Thursday, February 26, 2015

Review for Dead of Night by Carlyle Labuschagne!!




Title: Dead of Night
Author: Carlyle Labuschagne   
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Romance
Expected Release Date: October 2014
Publisher: Hallowed Ink Press

 



Blurb:
In a dark and desolated After Earth, love still does exist, but the cost of bearing such a flaw is death.

World War III has left Earth in utter turmoil. People’s beliefs are said to be the cause of the worldwide destruction. After The Clearing new laws are set about - to show certitude in anything besides the law is weak and chargeable as mutiny. To be illogical and have faith in religion is illegal, to be limitless is dangerous. And Illness is seen as a defect – all flaws that are inexcusable.
But to love is the greatest betrayal of all mankind. It is a fault the world has long forgotten and punishable by death, a fatal risk Aecker and Opel are fully prepared to take - because in love there is freedom. But how far can they push back before it claims their lives and of those they care about?

Click HERE to add it to your Goodreads TBR list!!

MY REVIEW
OMG... this book.... everytime I read one of Carlyle's books, I am convinced it's going to kill me... this one was another one... 

Opel has lost her memory, and when she awakes in a strangers bed, faced with the stranger himself, she doesn't know what to do.  He tells her his name is Aecker and she's been following him.  He saved her from being attacked, and for the time being she is safe with him.  

What Aecker doesn't know is there are people that want Opel.  And not for good.  The two of them soon find themselves in a run for their lives, and Opel soon regains parts of her memory and who wants her.  She is determined not to go back to the men who are hell bent on seeing her death.  She loves Aecker, and will do anything to protect him.  

This book was constant action!!  Everytime it would start to level out, something else would be happening!!  I could.not.stop.reading.it!!!!  I was glued to my kindle because I had to know what happens!!

I loved Aecker!  No matter what happens he's is determined to protect Opel.  He loves her, and there is no other for him.   

This is one book I was reading going.... OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG... over and over again.  Just because it was that good!!!


Author Bio:


Carlyle Labuschagne is a South African award winning author working her way into the hearts of international readers with her first two books in the Broken Trilogy. Her first young adult dystopian novel "The Broken Destiny" reached top 3 in its YA debut Category. The Sequel Evanescent won YATR literary award for best Sci-Fi book 2013.
Her become a published author prgramme for students launched Feb 2014.
She is not only an author, but works as a marketing manager by day. She holds a diploma in creative writing through the writing school at College SA.

Carlyle loves to swim, fights for the trees, and is a food lover who is driven by her passion for life. Carlyle also writes for IU e-magazine India, an inspirational non-profit magazine that aims at inspiring the world through words. The drive behind her author career is healing through words. Carlyle is also the founder of the first annual book drive – Help Build A Library in Africa Project. And hopes to launch her very own Indie book festival in Johannesburg March 2015.
“My goal as an author is to touch people’s lives, and help others love their differences and one another.”

Author Links:
Goodreads * Amazon * Twitter * Web * Blog

 



Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Review for Dismantling Evan by Venessa Kimball!!


Title: Dismantling Evan
Author: Venessa Kimball
Genre: YA/Teen/Contemporary/Fiction/Romance
Hosted by: Lady Amber's Tours

Blurb:
Life is unstable... 
…What will be the trigger to dismantle it? 

When high school senior Evangeline "Evan" Phillips moves half way across the country with her parents to a quaint town in Texas, it should be a chance to start over. 

It should be. 

Typical of Evan, she doesn’t share her parents’ optimism. Always the loner, she is prepared to hide behind work at the school newspaper until graduation. That is the seemingly bulletproof plan until she meets her new neighbors, Gavin and Brody Ferguson. 

The more Evan gets to know her neighbors, their band of friends, and frenemies, the more unsettling her new high school and community gets in Braxton Springs, Texas. 

As Evan unwittingly digs deeper into the lives of those around her, her own skeletons begin to surface leaving her vulnerable and scrambling to keep her own sanity and reputation. Will Evan be able to get control over her spiraling secrets while discovering friendship and love for the first time? 
Or will the issues and pressures of life as a band of not-so-average teens in a very typical high school become too much, resulting in the tragic dismantlement of an entire community and Evan herself? 

Dismantling Evan is a fresh and edgy work of literary fiction that snapshots how life as a teen in modern society can be unstable and the social issues and pressures revolving around them can tip the fleeting stability of society over the edge.


MY REVIEW

I love it when a books surprises me!!  I started this book believing it to be just about mental illness, which, to a point, it is.  But there is so much more to it then that!!

When Evan moves with her parents to Texas, she is prepared to blend into the background of school, and take pictures for the paper without making contact with anyone.  On her first day at her new house, she meets Gavin and then his very cute older brother Brody.  There is something wrong with Gavin, and the more she learns about him, the more she realizes they have more in common then she thought. 

She thought moving to Texas would be horrible for her, but it seems she thought wrong.  For so long she was considered a freek at her old school, and when she sees it happening to Gavin, she takes a stand and finds her voice.  Because she knows what it feels like, she doesn't want the same to happen to him.  She becomes his protector, and because of that, earns the respect of Brody. 

Evan never had friends in her old highschool, but she finds she's found some friends without really meaning to look.  Nikki is her neighbour, and through her she meets Lia, who has her own set of problems.  Asher, Nikki's boyfriend is also one to protect Gavin, not allowing Spencer and his band of idiots to get too close.

As I said, this book what not what I thought it would be... I did think her mother tended to be a little over bearing at times, but being a mother myself.. I can't say I wouldn't act the same way.  Her daughter is hurting, and there is nothing she can do to help her.  When they finally find a doctor who knows what Evan is talking about, and seems to be her voice with her mother, things finally calm down there.

A really good read!!  I can't wait to read it again!!


Author Bio:
Having always been passionate about the written word, Venessa Kimball embarked on writing what would become her debut novel, Piercing the Fold: Book 1; a young adult/ adult crossover, paranormal, science fiction, dystopian series. July 2, 2012, Venessa Kimball independently published the first book in the Piercing the Fold series. Book 2, Surfacing the Rim, released March 14, 2013. 
In August of 2013, Venessa joined the publishing house, Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly. The Piercing the Fold series has been re-published with CHBB beginning with Piercing the Fold: Book 1 on September 3, 2013. Surfacing the Rim: Book 2 re-published on September 24, 2013 and Ascending the Veil: Book 3 released November 2013. The fourth book in the series, Transcending the Legacy: Book 4 released May 13, 2014. Kimball's compelling teen contemporary fiction novel, Dismantling Evan, released January 13, 2015.


As for the future, Venessa is already filling her Work-In-Progress folder. When Venessa is not writing, she is keeping active with her husband and three children; chauffeuring said children to extracurricular activities, catching a movie with her hubby, and staying up way too late reading. 

You can find Venessa Kimball socially at the following: 

WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
US AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE 
UK AMAZIN AUTHOR PAGE 

Buy Links:

US

UK


Excerpt: (Prologue)
I peer out the small, shattered multi-faceted glass window. The fractured
sun shines through, striking the origami swan he left for me. It isn't
enough sunlight to warm my chilled bones. The space around me is
simple; wooden bench, wooden table top, two cabinets, a light switch.
The countertop is wiped clean of all things except one singular item;
evidence of Gavin's life, Brody's, my parents, my friends....my life. His
loose-paper, neatly typed journal entries and photo paper lives are
captured and stacked in a grey folder I hold tightly against my chest.
The wind blows outside the workshed, slipping through the porous
cracks and crevices of the wooden slats. I want to hush it, make
everything around me still, so I can think, but it doesn't matter if the
sound exists really because there is no one to disturb; other than me.
This shed, even though it is mostly new, has witnessed so much. At least
it was saved from seeing what happened to us outside its walls weeks
ago.
I relax my grip on the folder, place it on the countertop and sit on a stool
in front of it. My fingers play across the hand-written quote - "Not all
who wander are lost."1 Tolkien's words.
I smile thinking of how fitting it was that Gavin had chosen those words
in particular. Everything it held... his family, flawed and breaking apart,
his friends, his favorite quotes, his torturers, and the illness that tortured
him even more... this journal held it all and the quote suits it. The journal
is a testament to his battle - fighting to understand everyone around him,
everything around him, and most of all fighting to understand himself.
It so happens I was fighting at the same time; he fought differently, but I
couldn't prevent getting wrapped up in the breakdown of it all; the
dismantlement.
The sound of the gun, the yelling and screaming, the sirens, the deputy's
walkie talkie static prominent in my ears even now. The flashing lights
and all the cries...they haunt me still; an echo below the surface of true
solid sound. An echo of life as I knew it a few short weeks ago.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Bye Bye Baby by Morgana Phoenix!!


Title: Bye-Bye Baby
Author: Morgana Phoenix
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Expected Release Date: Jan 31, 2015

Hosted by:
Lady Amber's Tours


Blurb:
​Love has no expiration. 

The morning Beth packed her bags and walked out of Cole’s life was the day he swore the only girl for him would be the six year old who called him daddy. He didn’t have time for love, not between raising his baby girl and trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do with his life. But fate has a funny way of coming around and kicking you when you least expect it. Cole’s new life was no exception.   

As a product of a severely broken home, Beth Doan knew better than to ever get married. She’d seen what that commitment did to people and she loved Cole McClain too much to let marriage destroy them. But the minute she boards that bus she knew she was making the biggest mistake of her life. Only maybe she wasn’t, not when she goes running back home to the only man she ever loved and finds him in the arms of another woman.  

When an unexpected accident throws them together four years later, the last thing either anticipated was to become responsible for a little person who needs them a whole lot more than they need their bitterness and hurt feelings. Can Cole and Beth forgive and forget long enough to save the life of a child neither one of them predicted falling in love with?

Or are some wounds just too deep to heal?


Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24329416-bye-bye-baby

 
Author Bio:
 

Airicka Phoenix lives in a world where unicorns, fairies and mermaids run amok through her home on a daily basis. When she’s not chasing after pixies and rounding up imps, also known as her four children, she can be found conjuring up evil villains, bad-ass heroines and swoon-worthy heroes to play with. 

Airicka is singlehandedly responsible for her greatly anticipated collections, 

The Touch Saga, The Lost Girl Duology, The Regeneration Series, Games of Fire & Betraying Innocence.

 She also writes mature paranormal & contemporary romance under the dark guise of Morgana Phoenix. To date, she is responsible for The Sons of Judgment Saga, In The Dark Series, Forever His Baby & Bye-Bye Baby.

For more about Airicka and the realm she rules with an iron fist—and tons of chocolate—visit her at:


WEBSITE
TSU
FB
TWITTER


Buy Links:
Amazon US * Amazon UK * Amazon CA * Amazon DE *  Amazon FR * Amazon AU * Amazon IN * iBooks * BHYPERLINK "http://goo.gl/CZIFA3"&HYPERLINK "http://goo.gl/CZIFA3"N * Smashwords * Scribd * Inktera * Goodreads

 

Release Day Blitz for Accepting Fate by Brandy L. Rivers!!

Accepting Fate - Blitz Banner
BOOK INFORMATION
TITLE – Accepting Fate
SERIES – Others of Seattle: Book 3
AUTHOR – Brandy L Rivers
GENRE – Adult Paranormal Romance
PUBLICATION DATE – 2-23-2015
LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – around 70ish k
PUBLISHER – Brandy L Rivers
COVER ARTIST – Brandy L Rivers

Accepting Fate - Book Cover
BOOK SYNOPSIS
Accept fate, or it destroys you...
Michael Nights hides his true nature. To protect his first love, his magic broke free, terrifying Amanda so badly she left. That day convinced him he was the monster she claimed. Horrified by the damage he could cause, he’s vowed to keep his power locked away.

Gwen Fate meets Mike at a party. One look and she’s captivated. Inherently curious, she wants to discover all of his secrets. What she learns compels her to help, whether or not he wants to embrace what he is.

Amanda deLuna has changed, but was it for the better? She arrives back in Seattle and offers Mike what he always wanted.

After finally learning to control his power, Mike will have to choose. The life he wished for? Or his fate?

Accepting Fate - Book Wrap
BUY & TBR LINKS


AUTHOR BIO
Brandy L Rivers is the author of the Others of Edenton and Others of Seattle series. There are more Others of Edenton and Others of Seattle books in the works. As an avid reader, Brandy has always loved writing. She became serious about it as a stay-at-home-mother. She has a file full of manuscripts she plans to edit and put out there eventually. She lives in Western Washington with her husband and three kids, where she is already working on future stories in each of the series and several other projects.

AUTHOR FOLLOW LINKS



Release Blitz Organized & Hosted by
buttonmfh

Release Day for Gideon's Promise by Morgana Phoenix!!



Title: Gideon’s Promise
Author: Morgana Phoenix 
Genre: NA Paranormal
Expected Release Date: Feb. 23, 2015
Hosted by: Lady Amber's Tours
Blurb:His love will become her curse. For centuries, Gideon has kept his secret, knowing that it could mean the life of the woman whose very heartbeat was his reason for living. But when Veil Creatures are slaughtered in their homes by those sworn to protect them, it may be up to him to save those he loves from a fate worse than death. What he doesn’t expect is the betrayal and a choice that could leave his family devastated. Valkyrie Devereaux believes only in the power of justice, loyalty and obeying the laws of her people. Love was something to be feared and she had been taught long ago that anything that could make you weak, needed to be eliminated. But when she is assigned to join the Casters of the north in hunting down the creatures killing the innocent, even she can’t help the twang of longing for something that goes against everything she was raised to believe was wrong. Like fire and gasoline, passions collide. Heat erupts as they fight against their desires and their very nature. But a fire like theirs can never be smothered. It can never be stopped. It can only burn to unimaginable heights, but what happens when it careens out of control and destroys everything around them? And who is waiting for that exact moment to destroy the brothers? She will become his death.



Airicka Phoenix lives in a world where unicorns, fairies and mermaids run amok through her home on a daily basis. When she’s not chasing after pixies and rounding up imps, also known as her four children, she can be found conjuring up evil villains, bad-ass heroines and swoon-worthy heroes to play with. Airicka is singlehandedly responsible for her greatly anticipated collections, The Touch SagaThe Lost Girl DuologyThe Regeneration SeriesGames of Fire & Betraying Innocence. She also writes mature paranormal & contemporary romance under the dark guise of Morgana Phoenix. To date, she is responsible for The Sons of Judgment SagaIn The Dark SeriesForever His Baby & Bye-Bye Baby. For more about Airicka and the realm she rules with an iron fist—and tons of chocolate—visit her at:
Buy Links: (Octavian’s Undoing, Book One)
Amazon US *   Amazon CA  Amazon UK *  Amazon DE *  Amazon FR *  Amazon AU * Amazon IN *  iBooks * B&N *  Smashwords *  Scribd *  Inktera * Goodreads  

Gideon's Promise (Book 2): Amazon US *  Amazon CA * Amazon UK * Amazon DE * Amazon FR * Amazon AU * Amazon IN * iBooks * B&N * Smashwords * Scribd * Inktera * Goodreads

 

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