself placed in a town half-way across the country, her only worry is how did she get there. But when her life is saved by a handsome and mysterious man, the connection they feel is almost more than she can stand. Zander Smith was only acting on his instincts and training when he moved the dark-haired woman to safety but what he got from his heroics wasn't the distressed woman he had thought he was helping but a fireball of fury that sparked a storm within himself. Together they tap into the supernatural to uncover the mysteries surrounding the strange town they were slowly growing fond of before they became part of its history.
You usually can't find that many "ghost" stories that have a great romance feeling in the book, but this book has that and I enjoyed it. VANNASMOM  |  9 reviewers made a similar statement
I couldn't put this book down, I had to know what happened next, page after page I found myself wanting more. The Mystical World of Book Reviews  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement

Download your free copy: HERE!You can find Dawn Gray on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.
Till Later!
oxox

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Charlotte Blackwell's Blog Tour - Guest Blog with Charlotte Blackwell


Guest Blog with Charlotte Blackwell

This is my first ever Blog Tour and I'm so excited to be a part of this awesomeness!! :D Now onto the Guest Post by Charlotte !!

Everyone has a dream in life, some want to be a doctor while others want to be a famous rock star. I never really knew what I wanted to be. I spent over thirty years going through the motions of life. I got married had a baby, got divorced, waitressed, met the man of my dreams, went back to school, had a another baby, finished school, worked as a nurse, got married, had another baby and became a stay at home mother. I asked myself, what’s next? What am I to do now? I have the most important job in the world, raise children. Now what if I fail at that too?  My husband and my three children are the world to me and I want nothing more than for my family to be happy and follow their dreams. How do you teach a child to follow their dreams when you don’t even have any of your own? Well a few short years ago I finally found my dream, to write. I now have something to inspire my children as much as they inspire me.
In November of 2009 my oldest daughter handed me a book and said mom you have to read this. I wasn’t an avid reader but reluctantly took the book. I then read the entire series of 4 books in as many days. I wasn’t able to stop reading and thought to myself I can do this. I always enjoyed writing, but it was more of what I was feeling. Could I write an entire novel? Well I have answered that and it’s YES. Matter of fact I have write several in just over three years and even got a publishing deal. The first four books in my Embrace (YA paranormal romance) Series have already been released. I accomplished so much when this happen. I wrote some books, I got published, I taught my children that anything can happen if you work hard and believe in yourself and most of all I now have a dream.
Immortal Embrace released on July 1, 2011, with Forbidden Embrace, Mystic Embrace and Everlasting Embrace all releasing in less than a year of book 1. Who could ask for more? Well its human nature, we always want more. So my next dream was to become a bestselling author. Oh wait I was lucky enough to hit the Amazon best seller list with Immortal Embrace only 6 months after its release. So now what? Well I have an agent who is now shopping the Embrace series around for film options. Wouldn’t that be amazing? I guess this is where the magic of dreams comes in to play.
I’m a huge believe in the power of positive thinking and the laws of attraction. I could write pages on pages of personal experience to prove this theory.  One example is my husband. He was laid off from his job and was having a hard time finding another, due to cut backs and such. He hadn’t worked in months. I told him to make a list of things he wants, bet to do it as if he already has it. The last item on his list was I have a great job to support my family. Within five minutes of putting the pen down, the phone rang. My husband was offer a job at a higher rate of pay than his previous one. Now I also made a list of my own. One of the things on my list was to be a bestselling author by January of 2012. This came dream came true for on January 14 and 15, 2012 Immortal Embrace made it to #1 on the Amazon Kindle best seller list. It not only made lists in the US but also in the UK, Germany and France.
So now what? Well I just make more dreams and continue to believe in myself and those around me, know that they can always come true. So what I say to all of you is dreams are important, have them, embrace them and believe in them and yourself because anything is possible. If you can’t believe in yourself, who else can? Reach for the stars and don’t stop there, keep reaching further and your life will be full of everything you ever dreamed of.  I used this posted on another blog as well, but kept it and tweaked it a little because I really believe in the message behind it and decided to use it again so that others can may be get the message and learn to believe in themselves a little more. Anything really is possible if you just believe, after all I did and all my dreams are coming true, so why can’t yours? Well I believe they can :) ~ Charlotte

Here's some stalker links for you all! ;)
Facebook
Blog
And you can always get your copy of her amazing works over at: Amazon
Till later!
oxox

Sunday 15 July 2012

Review for The Conduit


The Conduit by Stacey Rourke

"Turns out chivalry isn't dead, it's just busy laughing and pointing."
"But then life intervened, as it so enjoys doing."
"The life of a superhero. Glamorous no?"
(There are so many lines that I loved! These are just the top 3!!)

The Conduit is the one book I’d pick up to re-read over and over again! It follows Celeste Garrett and her siblings Kendall and Gabe as they head to stay with their Grams in the small town of Gainesboro. The prologue itself is so interesting that I wanted to know more and read faster. The characters were just amazing and react as any of us would when the weight of saving the world rests on you. Celeste, Kendall and Gabe are sucked into being superheroes because of a pact made by their ancestors centuries ago. Follow their story as they follow their destiny and try to save the world and manage to get on each others’ nerves as well! Well isn’t that what siblings are supposed to do? :P
This book has what are now my favorite one liners ever! Ms. Rourke knows how to reel you in with her superb writing and keeps you wanting more! Funny, Snarky, Action packed, Dramatic, Delightful! All in all well worth the read! (During my exams coming up that is... Nothing better than a good book to help you relax right? ;) )

You can contact Stacey over at Facebook
And you can get your very own copy of Conduit over at Amazon!

Till later!
oxox

PS: Later I got to know that my exams were postponed! xD Good no? :P

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Review for Midnight Hunter

Midnight Hunter by Bonnie Bernard

“You mustn't feel afraid. You must feel safe so you may heal.” His voice was like a bird, effortlessly tilting to embrace the wind.”

I was gifted a copy of this book by the author for review.
Midnight Hunter follows Donna McCormick who just had to move back to her parents’ house. Her life is in danger, but can the mysterious man in the shadows save her?

Midnight Hunter is unlike any other vampire romance I’ve ever read. It was such a refreshing and amazing read! To be honest in the first few chapters I didn’t really get into it, but as and as the story progressed I couldn’t wait to get back from college and read what happened next. The characters and the scenes are so perfectly described that I could picture it all in my head (Trust me its really hard for me to do that :P ) I loved the Grandmother Wisdom part, it was such a sweet one. But my favorite story in the book would be the story of how the organization started... Somehow it seemed funny to me and was probably how typical humans behave in such situations... Also the cover!! *-* I'd definitely pick it up if I saw it when I was passing by a store!

All in all I loved the story! It’s a perfect mix of fear, thrill, horror, romance and mystery. Come on, what else could I possibly ask for?!


You can connect with the author over at Facebook
And you can get your very own copy on Amazon

Till Later!!
oxox

Cover Reveal for The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher

Blurb: Have you ever been wrong about someone? Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch. Before moving in with the Crouch family, Jun...