Teaser Tuesdays - The Queen of Blood

Hands grasped her ankle.
Mud hands that rose disembodied out of the wet earth.
She bit back a scream. Earth Spirit!

(page 34, The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst)


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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Writing in Different Genres by Merrie Destefano - Guest Post

Today I have Merrie Destefano dropping by with a guest post.
Her newest book Lost Girls released on January 3rd, 2017


Writing in Different Genres
By Merrie Destefano

I love writing and I very rarely turn away from an idea once it's been fully sketched out. Both AFTERLIFE and FEAST were adult novels because at that time, that was what I was reading. Then a fellow writer in my writer's group, Rachel Mark (author of DARKNESS BRUTAL) kept talking about YA books. She'd give me books to read or suggest books. We'd spend hours wandering through bookstores looking at new books and it didn't take long before I saw the beauty in young adult fiction. It had this sparkle that adult fiction didn't have. If I had to define it, I'd say that YA allows a writer more opportunity to write a literary story, which is what I love. I also feel like YA books have a strong emotional core. What the characters are feeling is as important as what they are thinking. I may have over-simplified that, but it's why I connect with them.

I'm an extremely emotional person and, to be honest, I feel like I've never truly grown up. I feel like I can relate to sixteen and seventeen-year-old people because there's this part of me that will never forget what it was like to be that age. Junior high and high school were not easy for me. Not because of the subject matter, although I wish I could have taken more English and art classes. Rather because of the student socio-economic structure. My parents weren't as rich as the parents of most of my schoolmates. I came from a blue-collar background, but I was surrounded by white-collar kids. It took me a long time to find a place where I fit in and, not surprisingly, that was with a rather rebellious group. So there's a lot of 'me' in Lost Girls. I felt very lost as a teen.

As hard as that experience was, I think it gives me an understanding for what many teenagers go through. I know now that we all feel like we don't belong at one time or another. There are a thousand stories that can be written that deal with how someone might try to compensate for the feeling of being an outsider. Even though I've written a few YA novels (some of them not published at this point), I'm just beginning to explore the writing landscape of what it means to be a teenager. There are all the classic coming-of-age themes, but so many more besides that. The good girl who falls for the bad boy. The bad boy who no one thinks can be redeemed. The runaway, the drug addict, the girl who goes to Mars by accident. LOL. Okay, I'm not actually writing a book about a girl who went to Mars by accident. But it would be fun to try!


Lost Girls by Merrie Destefano
Publication Date: January 3, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Teen

Fight Club meets Black Swan—Rachel wakes up in a ditch to find she doesn’t remember the last year of her life, and that everything—including herself—is vastly different than she remembers.

Yesterday, Rachel went to sleep listening to Taylor Swift, curled up in her grammy’s quilt, worrying about geometry. Today, she woke up in a ditch, bloodied, bruised, and missing a year of her life.

She doesn’t recognize the person she’s become: she’s popular. She wears nothing but black.

Black to cover the blood.

And she can fight.

Tell no one.

She’s not the only girl to go missing within the last year…but she’s the only girl to come back. She desperately wants to unravel what happened to her, to try and recover the rest of the Lost Girls.

But the more she discovers, the more her memories return. And as much as her new life scares her, it calls to her. Seductively. The good girl gone bad, sex, drugs, and raves, and something darker…something she still craves—the rush of the fight, the thrill of the win—something she can’t resist, that might still get her killed…

The only rule is: There are no rules.

Buy from:

Amazon.com - B&N - iBooks - Kobo
Amazon.com.au - Amazon.com/uk - Amazon.ca


About the author:
CURRENTLY A FULL-TIME NOVELIST and magazine editor, Merrie Destefano’s next novel, LOST GIRLS, releases on January 3, 2017. Her other novels include AFTERLIFE and FEAST, both published by HarperCollins, and FATHOM, which was self-published. The editor of Victorian Homes magazine, she has also been the editor of American Farmhouse Style, Vintage Gardens, and Zombies magazine, and was the founding editor of Cottages & Bungalows magazine.

With 20 years experience in publishing, she worked for a variety of publishing/broadcasting companies that include Focus on the Family, The Word For Today, and PJS Publications (now Primedia). Besides editing and writing, her background includes print buying, writing/producing radio promos, directing photo shoots, developing new products, writing jacket copy for books, creating sales media packets and organizing direct mail campaigns.

Born in the Midwest, she currently lives in Southern California with her husband, two German shepherds, a Siamese cat and the occasional wandering possum. Her favorite hobbies are reading speculative fiction and watching old Star Trek episodes, and her incurable addiction is writing. She loves to camp in the mountains, walk on the beach, watch old movies, listen to alternative music—although rarely all at the same time.

Website - http://www.merriedestefano.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MerrieDestefano
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/merrie.destefano
Tumblr - http://merriedestefano.tumblr.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/merriedestefano/
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/merriedestefano/
Blog - http://merriedestefanoauthor.blogspot.com/


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Tour Schedule

In Truth & Ashes by Nicole Luiken - Spotlight

Through Fire & Sea (Otherselves, #1) by Nicole Luiken:

Synopsis:

There is one True World, and then there are the four mirror worlds: fire, water, air, and stone. And each has a magic of its own…

In the Fire World, seventeen-year-old Leah is the illegitimate daughter of one of the realm’s most powerful lords. She’s hot-blooded—able to communicate with the tempestuous volcano gods. But she has another gift…the ability to Call her twin “Otherselves” on other worlds.

Holly resides in the Water World—our world. When she’s called by Leah from the Fire World, she nearly drowns. Suddenly the world Holly thought she knew is filled with secrets, magic…and deadly peril.

For a malevolent force seeks to destroy the mirror worlds. And as Leah and Holly are swept up in the tides of chaos and danger, they have only one choice to save the mirror worlds—to shatter every rule they’ve ever known…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25338152-through-fire-sea

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Through-Fire-Sea-Entangled-Teen-ebook/dp/B00W1H5BT0

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/through-fire-sea-nicole-luiken/1121725505

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/through-fire-sea-entangled/id985135785

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/through-fire-sea-entangled-teen

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Through-Fire-Sea-Entangled-Teen-ebook/dp/B00W1H5BT0/

Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Through-Fire-Sea-Entangled-Teen-ebook/dp/B00W1H5BT0

Entangled Page: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/through-fire-sea/

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Amid Wind & Stone (Otherselves, #2)

Author: Nicole Luiken

Release Date: Mar. 7, 2016

Genre: YA Fantasy

 

There is one True World, and then there are the four Mirror Worlds: Fire, Water, Air, and Stone.

Audrey and Dorotea are “otherselves”—twin copies of each other who live on different Mirror Worlds.

On Air, Audrey has the ability to communicate with wind spirits. As war looms, she’s torn between loyalty to her country and her feelings for a roguish phantom who may be a dangerous spy.

Blackouts and earthquakes threaten the few remaining humans on Stone, who have been forced to live underground. To save her injured sister, Dorotea breaks taboo and releases an imprisoned gargoyle. Brooding, sensitive Jasper makes her wonder if gargoyles aretruly traitors, as she’s always been told.

Unbeknownst to them, they both face the same enemy—an evil sorceress bent on shattering all the Mirror Worlds.

 

Goodreads Book Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28597398-amid-wind-stone

Amazon Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Amid-Stone-Otherselves-Nicole-Luiken-ebook/dp/B01BKMMFPE

Barnes & Noble Buy Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/amid-wind-and-stone-nicole-luiken/1123387309

iBooks Buy Link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/amid-wind-and-stone/id1082374406

Kobo Buy Link: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/amid-wind-and-stone

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amid-Stone-Otherselves-Nicole-Luiken-ebook/dp/B01BKMMFPE

Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Amid-Stone-Otherselves-Nicole-Luiken-ebook/dp/B01BKMMFPE

Entangled Page: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/amid-wind-stone/

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In Truth & Ashes (Otherselves, #3) by Nicole Luiken

Author: Nicole Luiken

Release Date: January 2nd, 2017

Genre: YA Fantasy

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33014994-in-truth-and-ashes

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-truth-and-ashes-nicole-luiken/1125262532?ean=9781633755451

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCKVY0H?tag=entangpublis-20

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/in-truth-and-ashes

What she can’t remember could ruin her life.

The Mirror Worlds are but dull reflections of the True World, where magic and technology blend together…

On the True World, Belinda Loring has known from childhood that she must Bond with the son of another noble First Family. Uniting the families ensures hers will hold onto its powerful position, and so she’s always pushed down the tender feelings she has for her best friend—gorgeous, steadfast Demian, who isn’t noble.

But when the ceremonial magic goes disastrously wrong, Belinda becomes a national disgrace. Scorned as Broken, she turns to Demian for help getting revenge on the man who ruined her: the radical Malachi.

But the seeds of Malachi’s murderous plans lie buried in Belinda’s past, in the dark days of her kidnapping—a period of which she has no memory. And Demian may hold the key to recovering all that she’s lost—and saving the worlds.

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Ab0ut the Author




Nicole Luiken wrote her first book at age 13 and never stopped.
She is the author of nine published books for young adults, including Violet Eyes and its sequels Silver Eyes and Angels Eyes, Frost, Unlocking the Doors, The Catalyst, Escape to the Overworld, Dreamfire and the sequel Dreamline. Through Fire & Sea, book one of Otherselves, and Amid Wind & Stone, book two of Otherselves, are her most recent releases. She also has an adult thriller, Running on Instinct, under the name N.M. Luiken and a fantasy romance series, Gate to Kandrith and Soul of Kandrith.
Nicole lives with her family in Edmonton, AB. It is physically impossible for her to go more than three days in a row without writing.

Author Website: http://www.nicoleluiken.com/

Author Twitter: @NicoleLuiken

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nicole-Luiken-50793836133/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/223320.Nicole_Luiken\

 

Read below for an excerpt from In Truth & Ashes:

Nightmare

Fire World

Leah wept in her sleep. And dreamed:

She was a dragon, floating on an orange sea of molten rock. Far above her was a hole like an eye, the Volcano Lord Thunderhead’s caldera. At first, the heat felt pleasant, soaking away the lingering chill of death, but then it increased in intensity as the magma invaded every nerve and lit them each on fire. She screamed through her ruined throat and convulsed—

Leah bolted upright and found herself in the Aerie, the top room of Qeturah’s Tower. She must have fallen asleep on Gideon’s bed.

She was shaking, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. Her skin felt clammy. What a terrible, awful nightmare.

One whole side of the Aerie opened out onto a large natural stone balcony. Outside, the sun silhouetted Thunderhead’s steep-sided black cone against the red sky. Thin trails of lava trickled down his sides as he erupted again.

The Volcano Lord grieved for the loss of his son, just as Leah grieved.

Leah had met Gideon here in this very room. He’d been feverish, and she’d been spying for her father, Duke Ruben, trying to prove that the evil sorceress Qeturah had something to do with the dragon attacks on their valley. Only, by the time she found out Gideon shape-shifted into the dragon at night and his mother Qeturah used a magic amulet to control him, Leah had already fallen in love with Gideon, and turning him in had been unthinkable.

But in the end, she’d been unable to protect him from her father. Duke Ruben’s army had shot the dragon down with a huge crossbow, and Gideon had died. And his death had signaled the beginning of the end of Fire World.

Gideon’s father, Thunderhead, had erupted and killed Duke Ruben and three other dukes. Their deaths, in turn, had sent the Volcano Lords linked to them into a mindless fury, and they’d all exploded. Those not killed in the eruptions would likely starve in the next year, since falling ash had blighted all the crops.

And Leah could barely bring herself to care.

Gideon was dead. Duke Ruben, her father, whom she’d alternately feared and wanted to please, was dead. Likely so were Jehannah, her half-sister, and her mother, Beulah. Her childhood home was destroyed.

Leah had spent all her time since the cataclysm struggling to stop Qeturah. But now Qeturah was dead, too. And Leah had no purpose.

Oh, the war hadn’t ended: Qeturah had had a mentor named Malachi who had supported her. He was still out there, no doubt still scheming to shatter the other Mirror Worlds, but Leah had run out of energy to fight. Let someone else take him down, someone from the True World.

Malachi wasn’t her problem.

Leah would just stay here with her memories. Alone.

Only the thought of the nightmare returning kept her from sleeping the rest of the day away.

Follow the rest of the tour below:

January 2^nd

For Love of Books4 – Spotlight Post

YA Book Madness – Review Book #3

January 3^rd

RoloPoloBookBlog – Spotlight Post

January 4^th

Queekie Girl Reads – Guest Post

January 5^th

YaReads – Author Interview

Sizzling Hot Books – Review Book #1

January 6^th

The Book Beacon – Review Book #3

Pearls Cast Before A McPig – Spotlight Post

January 7^th
Just One More Chapter – Spotlight Post

January 8^th

Roxy’s Book Reviews – Spotlight Post

January 9^th

Mythical Books – Author Interview

The Crafty Engineer’s Bookshelf- Review Book #3- Review Book #3

January 10^th

Captivated Reading – Guest Post

January 11^th

Crossroad Reviews – Spotlight Post

Splashes Into Books – Review Book #3

January 12^th

YA Book Divas – Guest Post

January 13^th

Sleeps on Tables – Spotlight Post

Home of Writing – Review Book #2

January 14^th

Verbosity Reviews – Review Book #1

January 15^th

Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Author Interview

On McPig's Wishlist - The Forgetting

The Forgetting
by Sharon Cameron

What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes.

Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.

But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence – before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.


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Dark Mafia Prince - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

Dark Mafia Prince (A Dangerous Royals Romance #1)
by Annika Martin

What is it about:
THE DARK MAFIA PRINCE IS BACK TO RECLAIM ALL THAT HER FAMILY STOLE.

Aleksio

Don’t look at me like that. So trusting.

Like you think I’m not a monster.

Like I won’t wrap your hair in my fist and bend you to my will.

Like I won’t sacrifice you, piece by piece, to save my brother.
I’m the most dangerous enemy you’ll ever have because every time you look at me, you see somebody good. That friend who died.
And when you look at me like that, I die again.

Mira
I spent years making myself invisible.
A good girl, apart from the noise.
Then you came back, beautiful and deadly in your Armani suit.

Don’t look at me like you still know me, you say.

But I remember your smile and those sunny days.
Before they lowered your small casket into the ground.

Before they told us the prince was dead.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:
After reading and loving Prisoner I decided to pick up the first book in Annika Martin's Dangerous Royals series.

And this is yet another deliciously dark read.

Martin sure knows how to write dark, broken characters. Even though Aleksio is behaving like a caveman at times, I could understand why he acts like he does, and I was rooting for him to find some peace of mind and find a way to reclaim his better nature.

Mira was more difficult for me to understand. That's mainly because she worships her father, who she knows is a criminal. Still she keeps defending his actions and going out of her way to make sure he's ok, even if it will cost her.

The story was really suspenseful. Aleksio and his brother Viktor are not only trying to reclaim the Mafia empire that was stolen from their family, they're trying to find their brother before others do and kill him. Mira is the leverage they're using to get the information they need.

I liked the chemistry between Aleksio and Mira. There were a couple of really dark-sexy scenes between the two of them, and if I have one complaint it's that I could have used some more of those.

The ending does give hope for Aleksio and Mira's future, but there's still a lot going on in the life of the Dragusha brothers, and I will get my hands on the next brother soon, I can tell you.

Why should you read it:
It's a suspenseful and delicious Romance read.


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Teaser Tuesdays - Woodwalker

I wanted to see my home again. I wanted to do my rightful job. I was a Woodwalker, and I was desperate.

(page 22, Woodwalker by Emily B. Martin)


Buy from bookdepository

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Violent Ends - Book Review

Violent Ends

What is it about:
It took only twenty-two minutes for Kirby Matheson to exit his car, march onto school grounds, enter the gymnasium, and open fire, killing six and injuring five others.

But this isn't a story about the shooting itself. This isn't about recounting that one unforgettable day.

This is about Kirby and how one boy—who had friends, enjoyed reading, played saxophone in the band, and had never been in trouble before—became a monster capable of entering his school with a loaded gun and firing on his classmates.

Each chapter is told from a different victim's viewpoint, giving insight into who Kirby was and who he'd become. Some are sweet, some are dark; some are seemingly unrelated, about fights or first kisses or late-night parties.

This is a book of perspectives—with one character and one event drawing them all together—from the minds of some of YA's most recognizable names.

What did I think of it:
I knew when I started this book it wouldn't be an easy read, but with Delilah S. Dawson being one of the participating authors (and me being curious in what kind of light the authors would paint Kirby) I had to give it a try.

And it had me crying by the second story.

There are seventeen authors who each wrote a part of this book. All telling a bit about Kirby and those around him using a different viewpoint character. The story they tell was one that was in many ways recognizable and that touched me. It wasn't an easy read, but it was a beautiful and emotional read.

Of the seventeen stories told there was just one that didn't fit in my opinion, and that's a story that's told from the viewpoint of the gun. Of the other stories there were characters I could relate to more than others, but all of them added to the overall story.

All in all this is a book I won't easily reread, but it will go on my keeper shelves, and I can recommend it to everyone who's looking for an emotional and powerful read.

Why should you read it:
It's a touching and thought provoking YA read.



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