Blade Singer Tour & Giveaway

Blade Singer by Aaron de Orive & Martha Wells

202 pages

Manuel "Manny" Boreaux, a troubled adolescent from Texas, is magically transported into the body of a goblin pickpocket in an alternate world inhabited by faerie creatures. Manny must quickly adapt to the danger all around him and try to find a way to get back home, a feat complicated by the pickpocket's association with a notorious gang of thieves. But when Manny uncovers a plot to assassinate a young king, he must enlist the aid of an elf cavalier and a cat burglar to thwart a Sidhe witch's scheme to ignite a civil war between humans and the Fae.

Goodreads | Amazon

 

 

About the Authors:

A graduate of the University of Texas' film program, Aaron de Orive began his professional writing career in the video game industry, serving as a lead or senior writer on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. He is also the creator of the fantasy role-playing game SHARD: World of the False Dawn. Blade Singer is his first novel. Aaron lives in Austin with his wife, daughter, and two very spoiled terriers.

Website | Twitter

Martha Wells is the author of a number of fantasy novels, including The Cloud Roads, The Siren Depths, The Wizard Hunters, Wheel of the Infinite, and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer. Her YA fantasy, Emilie and the Hollow World, was published by Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry in April 2013, and the sequel, Emilie and the Sky World, was released in March 2014. Two collections of Books of the Raksura novellas will be published in September 2014 and Fall 2015. She has had short stories in Black Gate, Realms of Fantasy, Stargate Magazine, and Lightspeed Magazine, and in the anthologies Elemental, The Year's Best Fantasy #7, Tales of the Emerald Serpent and The Other Half of the Sky. She has essays in the nonfiction anthologies Farscape Forever, Mapping the World of Harry Potter, and Chicks Unravel Time. She has also written media-tie-in novels, Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary and Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement, and a Star Wars novel, Empire and Rebellion: Razor's Edge.

Website | Twitter | Live Journal

Giveaway:

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Candace Candace's Book Blog & CBB Book Promotions http://www.candacesbookblog.com

Unrequited Tour

Unrequited

by Emma Grey 

Release Date: 05/26/14

Summary from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Kat Hartland loathes Unrequited, the world's biggest boy band. Is she the only girl in Sydney who can't be bothered with perfect-looking Angus Marsden?

Give her 5 Seconds of Summer. Now.

Or maybe the seriously-hot med student who rescued her on a train—and who could be Douglas Booth's twin! Perfect formal partner, much?

But when Kat comes face to face with Angus Marsden himself, things start to get complicated. Very. Throw in a deranged female popstar, final exams, a part in the musical and a mum who just doesn't get it—and where is her best friend?

When did life get so crazy? Kat's just an ordinary schoolgirl.

Isn't she?

About the Author Emma Grey has two teenage girls, a three-year-old boy, a couple of businesses and another teen novel in the pipeline. Her first book, 'Wits' End Before Breakfast! Confessions of a Working Mum' was published in 2005.

Author Links:

 

 Excerpt

 

Her attention drifts to the boy sitting opposite her on the train. In her anti-band flap, she hadn’t noticed him board. What an oversight! He’s on his phone and she shamelessly eavesdrops. He’s talking about his uni project while she takes mental note of his cheekbones and jawline—the type usually reserved for people like superman and Douglas Booth. On-trend reading glasses. Dark, floppy hair. A satchel full of textbooks gaping open on the seat beside him.

Hmm. At some point during his highly-technical phone conversation, which he is conducting in an incredibly warm, deep voice that Kat could listen to all day, she rouses the courage to smile at him. But he looks at her like she’s a thirteen-year-old Unrequited fan and glazes right over.

Great.

She wants to say ‘Hey, I’m seventeen and I hate them! This is absolutely a case of mistaken identity, trust me …’ But saying that might not come across as charmingly as it does in her imagination and he might end up thinking she’s more of a lunatic than he likely already does.

It’s a bad day when Angus Marsden and the boys, of all people, come between Kat and a potential date with a med student. (She’s decided that’s what he is, having stalkerishly scanned the titles on the textbooks spilling out of his bag and having seen enough of Grey’s Anatomy to put two and two together. And yes, ‘date’ may be getting ahead of herself a tad, but she’s particularly good at getting ahead of herself.)

WHY didn’t she do her hair?

Oh, hang on! He’s off the phone! Try to look casual. Look out the window. DO NOT MAKE EYE CONT— GAH! Too late!

Future Dr McDreamy fleetingly locks his dark brown eyes with hers. Her heart-rate explodes. Her entire life passes before her eyes …

Oh, wait! That’s what happens when you’re about to die, not when you’re falling in love. Get your emergencies right, Kat!

  

Read the first three chapters of Unrequited here.

 Author's links

   

Highballs in the Hamptons Tour

Highballs in the Hamptons (Girlfriends of Gotham #2)

by Delancey Stewart 

Release Date: 09/3014

Swoon Romance

Summary from Goodreads:

Natalie Pepper thinks she can just be friends with CJ, the man of her dreams. But after seeing him every day at work – and after he lays it all on the line – it becomes pretty clear that something’s gotta give. She’d admit to herself, and to him, that all she really wants is him…if she wasn’t so afraid of losing the best job she’s ever had (and the life it has made possible).

At least she’s got her friends to distract her. Lulu Rossi is an unorthodox and unpredictable spitfire of a girl who has a habit of saying whatever’s on her mind. And while that attribute entertains friends and intrigues her new boyfriend, Andrew, it might be the one thing that stops their relationship from moving forward. Lulu has unintentionally entered the world of Upper East Side royalty, as her ER doctor boyfriend turns out to be the pedigreed heir to an old money fortune – one that is watched over by his manipulative and exceedingly judgmental mother, Elizabeth “Tippy” Barton.

Natalie’s insane supervisor worsens the situation at work when her own man troubles result in a new “no fraternization” policy, and CJ finally gives up and begins to look for other opportunities. Natalie is forced to decide what is important to her for once and for all. Will it be CJ or her job?

Lulu must prove her worth to Andrew’s family – or make him see that the only person whose opinion really matters is his.

***

Men and Martinis (Girlfriends of Gotham #1)

by Delancey Stewart

Release Date: 12/03/13

Summary from Goodreads:

Candace Kanie wins at every game she plays. From the boardroom to the bar, she’s confident, clever, perhaps just a tad overbearing. It’s not easy for a girl like Candace to admit that love may be the one game she can’t win…at least not until she’s willing to change her strategy. In Men and Martinis, Candace Kanie will learn that sometimes to be at the top of your game, you have to hit rock bottom.

Men and Martinis is the first release in Delancey Stewart’s series “Girlfriends of Gotham” – a voyeuristic voyage through the lives of a group of twenty-something girls who dance, date, and drink their way through Manhattan during the days of the dot com boom. During an era when the up-and-comers in New York were partying like Studio 54 had never died, this group of friends discovers that the city is theirs for the taking; and they find their often-hilarious way through the forces that work to redefine the way they know themselves and each other.

About the Author

I'm not big on labels, but there are a few that fit me (not necessarily in this order. Or maybe in this order):
- wine drinker (and wine geek)
- mother of small boys
- military spouse
- writer
- chocolate eater

I've written the Wine Country Romance Series, which ties my love of wine to my love of falling in love... and the Girlfriends of Gotham series, which begins publishing with Swoon Romance in December 2013.

I also love short stories, and my themed collection (all set in the same NYC brownstone across the span of a century) published in 2012. 

 

 Excerpt

LULU –

Candace was on my doorstep at exactly nine o’clock, as promised, looking poised and put together with her signature bob and short skirt. I had always thought Candace was very sexy. She had a small blond girl with her, whom she introduced as Tamara.

“Where are you from, Tamara?” I asked as I poured from our usual extra-large bottle of Pinot grigio. There was nothing about this girl that made me think she was from the city, but something in the tilt of her chin told me she was fierce and determined.

“I grew up in Indiana,” she said, smiling as she reached for a wine glass. “‘With those Indiana boys on those Indiana nights,’” she added, winking a bright blue eye as she held her glass in a toast.

“What?” I asked. She was cute, but maybe she was crazy. I flashed a look at Candace.

“It’s a song lyric, Lu,” Candace said, reaching between us to take a glass.

“Oh.” I shrugged as Tamara and Candace sang about someone named Mary Jane.

“Tom Petty?” Tamara said, raising her eyebrow. She was at least a foot shorter than I was, but she projected confidence, and the three-inch heels on her boots were impressive. I hadn’t figured this girl out yet, but decided to like her.

“She’s from Brazil,” Candace said, as if that explained everything.

“Whatever.” I knew of Tom Petty, but I didn’t know the song.

Tamara smiled. “That’s so cool!”

I smiled. Being from a foreign country always seemed impressive to Americans. I hadn’t figured out why yet. I knew plenty of assholes in Brazil. Being from there didn’t automatically qualify you as a good person.

Candace and Tamara moved to the couch as the buzzer rang again, and I waited by the door to let Natalie and Maggie in. Catalina, Maggie’s roommate, was with them, and I could see that Natalie was not pleased. They didn’t get along, despite Maggie’s constant efforts to mend whatever hurt existed between them. It all came down to jealousy, I thought. Catalina had gone out with the man Natalie liked from work. I honestly didn’t see the big issue, since Natalie refused to date him. But I was trying to be neutral.

Natalie hugged me and immediately poured herself a glass of wine and went to sit across from Candace. I could hear her introducing herself to Tamara.

“I’m so excited to meet your man,” Maggie said to me, a huge smile on her face.

“Is he handsome?” Catalina asked.

I poured wine for them and answered. “I think he’s adorable. But that’s just my five cents. I’m biased.”

They looked at each other and began giggling.

“Honey,” Maggie said, leaning in and putting a hand on my arm. “You only get two cents.”

“What?” What the hell was she talking about?

“The expression, it’s ‘that’s my two cents.’ Not five cents.”

Irritation made my skin tingle. “Whatever,” I told her. “Maybe I get more because I’m Brazilian.” American expressions made no sense at all.

Author Links:

   

Roxy Rogers Book Blast & Giveaway

 

About the Book

Title: Roxy Rogers: Your Destiny is Calling | Author: Emily Siskin-Toy | Illustrator: Brian C. Krümm | Publication Date: August 24, 2014 | Publisher: Three-Bug Books | Pages:32 | Recommended Ages: 6 to 9

Summary: What happens when a young girl with a Hall of Fame baseball pedigree breaks the family mold and follows her dream to become a soul singer? "Roxy Rogers: Your Destiny Is Calling", a picture book for ages 6 - 9, lets children see that their families will love them just the same when they pursue their true passions in life. Everybody in Roxy's family--from her great-grandpa (played with Lou Gehrig), to her grandpa (played with Jackie Robinson), to her mother (super-star college softball player), to her father (was a Los Angeles Dodger), to her sister (won a Gold Medal for Team USA Softball, and so on)--famously played ball, and Roxy is next in line. The only problem is that Roxy dreams of singing soul music like her idol, Aretha Franklin! A historical addendum provides information about the Hall of Fame baseball players who turn up in the book, as well as Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul music. Additionally, a fun treasure hunt for clues about Roxy's true destiny runs throughout the book, giving readers an enhanced, interactive experience.  

Sneak Peek

 

Purchase

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Print) | Kobo | iTunes

 

The Early Buzz

"I just LOVED this little book. Empowering for young girls, and at the same time powerful for young boys... The illustrations are perfect for this book: fun and eye-grabbing, and I also love that it includes facts about popular icons like Aretha Franklin and Baseball legends. Well done! " ~ 5 Star Review, Mariana L., Amazon

"Roxie Rogers is an inspiring read for all ages, truly. It speaks to that little voice inside all of us telling us "come out" to the real you. The artwork brings the story to life, and the text is great for read-along or for young readers on their own." ~ 5 Star Review, Laura, Amazon

"I just read Roxy Rogers to my 5-year old daughter and we both loved the book! The story was fun and engaging filled with dynamic illustrations. Besides the great life messages woven into the story, I really like how the story reads. It is really nice to experience a children’s book that is not mind numbing in its repetitiveness (you know the type) with words that flow easily off the pages. " ~ 5 Star Review, Wendigo, Amazon

 

About the Author: Emily Siskin-Toy

A U.C. Santa Cruz banana slug alum, Emily Siskin-Toy launched her writing career with posts at various film and television magazines in Los Angeles. After a break in the action to raise her daughter, Emily and her college sweetheart founded WOW! Music Studios, a successful children’s music instruction school in Mill Valley, California. But just like the character in her book, Emily’s true passion was something entirely different; she always dreamed of writing children’s books. Inspiration was everywhere for Roxy Rogers: Your Destiny Is Calling. While coaching her daughter’s youth softball and basketball teams, Emily eventually came to realize that the world of sports was a passion of hers, not her daughter’s, who really wanted, of course, to be a singer. The plot of the story was right in front of her, and the surrounding details would be cultivated from her lifetime of love for the rich history of Major League Baseball and her daughter’s love of music.  

Website | Author Blog | Pinterest | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

 

* Book Blast Giveaway *

Prize: One winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash (winner's choice) Contest closes: October 30, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open to: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the Emily Siskin-Toy and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com. a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Black Atonement Blitz & Giveaway

Black Atonement

by Sasha Hibbs

Release Date: 09/26/14

Evernight Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

The burden of Dave’s girlfriend’s death pushes Brandi, the Seraph of Love, to abduct David Howels hoping she can protect Dave from his murderous father, Ragnar, and also atone for all her sins. Leaving a trail of broken hearts, will Brandi be able to show Dave that all in life is not lost in death? Twists and turns abound as Brandi discovers her own shocking revelation: That Dave has been her soul mate all along.

Separating Dave and herself from their allies on the threshold of the apocalypse, Brandi turns to an old friend for help-a witch-to aid her in her quest to prepare Dave to face his worst fears and her own. Filled with curses, secrets that threaten to destroy everything, Brandi must find forgiveness from within before she can find love with a boy she’s forced to hate her. In the past, healing a broken heart would’ve been easy, but now faced with the task of healing Dave’s broken heart while not exposing her own, Brandi learns why love is truly the greatest gift of all.

Buy Links:

Amazon│ Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books

Books in this series:

(Covers linked to Goodreads)

About the Author

By age 5, Sasha Hibbs' favorite movie was Gone With the Wind. By age 12, she completed her 7th grade book report on the sequel, Scarlett. By 18, she met and married her very own Mr. Rhett Butler and as it turns out, she never had to worry about going back to Tara to win the love of her life back. Fortunately, he stuck with her.  

With a love of all things paranormal, the ambiance of the South with its gigantic antebellum mansions and canopies of Spanish moss, and a love for her husband’s rich storytelling of blacksmiths and the mythology surrounding their origins, it wasn’t long until the world of her debut novel, Black Amaranth, was born.

When not working her day job as a nurse, you can find Sasha dreaming of her next beach trip, reading the latest YA novel, and drinking more white chocolate mocha than she should.  

Sasha lives in mountainous West Virginia with her husband, Tim, and their two daughters, Aeliza and Ava. She is currently hard at work on her next novel in The Vulcan Legacies series.

***Author Links***

   

GIVEAWAY:

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Thirty Two Going on Spinster Tour & Giveaway

  Thirty-Two Going on Spinster by Becky Monson

Julia Dorning is a spinster, or at least on the road to becoming one. She has no social life, hates her job, and lives in her parent’s basement with her cat, Charlie.

With the arrival of Jared Moody, the new hire at work, Julia’s mundane life is suddenly turned upside down. Her instant (and totally ridiculous) crush on the new guy causes Julia to finally make some long-overdue changes, in hopes to find a life that includes more than baking and hanging out with Charlie.

But when the biggest and most unexpected change comes, will the new and improved Julia be able to overcome it? Or will she go back to her spinster ways?

Purchase your copy for just $2.99!!

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * iTunes * Kobo

  Praise for Thirty-Two Going on... Spinster   "Oh my, oh my. I have just finished wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes. This is seriously funny." ~Julie Darley (Never judge a Book by its Movie) "This was a refreshing change of pace for me to read. Some good clean romance was found in it’s pages and that is a rare find these days. It was some great chick-lit. I would not have thought this was Becky’s debut book, it was so well done." ~Liberty Ann (SnifferWalkBooks)   Author Becky Monson By day, Becky Monson is a mother of three young children, and a wife. By night, she escapes with reading books and writing. In her debut novel, Becky uses humor and true-life experiences to bring her characters to life. She loves all things chick-lit (movies, books, etc), and wishes she had a British accent. She has recently given up Diet Coke for the fiftieth time and is hopeful time will last... But it probably won't. Becky runs a large book club on Facebook called "This Chick Reads".

                                           Excerpt

      Cupcakes are in the main break room. Enjoy! – Julia

I’m not going to lie. It took me over an hour to come up with this e-mail. Other drafts consisted of “Cupcakes up in the break room, y’all! Go and get ya some!” and “Yo, cupcakes in the break room. Peace.”

I’m feeling pretty solid with the one I went with.

It’s ridiculous that I’m all in a tizzy (yes, that’s right I said tizzy) about these cupcakes. I’m feeling... I don’t know how to describe it… vulnerable? I think I might know why.

So here is the deal with me: I live inside my head a lot. This has always been a part of who I am. Perhaps it’s not that abnormal. Of course, I have to because as I have already established, apart from work and baking, I have no life. So I tend to exaggerate things in my head a bit. I say this because it is highly possible that, in the late hours I was up making cupcakes, I may or may not have had a few, ahem, fantasies about the new guy, Jared. And no, they were not those kinds of fantasies.

They mostly consisted of… no really, they are just too stupid to admit. Okay, fine. They mostly consisted of him taking one bite of cupcake and falling madly in love with me and then we ran away into the sunset.  It varied a little, but that is the gist of it. In my fantasies, he was no longer the job-stealing-smirking-jerk that he actually is, but this incredible guy who says and does everything right. You know, the type of guy who doesn’t actually exist.

It’s ridiculous, right? I mean I don’t know the guy at all. If I honestly think about it though, it’s not that ridiculous. Not the part about me fantasizing about a guy I don’t even know – no, that is totally ridiculous. But I work at an office full of complete and total nerds (and, by the way, I looked up “nerd” in the dictionary, and it said: “an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person”, which is so incredibly fitting, it’s scary) and along comes someone who is so not a nerd, well, I couldn’t help myself. Jerk or not.

 

  

Facebook * Website * Twitter * Pinterest * Goodreads * Blog

    Blog Tour Giveaway $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 10/12/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway -- ~Inspired Kathy~