Tuesday 31 March 2015

March Recap

Read:


 










 DNF'd:







Favourites:







Reviews:


http://jesswatkinsauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/review-spark-rising-progenitor-saga-1.htmlhttp://jesswatkinsauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/review-all-fall-down-embassy-row-1-by.htmlhttp://jesswatkinsauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/review-riding-odds-by-lynda-k-scott.html


http://jesswatkinsauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/review-life-unaware-by-cole-gibsen.htmlhttp://jesswatkinsauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/review-all-rage-by-courtney-summers.html





Blog Tour + Giveaway - Summer Confessions by Lynn Vroman


Find the tour schedule here.






Summer Confessions by Lynn Vroman
Release Date: 03/10/15
YA Contemporary
Untold Press
162 pages 

Summary from Goodreads: 

A southern young adult LGBT contemporary romance.

Macy Diaz has managed childhood friend Jeb Porter’s crush for years. However, his infatuation turns to obsession, even putting a kid in the hospital just for hitting on her. In the past, Macy brushed it off, explained his bizarre acts away. But now she harbors a secret. She’s in love…with Jeb’s sister, Rachel. 

By some miracle, Rachel loves Macy back, and despite the small minds polluting their sleepy southern town, they’re sticking together. Unfortunately, making sure Jeb never grows suspicious
proves harder every day—until everything falls apart. 

As a sick, unstable Jeb starts to threaten all Macy values, she is reminded of what has always been perfectly clear. Macy belongs to him, only him, and he won’t let her go. Ever. 

If only Macy could’ve loved Jeb, she wouldn’t have to worry about surviving him now.

 

 
Buy links:







Excerpt:

 Face still burning, trying to act as cool and laidback as  my friend, I shrugged and looked at Rachel.
"You going, too?"
She smiled, her overbite hardly noticeable after three yearsin braces. "I'm being forced to by my big ape of a brother." She nudged Jeb, who kept his eyes on me the entire time. "He promised to take me into Sevierville on Friday if I hung out with y'all today."
I cleared my throat, hoping I didn't sound as awkward as I felt. "What's doing there on Friday?"
"Poetry reading. Y'all should come with." She put her hands onher hips and held up her dainty chin.
"The theme is the feminine mystique."
Ana and Jeb rolled their eyes, while I tried hard not tonod too fast. "Yeah, I'll go."
Rachel beamed. "I'd like that."
"Uh, hey, on second thought, maybe I'll skip the movie, tag along. I could add some male mystique."
Jeb nodded in that way I'm sure he thought made him look sexy. He did have the looks, with all that blond hair and eyes as blue as the ocean. His sister had the same eyes…but bluer. So much bluer, like I could drown in them kind of blue.
Ana snorted, bringing my mind back into the kitchen.
My face grew hotter as I averted my eyes to focus on my white heels. "Sounds like a date, then."
"I think it does," Jeb said.
"All right, all right. Why don't you two go round up a few others? Macy and I will head over as soon as she changes." Ana shoved me toward the stairs, not waiting for a reply.
"So, y'all will be along soon, right?" Jeb's deep voice followed, a hint of panic making it sound higher than usual.
"Yes, yes, just go on, now." Ana waved him off with a laugh, and whispered, "I swear that boy can't be more obvious."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about."
"Yeah, sure you don't." Ana leaned closer. "When you gonna break his heart and tell him you like his sister?"


 


About the Author 

Born in Pennsylvania, Lynn spent most of her childhood, especially during math class,
daydreaming. Today, she spends an obscene amount of time in her head, only now she writes down all the cool stuff.
With a degree in English Literature, Lynn used college as an excuse to read for four years straight. She lives in the Pocono Mountains with her husband, raising the four most incredible
human beings on the planet. She writes young adult novels, both fantasy and contemporary.

Author Links: 






Tour-wide giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Blog Tour Organized by: 



Release Day Blitz - Gambit by C.L. Denault



About Gambit:

In Earth’s battle-ridden future, humans have evolved. Those with extraordinary skills rise to power and fame. Those without live in poverty. 

Sixteen-year-old Willow Kent believed she was normal. But when a genetically-advanced military officer shows up in her village and questions her identity, long-buried secrets begin to emerge. With remarkable skills and a shocking genetic code the Core and its enemies will do anything to obtain, Willow suddenly finds the freedom she craves slipping through her fingers. Greed, corruption, and genetic tampering threaten every aspect of her existence as she’s thrust, unwilling, into the sophisticated culture of the elite Core city. To ensure peace, she must leave the past behind, marry a man she’s never met, and submit to the authority of a relentless officer with a hidden agenda of his own.

Her life has become a dangerous game. How much will she sacrifice in order to win?





Release Day Trailer:







About the Author


C.L. Denault is a speculative fiction writer who loves dreaming up tales of adventure and intrigue. A former systems analyst, she gave up her nerdy code-writing skills to care for her family (including a son with special needs), and currently lives among the vast stretches of cornfields in Illinois.

Writing stories and posting on The INFJ Café are her biggest passions, along with drinking coffee and watching sci-fi. When she’s not hanging out with her husband and kids, she can usually be found at a library or tucked away in the shadowy corner of a hip coffeehouse. She’s also been glimpsed sneaking into her garage, late at night, to work on her time machine.

Her debut novel, Gambit, is the first in a Young Adult dystopian series.

Find out more at cldenault.com, twitter or facebook.



Book Blitz + Giveaway - The Infinite Expanse by B.C. Powell




The Infinite Expanse by B.C. Powell
(The Journals of Krymzyn #2)
Publication date: March 31st 2015
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Science Fiction

Synopsis:

Evil lurks in the desolate Barrens of Krymzyn. For millions of Eras, predators with insatiable cravings have prowled the wasteland. When a traitor of the Delta enters their realm, the solitary beasts may finally have a leader to unite them.

As a new order emerges in the Barrens, Chase and Sash begin their lives together. While Chase fights to prove he belongs in Krymzyn, the power inside Sash flourishes in ways no one could have imagined. But a vengeance from the wasteland is soon unleashed upon them.

After Chase is trapped deep in the Barrens, his only escape is into the Infinite Expanse. Unaware of the deathly perils that take shape there, he may be lost forever. For Sash to return him from the endless wilderness, she’ll have to harness a mystical energy not seen since the beginning of time.



Purchase:




Purchase book 1:

 On sale for .99 on Amazon from March 31 - April 8!






Excerpt:

I immediately dig my feet into the grass and race across a meadow. As I sprint between two hills, I glance up at the sky. The scarlet light dims, the billows begin to swirl, and raindrops splatter against my face. Surrounded by full Darkness, I continue running until I enter the long valley that winds to the Empty Hill. I eventually reach the narrow gorge that leads to our habitat, but as I pass by, a smear of white catches the corner of my eye.
Grinding to a stop on the wet grass at the end of the ravine, I stare in the direction of our habitat. A black-veined beast leaps from a ridge and lands directly in front of the door. My eyes widen at the sight of the Murkovin one hundred feet in front from me. When his eyes shoot back at mine, I drop to one knee and plunge my fingers into the ground.
“Sash, Larn, Tork!” I blurt out. “Murkovin at Sash’s habitat!”
Red eyes flaring through the rain, the Murkovin charges at me. I drop my practice spear to the grass and rise into a crouch. As I clench my real weapon with both hands, every moment I spent sparring with Sash strobes through my mind. I have to anticipate, think, focus, but my body trembles with panic and my heartbeat throbs inside my head.
Bearing down on me in a sprint, the beast is ten feet away when he lunges his spear at my face. As the tip rockets towards me, I’m frozen in place, the world suddenly in slow motion. Waiting until the split second he’s off-balance, the moment before the point pierces my skin, I jerk my head to the side. The steel just grazes my hair before I uncoil in a frenzied spin.
While whirling my spear through the air, I lock my eyes on his head. Following my aim, the steel point slams straight into his skull. Light bursts around the shaft when the tip skewers his brain. Thrusting down with all my might, I crush his head against the ground.
I glare at the limp creature at my feet. Black blood spews from his head into the downpour of rain. I’m completely numb, unable to even feel my hands clamped around the shaft of my spear. Shaking from the rush of adrenaline, I feel no remorse at all from killing the beast. Sash’s words ring in my ears.
“When it’s kill or be killed, there’s no hesitation, no thought, and no regret.”
I snap my head to four more streaks of white on the hill above our habitat. The hideous creatures soar over the ridge and into the ravine.
“Shit!” I yell.
After ripping my spear from the skull of the corpse, I dash towards the Empty Hill. I may have killed one, but I won’t stand a chance against four.
Glancing over my shoulder as I run, I see all four Murkovin in pursuit. One suddenly blasts into dull beams of light. In an instant, the point of his spear gouges my calf, sending me sprawling to the ground. I slide to a stop on the slick grass and roll to my back.
With veins bulging from his spectral white arms, the beast rams his spear at my head. I swing my weapon up just in time to knock the point away from my face. Before either of us has time to make another move, a blur smashes into him and pounds him into the grass. In a flash, Sash’s spear splits his skull open. She wheels around to the other three Murkovin while I jump to my feet.
It’s not a battle. I wouldn’t even call it a fight. When Sash unleashes a torrent of death from her spear, it’s a massacre.




AUTHOR BIO

BC Powell is a fantasy author from Los Angeles, CA. His debut science fiction fantasy novel "Krymzyn" was published in October, 2014. "The Infinite Expanse", the highly anticipated second book in "The Journals of Krymzyn" series, is scheduled for release on March 31, 2015.

Powell has a diverse background, having held several creative positions in the entertainment industry, including executive roles at ABC-TV and Technicolor. In recent years, he's authored several non-fiction works, primarily educational books and training programs for trading the financial markets. He dual majored in journalism and philosophy at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Writing fiction has been his lifelong passion and goal. “The Journals of Krymzyn” represents, in his words, “finally finding the story I want to tell with characters that are able to bring that story to life.” He's an avid reader and lists Ernest Hemingway, Frank L. Herbert, Stephen King, Jane Austen, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. as his favorite authors.

Brad, as he prefers to go by in personal communication, lives with his longtime girlfriend, three sons from a previous marriage, and their rescue dog and cat. He enjoys hiking, ocean kayaking, spending time at Southern California beaches, movies, and reading.

Author links:








Blitz-wide giveaway

Open internationally





Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books You Recently Added To Your To-Be-Read List


Top Ten Tuesday is a feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.


This week the topic is Ten Books You Recently Added To Your To-Be-Read List.



Here are the last 10 books I added to my TBR:


The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

What if you had said yes? The moments that change everything... One Day meets Sliding Doors in this outstanding debut that is causing a buzz across the publishing world
Some moments can change your life for ever. Have you ever wondered, what if...?

A man is walking down a country lane. A woman, cycling towards him, swerves to avoid a dog. On that moment, their future hinges. There are three possible outcomes, three small decisions that could determine the rest of their life.

Eva and Jim are nineteen and students at Cambridge when their paths first cross in 1958. And then there is David, Eva's then-lover, an ambitious actor who loves Eva deeply. The Versions of Us follows the three different courses their lives could take following this first meeting. Lives filled with love, betrayal, ambition but through it all is a deep connection that endures whatever fate might throw at them.

The Versions of Us explores the idea that there are moments when our lives might have turned out differently, the tiny factors or decisions that could determine our fate, and the precarious nature of the foundations upon which we build our lives. It is also a story about the nature of love and how it grows, changes and evolves as we go through the vagaries of life.





The Dark Dreamer by Heather Topham Wood 

 For as long as she can remember, Rebekah Clayton’s life has been dictated by her dreams. As a dream interpreter, she has become privy to her clients’ deepest and darkest secrets. Affairs, financial ruin, even murder—nothing shocks her anymore. But Grant Raskin’s dreams are unlike any she has heard before.

If Rebekah’s interpretation is right, Grant has foreseen the end of the world. A plague is coming and everyone Rebekah cares about will succumb to the illness. And Grant can trace the origin of the disease back to two men: Dr. Mark Holman and his son Drew.

Grant enlists Rebekah to track down the Holmans and determine their connection to the viral outbreak. But uncovering Drew Holman’s secrets will lead her down a dangerous path—unearthing a deadly conspiracy she never could have predicted.


The first book in a two-part series from bestselling romance author Heather Topham Wood.






Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl by Leigh Statham 

Lady Marguerite lives a life most 17th century French girls can only dream of: Money, designer dresses, suitors and a secure future. Except, she suspects her heart may be falling for her best friend Claude, a common smithie in the family's steam forge. When Claude leaves for New France in search of a better life, Marguerite decides to follow him and test her suspicions of love. Only the trip proves to be more harrowing than she anticipated. Love, adventure and restitution await her, if she can survive the voyage.
 




For Holly by Tanya Byrne

Lola Durand hates her stepmother. It's a cliché but it's true.

Lola Durand can't get through to her father. He never wants to talk about the things that matter: why they had to move to Paris, why he had to marry evil Agatha, and how they can get through the heartache of her mother's death together.

If he won't listen, she'll show him. She'll show him the truth about his new wife and then her life can go back to normal, just the way she likes it.

Lola Durand knows a secret about her stepmother. She's going to share it.




What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.

The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?


Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker 
 

Witches, watch out... Half Bad meets Kill Bill in this incredible new supernatural series.

Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Grey doesn't look dangerous. A tiny, blonde, wisp of a girl shouldn't know how to poison a wizard and make it look like an accident. Or take out ten necromancers with a single sword and a bag of salt. Or kill a man using only her thumb. But things are not always as they appear. Elizabeth is one of the best witch hunters in Anglia and a member of the king's elite guard, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and bringing those who practice it to justice. And in Anglia, the price of justice is high: death by burning.

When Elizabeth is accused of being a witch herself, she's arrested and thrown in prison. The king declares her a traitor and her life is all but forfeit. With just hours before she's to die at the stake, Elizabeth gets a visitor - Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful wizard in Anglia. He offers her a deal: he will free her from prison and save her from execution if she will track down the wizard who laid a deadly curse on him.

As Elizabeth uncovers the horrifying facts about Nicholas's curse and the unwitting role she played in its creation, she is forced to redefine the differences between right and wrong, friends and enemies, love and hate... and life and death.

The first book in an incredible new series set in a fantastical medieval world.




The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson


For fans of John Green, David Levithan and Rainbow Rowell: a beautiful, funny and heartfelt novel about love and forgiveness. Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to centre stage of her own life – and suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two boys. One boy takes Lennie out of her sorrow; the other comforts her in it. But the two can't collide without Lennie's world exploding...

Under My Skin by James Dawson

Meet Molly Sue. Once she's under your skin there's no getting rid of her...

Seventeen-year-old Sally Feather is not exactly a rebel. Her super-conservative parents and her treatment at the hands of high school bullies means that Sally's about as shy and retiring as they come - but all that's about to change. Accidentally ending up in the seedier side of town one day, Sally finds herself mysteriously lured to an almost-hidden tattoo parlour - and once inside, Sally is quickly seduced by its charming owner, Rosita, and her talk of how having a secret tattoo can be as empowering as it is thrilling. Almost before she knows what she is doing, Sally selects sexy pin-up Molly Sue, and has her tattooed on her back - hoping that Molly Sue will inspire her to be as confident and popular as she is in her dreams.

But things quickly take a nightmareish turn. Almost immediately, Sally begins to hear voices in her head - or rather, one voice in particular: Molly Sue's. And she has no interest in staying quiet and being a good girl - in fact, she's mighty delighted to have a body to take charge of again. Sally slowly realises that she is unable to control Molly Sue... and before long she's going to find out the hard way what it truly means to have somebody 'under your skin'.
The Catalyst by Helena Coggan

Rose Elmsworth has a secret. For eighteen years, the world has been divided into the magically Gifted and the non-magical Ashkind, but Rose's identity is far more dangerous. At fifteen, she has earned herself a place alongside her father in the Department, a brutal law-enforcement organisation run by the Gifted to control the Ashkind. But now an old enemy is threatening to start a catastrophic war, and Rose faces a challenging test of her loyalties. How much does she really know about her father's past? How far is the Department willing to go to keep the peace? And, if the time comes, will Rose choose to protect her secret, or the people she loves?   

Fire in Frost by Alicia Rades

  Crystal Frost has spent her whole life believing she's ordinary, and her mother has long held the secret of her heritage. When Crystal begins seeing the ghost of a dead classmate, her life spirals out of control. She’s faced with the threat that everyone will find out she’s a freak, as if the struggle to figure out her new-found abilities wasn’t enough pressure. Crystal has to find some way to save the people who have come to her for help all while trying to keep her abilities a secret. Will she be able to fulfill these overwhelming demands while solving the mystery that is the ghost of Olivia Owen?
What are the newest books on your TBR?