Book Blitz&Giveaway: The Midnight Sea (Fourth Element #1) by Kat Ross

So, how much do we all love a fantastically well written and three dimensional villain that's written into a story in such a way, that you fall mad and passionately in love with their character and you know you're supposed to hate them, but you kind of don't want to?! 

Seriously, my hand would be the very first to shoot straight up, because I do! I do! I so do! 

I don't know if it's my love for all things Joss Whedon (and let's just all recognize that he has written some wonderfully loved and hated to love characters/villains), Stephen King and the crazy evil that he writes about, or the whole idea that some human's are pretty much demons masquerading with human faces and some demons are way more human than any other human could possibly be. All I know, is that I love, love, love these characters to pieces and they are some of my absolute favorite. 

Give me an amazingly well established villain with a great backstory and plot twist waiting to happen, combined with fantasy and I'm there every single time because that is THE STORY that I want to read. This is why I'm so excited to have Kat Ross on the blog today talking about how to write a great villain, among a few other things. Plus, I'm just really excited for The Midnight Sea, and can't wait to read it. It just looks like it's going be a fantastic novel, from the synopsis and reading what the author has to say about it herself. 

Want to know more about this awesome book?! Check out the synopsis below and order yourself a copy!

The Midnight Sea
Kat Ross
(Fourth Element #1)
Published: May 10th 2016
Age Demographic: YA
Genre: Fantasy
To Buy: Amazon

They are the light against the darkness. The steel against the necromancy of the Druj. And they use demons to hunt demons….

Nazafareen lives for revenge. A girl of the isolated Four-Legs Clan, all she knows about the King’s elite Water Dogs is that they bind wicked creatures called daevas to protect the empire from the Undead. But when scouts arrive to recruit young people with the gift, she leaps at the chance to join their ranks. To hunt the monsters that killed her sister.

Scarred by grief, she’s willing to pay any price, even if it requires linking with a daeva named Darius. Human in body, he’s possessed of a terrifying power, one that Nazafareen controls. But the golden cuffs that join them have an unwanted side effect. Each experiences the other’s emotions, and human and daeva start to grow dangerously close.

As they pursue a deadly foe across the arid waste of the Great Salt Plain to the glittering capital of Persepolae, unearthing the secrets of Darius’s past along the way, Nazafareen is forced to question his slavery—and her own loyalty to the empire. But with an ancient evil stirring in the north, and a young conqueror sweeping in from the west, the fate of an entire civilization may be at stake…

Despicable You: 

Writing Great Villains

I have a confession to make—one that some of you might share. My favorite characters are usually the awful ones. The ones who do terrible things without a shred of remorse. The ones that I'm dying to see get their comeuppance, but not before they push our beloved protagonist to the very edge and nearly destroy everything in the story we care about. Yes, I'm talking about the villains.

Think the viscerally creepy Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. The icily elegant Mrs. Coulter from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Elizabeth Wein's SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden in Code Name Verity, who we only meet second-hand but is terrifying nonetheless.

Villains can make or break a book. When they're boring or one-dimensional or clichéd, there's no tension and the plot deflates with that sad wheezing noise balloons make when you stick with them with a hatpin. But when they're done right, meaning that they are an actual character and not simply a clunky device to test the hero, they help keep the stakes of the story high and the reader turning pages late into the night. 

In The Midnight Sea, King Artaxeros II is the obvious villain, but he's also a bit abstract—you don't meet him until more than halfway through, and then only briefly. So I needed another antagonist. One who you really get to know. One who has some admirable traits but, as the pressures of the plot slowly pile up, becomes something much darker. Without giving away too many spoilers, I'll just say that I spent as much or more time thinking about him as about my main characters, Nazafareen and Darius. If you're going to have a colossal betrayal, the reader had better care about everyone involved or it just won't have much emotional impact. 

"So here are a few tips on writing unforgettable villains."

First off, all this is very subjective. What gives me cold sweats might make you laugh yourself silly. So you might start by thinking about which villains in film, TV, books, wherever, have resonated the most and why. Is it the prosthetic hook? The creepy Malkovich-esque voice? The mask of sanity they wear with their family when they're not committing grisly deeds? Once you know what disturbs you in the deepest, most primal part of your monkey brain, channel that quality in your own bad guy.

Okay, this one I cannot emphasize enough: give the villain motivation that readers can relate to, even if it's totally twisted. So they're power-hungry. Why? Is it because they have a secret crush on someone they want to impress? Or maybe they're compensating for a horrible childhood, or their dog needs an expensive operation, or their ideas of right and wrong are simply skewed beyond repair? I like to think that even the worst villain has something they care about. Balthazar, a necromancer who gets a starring turn in the second book of my series, is madly in love with his wicked queen. Yes, he does terrible things. But everything he does, he does for her.

Rachel Aaron has an awesome blog post on character development where she breaks it down into the deceptively simple formula below. The key is to understand that what a character wants and why they want it are two separate things and as a writer, you need to be very clear on both.

What do you want? (Goal)

Why do you want it? (Motivation)

What's stopping you? (Conflict)

If you have trouble, you can also try flipping the story and imagining it from the villain's point of view. You might be surprised at what you discover. Setting aside hockey-masked killers and comic book arch-bad guys, a good villain could potentially be the protagonist if he or she weren't quite so extreme.

In my first book, the sci-fi thriller Some Fine Day, one of the most despicable characters is a military doctor who's deliberately infected innocent people with a super-nasty Level Four virus. But as she calmly explains to the main character, the project is simply a response to their enemies engineering a similar plague. From her point of view, it's a matter of self-defense. 

Effective villains often embody an exaggerated version of the same things your hero is conflicted about. That's very much the case in The Midnight Sea, where both Nazafareen and her antagonist face a similar choice but react in opposite ways. This is where we dig down deep and see what our characters are made of. Often, it is the villain's inability to change and grow and face the truth (external or internal) that proves to be their undoing. 

So now that you’ve got a fantastic, fully fleshed out villain that rivals Moriarty or Lecter, what's the best way to get them across to the reader? Well, if the story is third person, you can give your villain their own POV. Jack Torrance in The Shining is one of my all-time favorites because we get to watch him slide slowly into madness over the course of several hundred pages. But the scariest part comes just before he's lost it completely. We know he's probably going to do some very bad things, but there's still an unpredictable quality to him. In our hearts, we still vainly hope that his love for his wife and kid will somehow triumph over the evil ghosts running the Overlook Hotel, which makes it SO much worse when Jack finally, irretrievably snaps. 

As King says, “This inhuman place makes human monsters.” And those are always the scariest kind.

Anyway, thanks for reading! For tons more on villains, I highly recommend Bullies, Bastards And Bitches: How To Write The Bad Guys Of Fiction by Jessica Morrell.

Author Bio:

Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She lives in Westchester with her kid and a few sleepy cats. Kat is also the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day (Skyscape, 2014), about a world where the sea levels have risen sixty meters. She loves magic, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Preferably with mutants.

Website * Goodreads * Facebook * Twitter

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Blog Tour & Book Review: Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley

Worlds of Ink and Shadow

Lena Coakley

Published: January 5, 2016

Publisher: Amulet Books

Pages: 352

Age Demographic: Young Adult

Amazon | B&N

Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The Brontë siblings have always been inseparable. After all, nothing can bond four siblings quite like life in an isolated parsonage out on the moors. Their vivid imaginations lend them escape from their strict upbringing, actually transporting them into their created worlds: the glittering Verdopolis and the romantic and melancholy Gondal. But at what price? As Branwell begins to slip into madness and the sisters feel their real lives slipping away, they must weigh the cost of their powerful imaginations, even as their characters—the brooding Rogue and dashing Duke of Zamorna—refuse to let them go.

Gorgeously written and based on the Brontës’ juvenilia, Worlds of Ink & Shadow brings to life one of history’s most celebrated literary families. 

Book Review

Worlds of Ink and Shadow, is one of the most originally gripping and compelling historical fantasy novels that I've read in a while. I was absolutely floored at how beautifully crafted the fantasy world was created, it was so incredibly stunning that it left me almost breathless. Lena Coakely never ceases to amaze me with her brilliant imaginative storytelling narrations and the sheer beauty of life that she breathes into her characters. My love for the Bronte sister's knows no bounds and to see how well she wove this story together, was such a wonderful note to end the year on. There's such a genuinely magical feel to this book, that I found the moments passing during the time I was reading it will likely not be forgotten any time soon. It will always have a special place in not only my heart, but on my bookshelf as well. 

I feel very lucky and fortunate to have been able to read an advanced copy of this book, as it's just one of those books that becomes so meaningful and somehow starts to shape the way you feel about literature in general and the way you view the world and the people in it around you. I can't recall where I've read this before, but I almost feel certain that I've heard stories told about the Bronte siblings writing to escape the darkness of their own harsh realities they each had to face either together or on their own. Whispers of escaping into their own rich, dark, and intriguing fantasy worlds like Verdopolis (the very one that Lena Coakely explores in Worlds of Ink and Shadow) and other's such as, Gondal, Angria, etc. The depth of inspiration drawn from such dark realties and experiences from the lives of the Bronte siblings, is wonderfully compelling and such a magical part of why I love this book so much. Even though, it's still considered fiction, the way Coakley wove this gorgeous and breathtaking  tale together, pulled at my heartstrings in such a way that it will probably be one of my most memorable reads for a long time to come. 

It was so amazing to see how Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, and Anne so easily crossed over between the worlds of reality and fantasy and immersed themselves into their own creations becoming different and sometimes better versions of themselves. It was just a richly beautiful and vastly different and unique world that was so creatively brought to life by Coakely in such a memorable and enjoyable way. She masterfully weaves the realities of their real world and creative fantasy lands together in such a way that it comes to life so big and so gorgeously on the pages. Dark and beguiling, Worlds of Ink and Shadow, encompasses a dark and deep outlook on their lives and illustrates their adventures and passion for writing in such a way that it ignites and comes to life so beautifully. 

If you are looking for a book that possesses magic and creativity and you are fascinated by the Bronte siblings juvenilia then this is the book that will have you transfixed until the last page. I was absolutely transfixed from start to finish, captivated by this gorgeous book of fantasy tales and reality bent to desire.

And now for the giveaway...

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About the Author

Website * Facebook * Twitter

Lena Coakley was born in Milford, Connecticut and grew up on Long Island. 

In High School, Creative Writing was the only course she ever failed (nothing was ever good enough to hand in!), but, undeterred, she went on to study writing at Sarah Lawrence College. 

She lives in Toronto, Canada. Witchlanders is her debut novel.

Book Blitz+Giveaway: Insanity Series (Books 1-3) by Cameron Jace

Insanity
Cameron Jace
(The Complete Books 1-3)
Published: October 28, 2015 
Publisher: Storykiller Books
Age Demographic: New Adult Fantasy
Pages: 882

Hannibal Meets Alice in Wonderland in this fantasy page-turning thriller.

After accidentally killing everyone in her class, Alice Wonder becomes a patient in the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum. No one doubts her insanity. All but a hookah-smoking professor named Carter Pillar who believes he can prove her sanity by decoding Lewis Carroll’s paintings, photographs, and finding Wonderland’s real whereabouts.

Professor Caterpillar persuades the asylum that Alice can save lives and catch the Wonderland Monsters now reincarnated in modern day criminals. In order to do so, Alice leads a double life: an Oxford university student by day, a mad girl in an asylum by night. The line between sanity and insanity thins when she meets Jack Diamond, an arrogant college student who believes that nonsense is an actual science.

Larger than life characters, intricate mysteries, engrossing fun, and intriguing historical locations. Insanity will thrill you, makes turns pages, and stay with you forever.

Warning: intended for insane audience only.

Goodreads * Amazon

You can also purchase book 5 – Wonder – today!

BOOK EXCERPT FOR

INSANITY SERIES 

WRITTEN BY CAMERON JACE

Underground Ward, the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum, Oxford

The writing on the wall says it’s January 14. I am not sure what year. I haven’t been sure of many things lately, but I’m wondering if it’s my handwriting I’m looking at.

There is an exquisite-looking key drawn underneath the date. It’s carved with a sharp instrument, probably a broken mirror. I couldn’t have written this. I’m terrified of mirrors. They love to call it Catoptrophobia around here.

Unlike those of the regular patients in the asylum, my room is windowless, stripped down to a single mattress in the middle, a sink, and bucket for peeing—or puking—when necessary. 

The tiles on the floor are black and white squares, like a chessboard. I never step on black. Always white. Again, I’m not sure why.

The walls are smeared with a greasy, pale green everywhere. I wonder if it’s the previous patient’s brains spattered all over from shock therapy.

In the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum, politely known as the Warneford Hospital, the doctors have a fondness for shock therapy. They love watching patients with bulging eyes and shivering limbs begging for relief from the electricity. It makes me question who is really mad here.

It’s been a while since I was sent to shock therapy myself. Dr. Tom Truckle, my supervising physician, said I don’t need it anymore, particularly after I stopped mentioning Wonderland. 

He told me that I used to talk about it all the time; a dangerous place I claim I had been whisked away to, when my elder sister lost me when I was seven.

Truth is, I don’t remember this Wonderland they are talking about. I don’t even know why I am here. My oldest vivid memory is from a week ago. Before that, it’s all a purple haze.

I have only one friend in this asylum. It’s not a doctor or a nurse. And it’s not a human. It doesn’t hate, envy, or point a finger at you. My friend is an orange flower I keep in a pot—a Tiger Lily I can’t live without. I keep it safe next to a small crack in the wall, where a single ray of sun sneaks through for only ten minutes a day. It might not be enough light to grow a flower, but my Tiger Lily is a tough girl.

Each day I save half of the water they give me for my flower. As for me, better thirsty than mad. My orange flower is also my personal rain check for my sanity. If I talk to her and she doesn’t reply, I know I am not hallucinating. If she talks back to me, all kinds of nonsense starts to happen. Insanity prevails. There must be a reason why I am here. It doesn’t mean I will easily give in to such a fate.

“Alice Pleasance Wonder. Are you ready?” The nurse knocks with her electric prod on my steel door. Her name is Waltraud Wagner. She is German. Everything she says sounds like a threat, and she smells like smoke. My fellow mad people say she is a Nazi—that she used to kill her own patients back in Germany. “Get avay vrom za dor. I’m coming in,” she demands.

As I listen to the rattling of her large keychain, my heart pounds in my chest. The turn of the key makes me want to swallow. When the door opens, all I can think of is choking her before she begins to hurt me. Sadly, her neck is too thick for my nimble hands. I stare at her almost-square figure for a moment. Everything about her is four sizes too big. All except her feet, which are as small as mine. My sympathies, little feet.

“Time for your daily ten-minute break upstairs.” She approaches me with a straitjacket, a devilish grin on her face. I never get out. My ward is underground, and I’m only allowed to take my break in another empty ward upstairs where patients love to play soccer.

A big, muscled warden stands behind Waltraud. Thomas Ogier. He is bald, and has an angry-red face and a silver tooth he likes to flash whenever he sees me. His biceps are the size of my head. I have a hard time believing he was ever a four-pound baby.

“Slide your arms into the jacket,” Waltraud demands in her German accent, a cigarette puckered between her lips. “Slow and easy, Alice.” She nods at Warden Ogier, in case I misbehave.

I comply obediently and stretch out my arms for her to do whatever she wants. Waltraud twists my right arm slightly and checks the tattoo on my arm. It’s the only tattoo I have. It’s a handwritten sentence that looks like a thick armband from afar. Waltraud feels the need to read it aloud: “‘I can’t go back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.'” I was told I had written it while still believing in Wonderland. “That Alice in Wonderland has really messed with your head,” she says as she puffs smoke into my face.

The tattoo and Waltraud’s mocking is the least of my concerns right now. I let her tie me up, and while she does, I close my eyes. I imagine I am a sixteenth-century princess, some kind of lucky Cinderella, being squeezed into a corset by my chain-smoking servant in a fairy tale castle above ground, just about to go meet my prince charming. Such imagery always helps me breathe. I once thought that it was hope that saved the day, not sanity. I need to cool down before I begin my grand escape.

About the Author

Cameron Jace is the bestselling author of the Grimm Diaries and Insanity series. A graduate of the college of Architecture, collector of out-of-print books, he is obsessed with the origins of folk tales and the mysterious storytellers who spread them. Three of his books made Amazon's Top 100 Customer Favorites in Kindle 2013 & Amazon's Top 100 kindle list. Cameron lives in California with his girlfriend. When he isn't writing or collecting books, he is playing music.

Website * Goodreads * Facebook * Twitter

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#Friday Reveal: Rise (The Order of the Krigers #1) by Jennifer Anne Davis

Welcome to this week’s M9B Friday Reveal!

This week, we are revealing the cover for

Rise (The Order of the Krigers #1)
by Jennifer Anne Davis 

an upcoming Month9Books Title!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

The people of Nelebek live in fear of persecution from the evil Morlet, who reigns with a dark and destructive magic. The kingdom’s only hope lies with the Order of the Krigers—twelve warriors with mysterious powers linked to magical weapons.

For over a century, Morlet has been annihilating the Order, picking them off one by one. Eleven Krigers have been hunted down, tortured, and imprisoned in his dungeon. Now, only one remains.

Sixteen-year-old Kaia survives by keeping her head down and minding her own business. But when she finds herself in the middle of a public execution where the mysterious Morlet is in attendance, an odd compulsion she can’t resist comes over her.

Kaia looks into Morlet’s eyes.

Soon, an ancient power awakens and Kaia can no more blend into the scenery. Will she heed the call of the Krigers or will Morlet’s dark magic destroy the last of the Order?

Fans of GRACELING and THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS will enjoy RISE, book one in the RISE OF THE KRIGERS series from international bestselling author Jennifer Anne Davis.

Rise (The Order of the Krigers #1)
by Jennifer Anne Davis
Publication Date: May 17, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books

Available for Pre-Order:
AMAZON

  

About the Author

Jennifer Anne Davis graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in English and a teaching credential. Afterwards, she married her best friend and high school sweetheart. Jennifer is currently a full-time writer and mother of three young children. Her days are spent living in imaginary worlds and fueling her own kids' creativity.

Connect with the Author: 

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads * Tumblr * Pinterest * Instagram * YouTube

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Title will be sent upon it's release.

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MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR!!!

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Book Blitz + Giveaway: A Necklace of Souls by RL Stedman

I love a great Fantasy novel more than anything, these days. That's why, I was super excited to get to be part of the Blitz tour for A Necklace of Souls by R.L. Stedman. It's the first book in an exciting new fantasy and mythological driven series, that looks incredibly interesting. It's a daring young adult fantasy novel about love and loss, lives ruined and desparaging hopes, a place where magic is very real and bravery isn't always measured by the strength in character of a person. 

This is another new-to-me author and novel, that I'm really excited to discover and I can't wait to read this. I'm even more excited and thrilled to be sharing with you today, a character description that R.L. Stedman so generously shared. And, if you stick around, there is a tour wide giveaway that's happening and all you need to do is fill out the Rafflecopter below and you'll be entered to win.

But first, a little more about 

A Necklace of Souls...

A Necklace of Souls

Soul Necklace #1

by R.L. Stedman

Published: April 12, 2015

Publisher: Waverly Productions

Age Demographic: YA

Pages: 388

"A true dream is when the events I see in my sleep have, or will happen. It’s a talent that runs in my family. I was thirteen when I had my first true dream."

Dana wishes she wasn’t a princess. She’s always being told how to behave, what to wear. There’s a strangeness in the castle – why will no one talk about the Guardian, or the necklace that protects the land? And why does her father look at her with such sorrow? 

Welcome to A Necklace of Souls: a story of love and loss, of shattered lives and desperate hopes. In the Kingdom of the Rose, bravery is not always measured by strength and magic is real, if only one has the courage to dream.

To purchase A Necklace of Souls (Soul Necklace, #1) by R.L. Stedman please visit Amazon and Barnes&Noble.

Character Introduction for Will
Written by R.L. Stedman

Will was twelve years old when the plague began. Winter in North Wales is always a dreary, damp season, but that year seemed particularly harsh. The winds blew strong and cold and the people were reluctant to leave their homes. Will’s parents, the town bakers, still kept their shop open but now customers arrived singly, and said little while waiting for their bread.

As the plague spread, Will’s familiar world began to change. First, the school closed. Normally this might have been something to be celebrated. But not now, not with the town locked in fear, and no one going in or out. Then the fishing boats at the quayside didn’t sail, either. Eventually even the church shut its doors. But by then the plague had spread, growing like a big black cloud, until it seemed to smother all the light. And in the bakery Will and his parents lay ill, unable to move, unable even to think, as the world spun slowly about them.

Will didn’t remember much of the illness, just a vague recall of heat and burning and endless, heaving nausea. Like seasickness but far, far worse – the sort of seasickness you might feel if the ship on which you were sailing had suddenly caught alight. For days he tossed about, thrashing his head on his pillow, calling for Ma. For anyone. But no one came.

Finally Will woke and lay blinking at the ceiling. His throat felt thick and tight, as though he’d been screaming for the longest time. Outside the world sounded eerily quiet; no shop bells, no wagon wheels creaking. No horse’s hooves, or people calling to one another across the street. Only the distant wash of the waves and the creaking of the shop sign in the wind.

All his life, Will remembered the feeling of waking into silence, the bitter knowledge of his loneliness in a wide, wide world. Because after the plague, everything had changed.

I hadn’t meant to write something quite so gloomy. So here’s another lively little piece. There are heaps of side characters in A Necklace of Souls. - R.L. Stedman

©2015 R.L. Stedman. From A Necklace of Souls by R.L. Stedman, published by Waverly Productions.
All rights reserved.

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About the Author

Website * Twitter * Facebook

A physical therapist by training, Rachel Stedman lives in Otago with her husband and two children. She enjoys hiking, cycling and running. And reading, of course.

In 2012 she was shortlisted for the Tom Fitzgibbon Award and was the winner of the Tessa Duder Award for Young Adult Fiction. Her first novel, A Necklace of Souls, was published by HarperCollins in 2013. A Necklace of Souls was made a Storylines Notable Book and awarded Best First Book at the New Zealand Post Book Awards, 2014.

M9B Two for Thursday Book Blitz: A Shimmer of Angels and A Slither of Hope by Lisa M. Basso with Giveaway #T4T

Hello and welcome to this week’s 

Two for Thursday Book Blitz #T4T
presented by Month9books/Tantrum Books!

Today, we will be showcasing two titles that may tickle your fancy, and we’ll share what readers have to say about these titles. You just might find your next read!

This week, #T4T presents to you the Angel Sight series by Lisa M. Basso: A Shimmer of Angels and A Slither of Hope!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Sixteen-year-old Rayna sees angels, and has the medication and weekly therapy sessions to prove it. Now, in remission, Rayna starts fresh at a new school, lands a new job, and desperately tries for normalcy. She ignores signs that she may be slipping into the world she has tried so hard to climb out of. But these days, it’s more than just hallucinations that keep Rayna up at night. Students are dying, and she may be the only one who can stop it. Can she keep her job, her sanity, and her friends from dying at the hands of angels she can't admit to seeing?

Available for Purchase:

WHAT READER’S ARE SAYING:

“A Shimmer of Angels was a fantastic, extraordinary book from Month9Books. I adored it! Every single page i turned, I kept being pushed and grabbed into Reyna's world, full of angels, and maybe a few murders in between.” – Michelle, That Girly Bookwork

"It has what every Young Adult loves to read in books: romance, a good-looking and nice angel, a hot, fallen angel, drama, mystery, suspense.” – Genesis, Gen Gen Book Blog

“This book has completely caught me off guard. I thought it would be good but I didn't know it would be amazing!! I mean look at that COVER who could turn away from it?? It draws you in immediately. Then you step into the book and realize its better then you could have expected.” – Courtney, Bookaholicsxoxo

Rayna struggles to piece her life back together, but hiding in plain sight from the police, the SS Crazy, and the Fallen isn’t a foolproof plan—something Kade, the World’s Worst Roommate, reminds her of everyday. The late nights of failing to teach Ray how to protect herself against the Fallen are getting to Kade, changing him in ways he doesn’t like, and after a family emergency sends Ray back into Cam’s arms, Kade decides he’s had enough. News of Rayna’s resurfacing brings both angels and the Fallen to San Francisco by the dozens, all eyes scouring the city for the girl with the gray wings. Rayna will need both Kade and Cam’s help to ensure her family’s safety, navigate the new dangers and enemies springing up all over the city, and manage the surprises that arise with her new set of wings.

Available for Purchase:

WHAT READER’S ARE SAYING:

“I was literally biting my nails because the intensity of the story was so strong…” – Genesis, Gen Gen Book Blog

“Suspenseful with a different take on angels, A Slither of Hope has only strengthened my admiration of the Angel Sight series and my place in the fandom of Lisa M. Basso.” – Laurie, Author

“She does a great job with the angels versus demons theme in both books and really makes the characters come to life for the reader so that we feel their pain and suffering and when they succeed we feel like WE have accomplished something too” – Erika, WS Momma Readers Nook

Website * Twitter * Facebook  

Lisa M. Basso was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She is a lover of books, video games, animals, and baking (not baking with animals though). As a child she would crawl into worlds of her own creation and get lost for hours. Her love for YA fiction started with a simple school reading assignment: S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. When not reading or writing she can usually be found at home with The Best Boyfriend Fiancé that Ever Lived ™ and her two darling (and sometimes evil) cats, Kitties A and B.

 

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M9B Two for Thursday Book Blitz: Scion of the Sun by Nicola Marsh and Lifer by Beck Nicholas with Giveaway #T4T

Hello and welcome to this week’s 

Two for Thursday Book Blitz #T4T
presented by Month9books/Tantrum Books!

Today, we will be showcasing two titles that may tickle your fancy, and we’ll share what readers have to say about these titles!

You just might find your next read!

This week, #T4T presents to you:

Scion of the Sun by Nicola Marsh
and Lifer by Beck Nicholas

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

When she least expects it, sixteen-year old Holly Burton’s unremarkable life is shaken to the core. A vision of the mother Holly never knew leaves her questioning everything she believes.

Eager for answers, Holly enrolls at a boarding school for highly gifted students in Wolfebane, New Hampshire. But things will get worse before they get better, as Holly accidentally transports to a parallel existence where she's confronted by a dark and ancient evil.

With the help of Joss, a sexy alpha warrior sworn to protect her, and her new BFF, the equally swoon-worthy Quinn, Holly faces her fears and an unlikely adversary in a showdown that is worse than anything she could’ve possibly imagined …

Available for Purchase:

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

“Charmed and drawn in by Holly’s spunk and snark, Scion of the Sun will leave you spinning and falling for Joss right along with Holly. Marsh’s unique story is packed with action, mystery, romance and suspense. This is not to be missed!” – Jennifer L. Armentrout, USA TODAY Bestselling Author

” It's a unique novel in YA literature, and I hope it won't be under-appreciated! An excellent start to a new mythology-based series, this is!” – Alyssa – Eater of Books

“This was a unique tale about a heroine who is not perfect by any means, but does her best despite her failings.” –Grace – Grace Books of Love

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Nicola Marsh currently writes for Harlequin Mills and Boon Romance and Riva/Presents series, Entangled Publishing, Month9Books, Harlequin Teen and Crimson Romance, has published 39 books and sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide. She’s a Bookscan, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Waldenbooks bestseller, has finalled in several awards including the prestigious HOLT (Honoring Outstanding Literary Talent), Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, Booksellers’ Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and won several CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Awards. Nicola loves the hip, vibrant, cosmopolitan vibe of her home city, Melbourne, where she’s set the bulk of her novels, highlighting fabulous cultural and food havens like Acland Street (St. Kilda), Brunswick Street (Fitzroy) and Lygon Street (Carlton). When she’s not writing she’s busy raising her two little heroes, sharing fine food with family and friends, cheering on her beloved North Melbourne Kangaroos footy team and her favorite, curling up with a good book!

Asher is a Lifer, a slave aboard the spaceship Pelican. A member of the lowest rung of society, she must serve the ship’s Officials and Astronauts as punishment for her grandparents’ crimes back on Earth. The one thing that made life bearable was her illicit relationship with Samuai, a Fishie boy, but he died alongside her brother in a freak training accident.

Still grieving for the loss of her loved ones, Asher is summoned to the upper levels to wait on Lady, the head Official’s wife and Samuai’s mother. It is the perfect opportunity to gather intel for the Lifer’s brewing rebellion. There’s just one problem—the last girl who went to the upper levels never came back.

On the other side of the universe, an alien attack has left Earth in shambles and a group called The Company has taken control. Blank wakes up in a pond completely naked and with no memory, not even his real name. So when a hot girl named Megs invites him to a black-market gaming warehouse where winning means information, he doesn’t think twice about playing. But sometimes the past is better left buried.

As Asher and Blank’s worlds collide, the truth comes out—everyone has been lied to. Bourne Identity meets Under the Never Sky in this intergalactic tale of love and deception from debut novelist Beck Nicholas.

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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:

“There are some books that are just smooth, you know? Books where the characters are consistent but still capable of surprising you, the world building is solid and doesn’t raise questions, the plot never drags, the writing flows seamlessly. Books that you don’t want to reach the end of, because it feels so right to read them. Lifer is one of those books.” – Angela – Angela`s Library

“Lifer was a very interesting book that managed to keep me turning the pages and left me with questions that I needed to know the answer to throughout this book.” – Bri – Books and Ashes

“I have to say I was immediately captured by the author’s writing style. She has a beautiful way with words and they flowed so wonderfully well. Descriptions were clear but not cluttered. Characters were well flushed out, plots were crazy twisted and cleverly done. Settings…well I thought I was there in the thick of it all.” – J. Keller Ford – Author

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I always wanted to write. I’ve worked as a lab assistant, a pizza delivery driver and a high school teacher but I always pursued my first dream of creating stories. Now, I live with my family near Adelaide, halfway between the city and the sea, and am lucky to spend my days (and nights) writing young adult fiction.

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