Thursday 18 June 2020

Cover Reveal: Unwritten by Alicia J. Novo!

Unwritten
by Alicia J. Novo
Publication date: November 14th 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Books whisper to Beatrix Alba. But they aren’t the reason she has never fit in. Bullied at home and school, she keeps a secret—a power of violence and darkness.

When the spell that keeps her hidden fails, she’s catapulted into the Zweeshen, a realm where all tales live, and her dream of meeting her favorite characters comes true. But wishes are tricky, and behind its wonder and whimsy, the Zweeshen is under attack. A character is burning bookworlds in pursuit of a weapon to rule both stories and storytellers. To succeed, he needs a riddle in Beatrix’s possession.

Now he’s hunting her down.

Joining forces with William, a cursed conjurer, Beatrix must face an enemy who knows her every weakness in a realm where witches play with time, Egyptian gods roam, and Regency heroines lead covert operations. And with her darkness as the only weapon, she may have to sacrifice everything to save a world that rejects her.

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Author Bio: 

Alicia has a weak spot for happy endings and transformative journeys. She spent her teenage years

in Argentina and Europe, speaks several languages and loves to travel.

An eclectic reader, she grew up on a diet ranging from Lucy M. Montgomery and Jane Austen to Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Raymond Chandler, Hermann Hesse, Jorge Luis Borges, and many classics. She's never been cured of reading a bit of everything and is as likely to geek out about Mr. Darcy as Dr. Who.

She is a history and astronomy aficionado, who walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain, completed her Masters in the Netherlands and worked for Google in Ireland. She decided to become a writer at six but took a full, winding road here. Along the way, she learned if there’s one thing that cuts across cultures, one unifying thread that pulls everyone together, it's a good story.

A big-city girl, she now lives in the Midwest, where she occasionally picks apples and pretends witches exist.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

GIVEAWAY!
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Tuesday 16 June 2020

Book Blitz: Out of My League by Sarah Sutton!

Out of My League
by Sarah Sutton
Publication date: June 16th 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

It’s all fun and games until someone catches feelings.

Sophia Wallace is convinced her life is over when her high school cuts the journalism program. Without the elective, she loses her chance to intern with the biggest newspaper company in the county, and why? All because the baseball team needs more funding.

To make matters worse, her boyfriend publicly dumps her at a party, which is mortifying. But the icing on the cake is when the captain of the baseball team and the most popular guy at Bayview High, Walsh Hunter, decides to be chivalrous. He jumps in, throws his arm around Sophia, and declares his undying love for her. In front of everyone.

Suddenly, Sophia is thrown into a world of fake relationships and undercover journalism, and she realizes she’s way, way out of her league.

Good thing she’s got the team captain to teach her how to play.

But faced with choosing between saving her journalism class or her newfound feelings for Walsh, will she strike out or hit a home run?

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EXCERPT:

Staring at his face, I noticed a faint, silvery scar underneath his right eye, as small as my thumbnail. I reached out with my free hand, tracing my fingertip along his skin. A featherlight touch, barely there. “What happened here?”

His gaze never left mine. “Baseball cleat. Fourth grade. One of my teammates threw it at me.”

“Some little league kid threw their shoe at you? Why?”

“I told him that he couldn’t bat very well.” Walsh shrugged. “He couldn’t take the truth.”

I snorted. “You were that kid? The dream crusher?”

“Well, someone had to be.” His small smile was unapologetic. “Ask me who the kid was.”

I looked at him for a moment before tipping my head. “No way. Scott?”

“Who else would be that aggressive as a fourth-grader?”

Dina pulled at my arm as I laughed, shaking my head at the thought of miniature Scott throwing a shoe at small Walsh. I stepped out from the tangle of leashes at our feet, glancing down. “Oh, your poor rich-boy shoes.”

“What?” Walsh looked at his feet. “Oh.”

Brown smeared the side of his expensive-looking shoe, probably coating along the bottom. “With dogs around, you should probably watch where you’re walking.”

Walsh let go of my hand to switch the leash and proceeded to try and smear the offensive substance onto the grass. “Now you tell me.”

“Should we clean the poop off your shoe together? Is that romantic?”

His response was dry. “Ha-ha.”

“What? Shouldn’t we get a photo and caption it, ‘This might’ve been an accident, but falling in love wasn’t’?”

“Watch it, or I’ll wipe it on your ankle.”

I jerked back just in case he tried it, nearly tripping over Dina’s wealth of leash.

Author Bio: 

Sarah Sutton is a YA Romance author, bringing you stories about teenagers falling in love (sometimes with magic)She spends her days dreaming up ideas with her two adorable puppies by her side being cheerleaders (and mega distractions).

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Saturday 6 June 2020

Book Blitz: Unveiled by Jacklyn Daher!

Unveiled
by Jacklyn Daher
Publication date: June 6th 2020
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
What if your entire life was a lie?
Sixteen-year-old Luxor Everstone had the idyllic life-wealthy, popular and beautiful. Until in a fit of rage, she almost killed her best friend. And herself.
Waking up from a coma she senses everything is different. She is different. A darkness lingers deep inside laced with rage, further fuelled by a faceless man who haunts her.
Exiled to a sleepy town for a new start and to attend a juvenile rehabilitation centre, all she wants is a clean slate. Except the universe has other plans as crimson eyed people reeking of sulphur throw her life into peril at every turn.
Encountering Hunter is a surprise in more ways than one. Enigmatic and antagonistic, against her will a strong electric connection draws her to him. But Hunter’s curious nature and innate ability to know Luxor’s thoughts keep her on edge so does his offer of helping her uncover the lies.
Torn between attraction and her instincts to flee, will she put herself at risk for answers?
Or will the truth heal, or taint her soul?
EXCERPT:
Warm streaks of sunlight broke and radiated through the luscious looming oak and elm trees, the harmonious melodies of hummingbirds gliding mid-air dancing with butterflies, an array of multi-colours swirling around. Straight ahead, high above on a branch an owl hooted, its wide eyes wise enough to know this was a twisted world of danger under the guise of beauty.
Luxor was sucked back into a world she dreaded and submerged wholly. She inhaled a sharp breath and puffed out her cheeks. She twirled around and wondered aimlessly, refusing to inhale the polluted air, all too aware of the fate which behold them.
No, no, no! Not again!
It was a repeat performance.
The Forest.
The Hunt.
The Fall.
This isn’t real, it’ll be over soon.
Since the accident, the night terrors were her reality. Night after night. Luxor wanted to run to wake up, but it was futile. She was a prisoner inside her own nightmare. A low hiss echoed from one of the low branches. She cradled herself and shivered as she peered up, but she couldn’t see anything. She curled her barefooted toes into the dirt and moved forward. For the first time it was a new addition.
Ready.
Luxor changed a bit of the game to gain control, she couldn’t keep going the same way. Sixteen years was enough.
Set.
“What do you want?” she said into the void. It was the same question she always asked, hoping for an answer.
A rumble shook underneath, a sign of a muted answer, followed by a melodious laugh echoing through the trees. But it didn’t offer a reprieve. The chase was about to commence.
Go!
Luxor played the part and lifted the hem of her ivory dress and clutched the chiffon tightly. She glanced over her shoulder and dashed into the distance to nowhere. She dodged any obstacles in her way, her arms scratching against rough bark. Twigs snapped and leaves crunched under her bare feet as bugs were squashed mixing in with a gritty residue of burnt dirt which stuck between her toes.
As usual nobody was there, but a deep sense of foreboding awaited her and a deep chilling presence arrived which ultimately welcomed her.
A gust of wind whooshed in and brought a frosty chill, a telltale sign of ominous danger, just as the flash of a violet lightning bolt ahead lit up the sky. The environment transformed, and the wildlife scampered away in all directions, leaving a mess in their wake.
The lush foliage died and transformed to black, stripped of all its beauty as oak trees extended their branches, knocking the grand apple tree beside it. Apples rained down and cast her surroundings into darkness.
Nobody was in sight, but that meant nothing, this was the perfect setting.
Luxor stopped dead in her tracks as an iridescent glow hypnotised and blinded her. Shielding her eyes with the back of her hand, she squinted. Even if she wanted to look away, she couldn’t. The glow was utterly alluring.
A large root bulged up from a towering tree and long blades of grass sprouted into weeds, curling about transforming into vines. Luxor stumbled to her knees, the spell she was under momentarily broken. After blinking three times, she noticed the vines shackled her ankles as mud covered her feet and stones lacerated them with navy blue liquid oozing out. She rid herself of the constraints and low crawled.
Whispers murmured in the air, incomprehensible like static through a telephone wire.
A choking mist, tasting of sulphuric acid, clouded from above just as long canopy leaves blanketed and closed her in. The suffocation phase began. It was always the same—beauty, dying, suffocation, and the promise of death. The further she ran, the louder the whispers became until it was all she could hear. The hissing joined in and she expected at any moment for a lethal boa constrictor or python to make an appearance, but nothing did.
“Stop changing the game,” she cried out, her lips chaffed from the toxic air.
Luxor could handle the night terrors, but this was something unfamiliar, and she hated it. While concentrating on blocking out the recent additions of the whispers and hissing she had forgotten all about the next phase. One by one, hummingbirds rained down on her until it had become a full-blown down pour, their hums replaced by caws. She peeked upwards and released the lush foliage hadn’t turn black because of death, the crows had covered them like a blanket. She ducked and covered her head and crawled to find shelter.
“Bloody psycho,” she grumbled, squeezing through a hole and underneath a harsh log to hide. Pushing aside scorched, prickly pine needles, her hands brushed against mountains of hummingbirds with snapped necks and broken wings. She was exhausted, more emotionally than physically.
Luxor stifled back the urge to throw up, tucking her knees to her chest, becoming rigid. Not long now she would wake up. It couldn’t change the game that much.
Silence.
Another round of laughs, this time darker with not a hint of a song. Luxor shivered and scratched her arms, chilled to her bone, but not because of the weather. Peering down, mosquitoes had nibbled at her skin creating navy blue spots before being glued on with her blood.
“The game has just begun,” the crows cawed out in a high pitched screeched, their beaks peeking the eyes of the wise owl. “And you better get ready.”

Author Bio:
A mother of two boys, I’m a self confessed nerd who loves to write dark and twisted characters in modern settings. You could find feisty MC’s and bad boys with filthy mouths. Doesn’t mean I don’t love to read or write saucy romances too! 




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Tuesday 2 June 2020

Book Blitz: Monster Academy by Catherine Banks!

Monster Academy
by Catherine Banks
Publication date: June 2nd 2020
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
They thought they’d have it easy being monster elites, but these three best friends still have to deal with pop quizzes, crushes, and even worse…humans.
Frances Stein, Loralie Reaper, and Tsukiko Okami just want to play games and relax after their classes. Any hopes of chilling out, however, are destroyed when humans attack Monster Academy and try to use the students for ransom.
In order to defeat the humans and protect their fellow monsters, they must work side by side with their crushes without giving away their secrets. Of course, that would be a lot easier if they were able to stick together, but in a move that betrays insider knowledge, the BFFs are separated.
By tapping into their monstrous powers and working with their crushes, they will open their hearts and unlock abilities long thought dead. But will it be enough to save all of monster-kind? It’s going to be one hell of a year at Monster Academy.
EXCERPT:
Takumi bowed again. “Yes, sir.” He straightened and looked at me. “Are we providing a guard for Tsukiko?”
“No,” Grandfather and I said at the same time.
Grandfather gave me a glare, and I snapped my mouth closed. My tail swished behind me, but I quickly wrapped it around my leg.
“Not at this time,” Grandfather amended. “If the situation worsens before I am able to return and you believe she needs a guard, then assign one to her.”
My mouth dropped open.
“Even if she tries to argue,” Grandfather finished with fire in his eyes.
I closed my mouth and looked down at my shoes. Fine. I got it. I would just make sure that that did not happen.
Behind me, Loralie danced from foot to foot. “Grandfather?” she whispered.
I looked up and saw his lip twitch again. “You may go,” he whispered.
Faster than I had ever seen her move, Loralie cleared the distance between us and the hellhounds. The hounds surrounded her, rubbing their bodies on her and licking her face and hands. She cooed at them while scratching their ears and rubbing the bellies of the ones who had lain down.
The ferocious, black dogs had red eyes that reminded me of the fires of the Underworld, fur that resembled shadows and mist, and razor sharp teeth that could tear through flesh and bone with ease.
And Loralie loved them. As Death’s daughter, she was capable of controlling the hell hounds if needed, but she had such an affinity for them that they just did whatever she asked.
“How long will she do that?” Takumi asked.
“Give her at least thirty minutes,” Grandfather said. “She hasn’t seen hellhounds in several months. I’ll leave it to you, Takumi. Take care of my girls…and the rest of the students.”
He added that ending like he’d almost forgotten there were other kids here.

Author Bio:
Catherine Banks is a USA Today Bestselling fantasy author who writes in several fantasy subgenres under two pseudonyms. She began writing fiction at only four years old and finished her first full-length novel at the age of fifteen. She is married to her soulmate and best friend, Avery, who she has two amazing children with. After her full-time job, she reads books, plays video games, and watches anime shows and movies with her family to relax. Although she has lived in Northern California her entire life, she dreams of traveling around the world. Catherine is also C.E.O. of Turbo Kitten Industries™, a company with many hats including being a book publisher and Etsy store full of nerdy fun.

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