Book Blitz: Crystallum by Laney McMann!

Crystallum

by Laney McMann

(Primordial Principles #1)

Published by: Booktrope PublishingPublication date: October 25th 2015

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:  

    Kadence Sparrow wasn’t born a devil’s child—she was turned into one. Now, she’s hiding from the truth, and running for her life.

    For years, Kade’s true nature has lurked behind an illusion, so when her dad gets another job transfer, she knows the drill: no close friends, no boyfriends, and most importantly: don’t expose what she is. Ever. Keeping secrets is easy. Lies are second nature. So is the loneliness—and the fear, but when the Shadows attack, and Kade meets Cole Spires, she could expose everything she’s trying to hide.

    As one of the Celestial Children, Cole lives by an oath: defend the Ward, protect the Primordial race, guard the gateways, and stick to his own. Everything else is a distraction, and besides, he’s lost enough. Cole’s job is clear, and no one his age does it better. So, when he meets Kade in a club downtown, he assumes she just wants his attention. Most girls do, but Cole soon realizes … Kade isn’t like most girls.

The children of heaven and hell are living among us, fighting an age-old war. And falling for someone from the opposition is not an option. But a chance encounter between Kade and Cole will blur the rules, as Kade’s journey to keep her truth hidden catapults them together and into a web of lies, forcing her to not only face the demon inside her, but to answer the hardest question of all.

Which is thicker—blood or water?

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Are you a reviewer? You can request a review copy of Crystallum here!

EXCERPT:

   PLUMB STOOD in the driveway, hands on her hips, a piece of bright yellow paper in her hand. Cole groaned, exhausted, as he made his way toward her. The only light was a dim one above the door on the Brotherhood’s front porch.

    Plumb waved the paper in the air. “It’s four fifteen in the morning, and I’m afraid to even venture why I received a notice for you to appear in front of the Warden later today. And Danny has nothing to say, which could only mean one thing—” Plumb looked him up and down. “With the condition you’re in, I’m not sure I want to know where you’ve been.”

    “You probably don’t.” Cole held his hand out for the summons.

    Plumb handed the paper over, scowling, and Cole slipped it, unopened, into his pocket.

   “Are you going to tell me where you’ve been?”

   “Thought you didn’t want to know.” He walked toward the porch. There was a time, when Cole was much younger, that he never would have spoken so bluntly to his Lead, but those days, buried by all of his new responsibilities within the Ward, had faded. They were close to equals now, even though Plumb was about fifteen years older.

“Cole.”

    “I’m tired as hell. I’ve been up all night.” He turned to face her. “Okay? I need to get some sleep.”

    “What were you doing in the middle of the night that the Principals couldn’t handle?”

    “A girl.”

    “Excuse me?”

    “No…I, no, I wasn’t doing a girl. She just…never mind.” He headed for the door, flustered. The last thing he needed to do was think about Kadence like that. His brain already went into some kind of jumble every time her name was mentioned, and it was bad enough that she’d had her hands all over him.

    “You were with Tiffany? Until four in the morning?” Plumb sounded like a disapproving mother.       “Cole, I understand you’re seventeen, and boys—”

    “I was with Kadence.” He wished she would shut up.

CRYSTALLUM by Laney McMann Playlist:

Phantogram ~ Black Out Days

Sleigh Bells ~ Bitter Rivals

Parade Of Lights ~ We’re The Kids

Until The Ribbon Breaks ~ One Way Or Another

Scars On 45 ~ Crazy For You

The Moth & The Flame ~ Young & Unafraid

Until The Ribbon Breaks ~ A Taste Of Silver

Dashboard Confessional ~ Stolen

Snow Patrol ~ Chasing Cars

SafetySuit ~ Life Left To Go

Bruce Springsteen ~ I’m On Fire

AWOLNATION ~ Run

Dave Matthews Band ~ Crash Into Me

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/1265393110/playlist/6b90NFerxkzdKsaFFMul1B

Author Bio:

   Laney McMann is the author of The Fire Born Novels (TIED, TORN, & TRUE) and The Primordial Principles series (CRYSTALLUM, book #1 ~ Fall 2015).

    She is the product of very creative parents and the most imaginative grandmother ever. With an untapped passion for the supernatural and all things magical, her voracious appetite for reading fantasy started really young ~ and so did her love of words.

She writes young adult dark urban fantasy novels mixed with a spike of romance, a hint of history, a dash of mythology, and lots of paranormal.

    On the non-writing side of life, Laney is a former classical dancer, music snob, chef, and a right-brained thinker to a fault. When she's not dreaming up new dead ends to torture herself with, she spends her time running.

    Laney is published by J. Taylor Publishing and Booktrope Publishing

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Wendy Darling: Stars (Wendy Darling #1) by Colleen Oakes (Review)

      Amazing, dangerous and intense; Wendy Darling: Stars brings readers into the world of Peter Pan and Neverland from their childhoods, but with a dark twist. When the infamous Pan comes into the lives of the Darlings, their lives are thrown into chaos and are infected with a dark, dangerous magic. With mystery and death around every corner, Wendy Darling does everything she can do to survive and keep her brothers intact.

      I loved this novel. Its storytelling was masterful and its characters were amazing. Each moment of the story was captivating, drawing the readers in and hooking them so they simply cannot get enough of it. Wendy is a strong, lovable and highly intelligent character. Her reactions to the world and her action in the world of Neverland are done perfectly, pushing on the plot and the story. There is romance in this novel, and I thought it was tastefully done and left me wanting more. Wendy's brothers were each unique and very well developed, especially the five year old. I loved that child, and as I read all I wanted to do was give that kid a big hug. He was extremely adorable. This novel is action pack and on the darker side. I was hooked from the beginning to the end, and cannot wait until the next novel in the series is released! I definitely recommend Wendy Darling: Stars, and give it the rating of FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS!!! 

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Book Blitz: The Truth Spell (Werewolf High #1) by Anita Oh!

The Truth Spell 

(Werewolf High #1)

by Anita Oh

Release Date: 2015

Summary:

    As soon as I stepped onto the grounds of Amaris High, I knew I'd made a big mistake. I could never fit in at such a snobbish school – I was more IT girl than "it girl". But then I saw him.

    Sam Spencer. My childhood best friend. But it couldn't be. Sam Spencer had died three years ago, on the night that changed everything. I need to know what happened, why he's suddenly not dead and is hanging out with a bunch of rich kids.

    When the school is hit by a truth spell, it seems like the perfect chance to find out what Sam and his creepy new friends are hiding, but the weirder things get, the less I'm sure I want to know. Even for Sam, even for the free food, Amaris High might be more trouble than it's worth.

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The Truth Spell is now on sale for $0.99 on Amazon!

 Excerpt:

    As soon as I stepped onto the grounds of Amaris High, I realized I’d made a huge mistake.  The kind of mistake it was hard to come back from. 

    Maybe it was just the late afternoon light, but everything seemed gilded, magnificent in a way I wasn’t used to.  An immaculate lawn stretched out in front of me, divided by a tree-lined path that led up to a building that looked more like some sort of gothic fortress than a school.  The lawn was greener than any grass I’d seen in my life, and the sky above was extra blue.  I wondered if super rich people had access to colors outside the hexadecimal range.  Everything looked so bright, extra surreal.  They’d sent me brochures when they’d offered me the scholarship, of course, but no amount of glossy pictures could capture the atmosphere – an atmosphere that distinctly said, “not for girls like you”.  

Author Q&A:

Q. How did you come up with the idea for Werewolf High?

A. I really wanted to create a world that I’d enjoy hanging out in.  When I think about my favourite stories, they’re mostly based in schools – stuff like Harry Potter and Buffy, as the most obvious examples.  I think schools are a great setting because you’re forced into constant contact with all sorts of different people, which mostly sucks in real life but is great for creating dramatic scenarios in a book. Plus, I love werewolves!  So it seemed like a good idea to combine the two.

Q. The series is Werewolf High but the first book is called “The Truth Spell” – that sounds more like witches than wolves!

A. The werewolf pack is at the heart of the series and the main story focuses on the wolves, but when you throw witchcraft into the mix, there’s no end to the fun stuff that can happen.  When I was first developing the series, I decided I’d like to play around with a different trope in each book, body swaps and soul bonds and so on, and a truth spell was perfect for the first book, when everyone still has something they want to hide. 

Q. Is the main character a werewolf?

A. Lucy is an ordinary human girl.  She comes from a poor family where she’s had to take responsibility for her younger siblings, so she’s had to be a practical, logical sort of person, and she finds it hard to accept magic and werewolves.  She also struggles being at such an elite boarding school, where people throw money around.  It’s a totally different world for her.

Q. What do you find the hardest part of the writing process?

A. I have a chronic illness, so everything is hard all the time, but the hardest thing is keeping to a schedule.  Just sitting down to do something every day is really difficult, sometimes impossible, but if you do a little bit and then a little bit more, gradually it builds up.  I’ve spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself and making excuses but it gets to the point where if you want to do something, you have to do it.  My sister’s a writer and she said to me, “quit your dillydallying and write your book already, sheesh!”.  Most people I know are like “one day I will do this” or “I’ll do that someday”, but if she wants to do something, she just does it – travel the world or become a writer or whatever.  When someone like that is standing in front of you, it’s hard to make excuses for yourself.

Q. What do you do for fun?

A. Mostly, I chase my dog around the house while pretending to be T-Rex.  She’s a beagle, so she doesn’t know that the T-Rex has tiny little arms that can’t possibly catch her, so she’s super fast and good at evasive manoeuvres but I will get her one day!

About the Author:

    After several years in the warm, comforting cocoon of fandom, Anita has decided to see what's up with this real world she's heard about.  Judgment is reserved until more information can be gathered.

    Anita likes dogs, naps, food, and Japanese idol group Arashi.  Everything else can be improved when combined with these four things.

    Anita lives with a grumpy beagle who bosses her around terribly, and won't even snuggle.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

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Crystallum (Primordial Principles #1) by Laney McMann (Review)

     Riveting, romantic, fantasy filled and mysterious; Crystallum takes readers into a brand new fantasy universe which contains demons, angels and many creatures in between. Kadence Sparrow is one of those creatures, and she is on the run. Going from place to place with her father with simple rules, don't make friends and no boyfriends. Her life is drastically changed when she runs into Cole, one of the Celestial Children. Full of danger and intense romance, Crystallum was very fun to read.
     The developments of Kadence and Cole as characters was pretty solid. They were easy to connect to and very graspable. Kadence is a well done character with some pretty cool abilities. Plot wise, there was some minor problems but nothing that really took away from the story. Each character in this book was very unique and interesting in their own right. The romance between Kadence and Cole was super well written. It was intense and there was a lot of sparks flying between the two characters. I am definitely interested where the story will continue, into the next novel. Ultimately, I very much enjoyed this novel and recommend it to fans of fantasy and romance. I give Crystallum FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS!!!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review* 

Return Once More (The Historians #1) by Trisha Leigh (Review)

    If you had the ability to go back in time and meet your soul mate, would you? How far would you go to save them? What would you risk? Sacrifice? In  the world of Return Once more, Kaia Vespasian is faced with these exact questions. A sixteen-year-old apprentice to the Historians, she risks everything as she travels through time to meet her true love.
    I had extremely high hopes for this novel. It's concept was riveting and had plenty of potential. When time travel comes into play, there are many many ways the story can be taken. Return Once More disappointed me to say the least. The plot was bland, slow and unsatisfying. Most of the characters seemed dry and two dimensional. The story it'self seemed to give the readers a lot more questions then answers as the story progressed. The romance in this novel was also very bland, short and undeveloped. I struggled to connect to it, and the characters themselves. The authors voice it'self was not bad in itself, and really was the difference between hating the novel, and just simply not enjoying it. I did not enjoy this novel and do not recommend it. I give Return Once More TWO OUT OF FIVE STARS!!!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Cover Reveal: Imparting by Heather Letto!

The Imparting by Heather Letto (Ascension #3)

Publication date: December 15th 2015

Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

    The clock is ticking.

    Chan has been chosen to deliver the good news and healing antidote… If his body doesn’t reject the antibodies.

     Pete, who has been imprisoned and tortured by the Council, has been selected by Retter to be ambassador to the residents. But, does he possess the authority needed to persuade an entire city of skeptics?

     And, while in the Open Air, Fran struggles with her own failures questioning whether she’ll always be an outcast living on the fringe of society.

     In this final installment of The Ascension Series, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness go head to head with evil in an effort to save a city.

     And a girl.

Here is the cover:

Previous books in the series:

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99 cent sale for the first two books!
Buy book 1 – Impervious – here!
Buy book 2 – Implanted – here!

Ascension Series Book Trailer:

Author Bio:

   Heather Letto was born in the hills of Ohio and raised in the 'burbs of Chicago yet fancies herself a stranger in a stranger world. She wears her creativity like a second skin and is immensely grateful to her heavenly Father who gives good gifts. Her debut novel, Impervious, is the first book of The Ascension series, a trilogy written for young adults.

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Book Blitz: Paper Dolls by Ketley Allison!

Paper Dolls
Ketley Allison
(Falling Paper, #1)
Publication date: November 12th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

It’s too bad for Scarlet that no matter how sweet a person is, fate can still screw you over.
Now she’s jaded, half of her torn away and the remainder flesh and bones. In her grief, all Scarlet wants to do is to rebel against the life that betrayed her and her roommate provides the perfect lure…
Scarlet awakens when she enters the New York City underground, where vice and fortunes thrive. Hustling, trickery and savagery allow her to discover her true self—-her forgotten soul reemerging. She just can’t promise it’ll come back pure.
It won’t matter that there is a shadow in her periphery. Theo Saxon thinks he can save Scarlet from a world she craves and protect her from the very elements he’s spawned from. But it’s through his unwitting instruction that Scarlet will become a part of his league and find the danger he wants so badly to keep to himself.
Scarlet thinks the stakes are within her control. But she won’t just be betting her heart on Theo and his seductive sins. She will wager her life.

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READ THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Something was going to come out of the shadows and shank me.
I clung to the wrought iron fence, staying put despite Verily’s tugs on my arm. Our vulnerable bodies could be seen in every direction on the deserted street. Cars lined the road, but they stood silent, their windows shining onyx pits. Columns of brownstone buildings, bricked into two long, looming lines on either side, blocked the moon. Their rows of windows were as black as the cars below.
Blares of horns ricocheted through our residential street, but their echoes were faint. All signs of life were too far away to save me.
But I agreed to this. I wanted this.
“Relax, Scarlet. I promise it’s safe,” Verily said to me.
Maybe no knife was needed. All the monsters in the dark had to do was bend me over this waist-high fence and spear my abdomen with one of the fleur-de-lis arrowheads, the skirt of my naughty maid’s uniform flouncing in the wind and ruffling around my ass, drawing the eye of anyone who lingered.
And come on, everyone would linger.
A form pushed past us and I tensed, choking on the scream that wanted to rip out of my throat.
The cause of my stroke, a man, paused in his descension into Hell—I mean, at the second step leading down to the entrance of a brownstone. “Hey, Vare. New girl?”
Verily dug her fingers into my arm, since I clearly wasn’t prying my death grip off the fence. “Yep. She’s cute, right?”
He didn’t respond.
I was pretty sure I was gaping at him. Not because of his looks—I couldn’t see him in the surrounding darkness, just an edging of hair and a framing of shoulders. It was more because I couldn’t stop thinking about the newspapers headlining my DEATH BY FENCE AND FETISH! IMPISH MAID CLEANS OUT HER OWN INSIDES!
And it was probably written all over my face.
“She up to it?” he asked.
Verily smacked my shoulder. The fence rattled underneath my grip. “Wait’ll you see her in action.”
One of his shoulders lifted up in a shrug. I found myself wanting to hear his voice again, soft like velvet lined his throat.
He didn’t disappoint. “No reason to be scared.”
“That’s what I keep telling her,” Verily said. She wrapped a hand around my bicep and heaved. She was trying to wrench me free. Damn if I would let her. “I’m extremely convincing,” she said through her teeth.
“Mm.”
He stood with fluidity, a primal ease. He shifted, lifting his chin in a way that accentuated his angular jawline but not much else.
“Anyone gives you trouble, you let me know. They may like dressing you up, but we don’t tolerate any more than that,” he said.
“Okay,” I replied. Finally.
He sounded so adamant and sure. I wondered if all it took in my life was for a man to sound like Batman.
He nodded once before descending the rest of the way. His walk was exactly as I knew it would be. Like a lion pacing the edges of his cage.
“Is he the bouncer?” I whispered into the curled crimson tendrils around Verily’s ear.
“Nope,” she said. After one particularly unfair yank, she pried one of my hands off the iron. “But if he’s here, it means we’re late, so come. On.”
“Ow! Verily!” Another twist and pull and she had my other arm, using my sudden imbalance to drag me down the stairs. “Seriously! Ow!”
She stopped at the door and pressed a hand to my chest, my boobs so hiked up they caressed the bottom of her palm. “Rules. Tell me.”
“W—” I gripped her extended arm for balance. “What’s our safe word? I mean my safe word, to let you know when I’ve gone Code Red.”
Sighing, she dropped her arm. “Have I dragged you here against your will?”
I pouted. “No.”
“Do you need the money?”
“Yes.”
“Would I bring you somewhere unsafe?”
I glanced down at my misbehaving maid outfit, then back up at the entrance where a lithe, vulturine and kind of scary man just decided to stop in and hang out for a while.
I countered with, “Do you possess a danger meter I’m not aware of? A point at which you know we must escape?”
She shook her head. “Honestly, Scar.”
“Because I think you’re on the fritz.”
“You said you needed something,” she said, softer now. “Something to make you feel like you could live again.”
I swallowed. “You told me you were just a waitress.”
“You’re falling, Scarlet. I can’t watch it anymore. And so, I’m giving you this.”
A shuffling sound came from drums of trash behind her. Noises sounding suspiciously like a critter. “You think I need saving and you brought me to a rat-hole?”
“I don’t think you need to be rescued,” she said. “I think you need an awakening.”
That could’ve been a warning or a promise. She went on. “I know you. And I think this is what you need. But you have to promise, promise, not to tell anyone.”
I needed excitement, yes. A pounding pulse, a taste of uncertainty, a reason. I needed life.
But this. Here we were, standing on a dirty side street in the Lower East Side, dressed like a rich man’s blow up doll.
“I don’t…” I said.
“Do you trust me?”
Verily’s green eyes, illuminated by the weak golden light, seemed to shine. She stopped my fidgeting hands by pulling them closer to her.
“Yes,” I answered. Of course. She was the one thing that kept me in the present.
“Good. So trust that this will be fine. And God forbid, that maybe you’ll have fun.”
Grumbling, I said, “Yesterday you were all over me about professional responsibility, and now here we are…”
Instead of responding, she propelled me forward with another mutant-strength twist of her toothpick arms. Verily opened the front door and I toddled after her, mumbling threats involving her hair bleach.
She halted at a second door, arching a brow at me. “Just be thankful I’m not inducting you on lingerie night,” she said, and hip-bumped it open.
After one last pull, I stumbled into my new society of smoke, money and men.

Author Bio:
Ketley Allison began her creative career by writing books as birthday presents for her friends (with her friend as the main character and opposite a super sexy lead, of course) before ending it in order to walk down a path she thought she was supposed to follow.
The writing bug never left her—and, in fact, would often bleed into the official papers she was supposed to write—so now Ketley’s putting down her suit and finally following her dream. While her friends are no longer the stars of her books, she still throws in bits and pieces of them into each and every one of her characters.
As a result, her books tend to focus a lot on friendships as well as love, because let’s be honest, friends are what really get you through—especially when your epic love turns into epic heartbreak.

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Blog tour: The Fading Dusk by Melissa Giorgio!

Book & Author Details:

The Fading Dusk by Melissa Giorgio 
(Smoke and Mirrors, #1)
Publication date: July 19th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

In the gritty city of Dusk, seventeen-year-old Irina makes her living as the street magician Bantheir’s assistant. The job isn’t glamorous, but she loves the crowds, the shows, and most of all, the illusion of magic. But Irina’s world is shattered the night she is arrested and charged as Bantheir’s accomplice to murder—murder by magic.
Real magic, the kind that’s been forbidden since the old wars.
Irina finds the idea of flashy showman Bantheir using actual magic to kill someone laughable, but she’s the only one who sees how ridiculous the claim is. But how can she convince everyone Bantheir is innocent when they’ve already made up their minds? Desperate, Irina must decide who she can trust to help her win her freedom. Is the surly, handsome Captain Leonid telling the truth when he says he believes Irina is innocent, or is he just using her to get to Bantheir? What about Aden, the sweet soldier and longtime fan of Irina’s who claims he’s on her side?
Irina said she wanted to know the truth, but when she stumbles across a dark secret that changes everything, will she be strong enough to survive?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25954617-the-fading-dusk

Purchase: 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0125KV45W/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fading-dusk-melissa-giorgio/1122399040?ean=9781515150589

AUTHOR BIO:

    Melissa Giorgio is a native New Yorker who graduated from Queens College with a degree in English. She’s always dreamed of being a writer and has been creating stories (mostly in her head) since she was a little girl. Also an avid reader, Melissa loves to devour thick YA novels. When not reading or writing, she enjoys watching animated films, listening to music by her favorite Japanese boy band, or exploring Manhattan. She is also the author of the Silver Moon Saga.

Top 10 List:

"Top ten must reads from the YA genre."

I want to say that choosing just 10 is really difficult, but I’ll try my best!

1. Harry Potter, especially Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-JK Rowling

2. Throne of Glass series, especially Heir of Fire-Sarah J. Maas

3. Fire and Hemlock-Diana Wynne Jones

4. Graceling Realm series, especially Fire-Kristin Cashore

5. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda-Becky Albertalli

6. Infernal Devices series-Cassandra Clare

7. Fire and Thorns series-Rae Carson

8. The Grisha series, especially Shadow and Bone-Leigh Bardugo

9. Daughter of Smoke and Bone series-Laini Taylor

10. Fangirl-Rainbow Rowell

Author links:

https://melissagiorgio.wordpress.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7133276.Melissa_Giorgio

https://www.facebook.com/melissagiorgiofan

https://twitter.com/melissa_giorgio

Giveaway:

Here is a chance to win one signed paperback of THE FADING DUSK and one signed paperback of THE SIGHT SEER! (US/CAN)

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Dead Ringer Giant Swag Bag Giveaway!!

DEAD RINGER GIVEAWAY!

Dead Ringer Blurb:

    Jessie Rosen’s debut novel DEAD RINGER is here, and so is Laura Rivers, new girl at Englewood High School. In DEAD RINGER, Laura wants to start the school year with a splash and bring some fun to her new life on the East Coast, but is stopped short by the rumors flying around—rumors about how she’s the uncanny doppelgänger of the school’s most famous suicide victim: Sarah Castro-Tanner.

    Regardless, Laura is determined to shake off the weird stares and make a stunning first impression. How? Bright colors, cool accessories, fresh beauty favorites, and a killer attitude.

     But Laura may be covering up some secrets with all that California sunshine…

GIVEAWAY!

     In honor of Laura Rivers and DEAD RINGER, Full Fathom Five Digital is giving away a fabulous pack of prizes designed to give you the Cali-girl look you’ve been dreaming of. Three winners will walk away with Laura Rivers-inspired prizes that, altogether, value at over $400!

    How do you win, you ask? Just enter using any (or all) of the methods listed in the Rafflecopter below. The more ways you enter, the higher your chances of winning the CALI-STLYE SWAG BAG Grand Prize!

TWO (2) RUNNER-UP WINNERS will receive:

- One (1) cuff bracelet inscribed with #SWAG from Hearts&Hashtags – in honor of Laura’s mantra during her first day of school at Englewood High (“It’s all about swag.”)

- One (1) set of three girly stockings from Wade & Belle – exactly what Laura wears to the homecoming dance with her vintage Audrey Hepburn-inspired dress

- One (1) Cali Trucker Hat from Billabong – it would totally remind Laura of her sunny Cali days

- One (1) Maybelline lipstick in the shade “Faint for Fuschia” – the same shade Laura wears on her first day at Englewood High

- One (1) “Go Teen” Skin Authority Kit – which Laura would use to maintain her perfect, sunkissed, Cali complexion

- One (1) “FAB Faves” To-Go Kit from First Aid Beauty – perfect for all the on-the-go touchups Laura might sneak in at school

ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE WINNER will receive:

- One (1) trendy, vintage-inspired Nasty Gal bag – just like Laura would carry at school or bring on a date with Charlie

- One (1) olive-sapphire bracelet in white-gold, provided by Starling Jewelry – blue to match the bluer of Laura’s different-colored eyes

- all of the beauty- and fashion-related goodies listed above!
The giveaway ends on December 2^nd, so don’t hesitate – enter the DEAD RINGER CALI-STYLE SWAG BAG GIVEAWAY today!

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Curious about Laura Rivers and her story? Read an excerpt from DEAD RINGER and find out more about author Jessie Rosen on fullfathomfive.com.

A big thanks to the sponsors for providing the prizes: Maybelline New York, Nasty Gal, Billabong, First Aid Beauty, Starling Jewelry, Skin Authority, Wade & Belle, and Hearts & Hashtags!

Earth: The Final Battle (Walker Saga #7) by Jaymin Eve (Review)

   Captivating and satisfying, Earth: The Final Battle concludes the much loved Walker Saga. Finding the final half walker girl and wrapping up the epic battle to save the worlds, Earth takes the reader on an intense and riveting adventure filled with mystery, danger and kick butt comedy. A great installment to the series, Earth adds new elements to the Walker universe and deepens the story even more.
   I found in this novel, every second was riveting and captivating. The characters, new and old to the story, all were well developed and rounded throughout the novel. I am still very much in love the narrative voice Jaymin presents in her story telling. She has a perfect balance of intrigue, romance and humor throughout her books. I only have one complaint about earth and it is a small one. I felt the final battle was just a wee bit anti-climactic, but I'm not really sure that could be avoided since it has six books building up to one battle. I loved the resolution of this novel. I felt it properly wrapped up the amazing saga. It was heart wrenching, but gave the readers the closure they needed to finish the novel properly.
     Ultimately, I loved Earth: The Final Battle, and the whole Walker Saga. I definitely recommend you take the time to read it. It just might become your new all time favorite series! I give Earth: The Final Battle FOUR AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

*Advanced Readers Copy Review*

Book Blitz: Sugar Skulls by Lisa Mantchev and Glenn Dallas!

Sugar Skulls
Glenn Dallas & Lisa Mantchev
Published by: Skyscape
Publication date: November 10th 2015
Genres: Dystopia, New Adult, Science Fiction

Blurb:
Welcome to Cyrene, a city where energy is currency and music is the lifeblood of its young citizens. Everyone lives on the grid, and the residents of the world’s largest playground are encouraged to pursue every physical and emotional pleasure imaginable.

Vee is the lead singer of the Sugar Skulls, an all-girl band that is Corporate’s newest pet project. Micah haunts the city like a ghost after an overdose of a deadly illegal street drug knocks him off the grid. When Micah and Vee forge an immediate, undeniable connection, their troubled worlds collide.
Trading concert stages for Cyrene’s rooftops and back alleys, they have to evade vicious thugs and Vee’s possessive manager as they unravel the mysteries connected to their dark pasts. And before the curtain falls, Micah and Vee will bring the city to its knees in their desperate bid for love, home, and a future together.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

EXCERPT:

V

The girl in the mirror is an undead supermodel in search of a catwalk. It’s the handiwork of the new styling team Corporate brought in to deal with my hair and paint my face and glue sequins to my eyelids and shove in the black-light contacts after the old team quit.
Not that I’m admitting I had anything to do with them unceremoniously packing their kits and leaving before the last show. Better to point the finger at Jax.
In the group, Jax is “the crazy one.” Damon recruited her a year ago, just before her eighteenth birthday, and she’s driven every styling team we’ve had batshit insane with her demands.
“Spiderwebs,” she decides for her face paint tonight, then points her index fingers at a case of skunk-striped bedhead so legendary, it looks like mice have nested in it. “Just don’t touch the ’do.”
There’s a continuous rumble coming from the front of the house: newbies, fresh off the nanotech install and frothing at the mouth to get a taste of everything Cyrene has to offer. The mistress of ceremonies appears a few minutes later, hovering around the edges of my mirror like a moth about to get bug-zapped, makeup already settling into creases she thinks no one else can see. Hellcat Maggie drones on for a bit, her words painted in every shade of predictable monotony.
Eyes glued to the set list on her laptop, short hair spiked and pink, Sasha nods and makes understanding noises without really listening. Five months back, Damon pulled her from outside Cyrene, where everything is workaday business as usual, melting polar ice caps and recycling and talking heads, minimum-wage jobs and Wall Street assholes. She told me he offered a considerable chunk of cash to her poor-as-dirt family in exchange for a three-year contract capitalizing on her sound design and computer skills. Means Sasha got to leapfrog over a hundred thousand or more eager applicants all clamoring to get into the city, but instead of acting like a badass, she’s more like a puppy that might pee on the rug.
She and Jax are the same age, but you’d never guess it, because Sasha is “the nice one.”
And me? Well, I guess that makes me “the bitch.” Like now, instead of joining in Jax’s preshow pill binge or Sasha’s obsessive run-throughs of the set list, I hug Little Dead Thing and wish everyone would just shut their cakeholes. He understands my mood, curling up in a tight fur-splotched ball in my lap, purring like a rusted-out lawn mower engine. Sasha dragged this sorry excuse for a cat in off the street a couple months back. He’d almost immediately started trailing after me, gratitude be damned, yowling at doors closed between us and shredding furniture when left behind at the Loft. Just easier to bring him along, a freaky little mascot who leaves hairs all over my robe.
But I banish him to a dark corner before getting dressed. Fuck-me wardrobe. Heels so tall, I prance instead of walking through the dim red lights in the wings. Corseted waist, narrow skirt, a thousand pounds of hand-sewn beads catching the light when I step onstage. The dress was a class-me-up gift from Damon: vintage and gorgeous and beyond expensive.
I’d taken a switchblade to it, because tatters suit me better.
Still miles away from comfortable, I try to draw a deeper breath than the corset allows, and it catches in my throat. I shouldn’t be stressing. Tonight’s just a warm-up for the big to-do at the Dome. Three days and counting. Have to test the set list and the newest energy-grabbing thrum-collectors Corporate’s eager to roll out citywide.
Every time I blow up one of the old ones, it knocks me off the grid. Cue a mind-scrubbing and a nanotech reboot. I’m tired of waking up as a brand-new Vee. I’d like to keep this version of myself, even if that means making nicey-nice with the equipment.
Anything to keep Damon off my back for a little while longer.

Author Bios:
When not working on puzzles for Penny Press or writing about them for PuzzleNation, Glenn Dallas is an author of short stories and at least half of one novel. After appearing in the acknowledgments of several outstanding novels, he looks forward to returning the favor in the future.

Lisa Mantchev is the acclaimed author of Ticker and the Théâtre Illuminata series, which includes Eyes Like Stars, nominated for a Mythopoeic Award and the Andre Norton Award. She has also published numerous short stories in magazines, including Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Weird Tales, and Fantasy. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State with her husband, children, and horde of furry animals. Visit her online at www.lisamantchev.com.

Author links
Lisa:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Glenn:
Website / Twitter

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Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl (Review)

   In the popular and riveting Marvel universe, Black Widow: Forever Red takes the readers on an action packed and intense ride along side one of the beloved Avengers; Black Widow. Black Widows past is convoluted and dark... and it's not finished with her yet. Introducing a riveting set of diverse and kick-butt characters, and bringing back some classics Black Widow: Forever Red adds more story and complexity to the Marvel universe.
    I very much enjoyed this book. I felt like it was a great introduction and back story novel to the character of Ava. Throughout the novel we get to know her and Black Widow on a new and more intimate level. It definitely changes how you look at the tough super spy when you can hear her internal dialogue. I found the plot of this novel to be gut wrenching and well done. I was fully invested very quickly into the novel. Being a lover of the Marvel movies ans universe in general, I found this novel to be just this much more epic. I loved this novel and I most definitely recommend it. I give Black Widow: Forever Red FOUR AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

 *Advanced Readers Copy Review*